Operation Requests FAQ

What’s the difference between Work Orders and reservations?

Reservations are for booking equipment for use—someone checks it out and returns it. Work Orders are for tracking work on equipment (maintenance, inspections, procurement, etc.). They’re separate: you can have both a reservation and a Work Order for the same item. Reservations affect availability; Work Orders do not.


Do Work Orders make items unavailable?

No. Items linked to a Work Order stay available for reservation and check-out unless you change their status separately (e.g. marking an item as retired or flagged). Linking an item to a Work Order only associates it for history and reporting. 


How long are closed Work Orders kept?

Closed Work Orders are kept for history and reporting. They may be archived to assist with clean up. Archived work orders can be found in the overview by using filter for status -> Archived

Are Work Orders included in reports?

Yes. You can report on Work Orders (open or closed) by type, assignee, location, and other fields. Reports can be filtered by custom fields or grouped to display different grains of data


Who can create and edit Work Orders?

- Create: You need permission to create Work Orders (e.g. “Manage Work Orders” or an admin role).
- View: You need “View” permission; you may see only your own Work Orders or all, depending on your role.
- Edit: Typically the creator, the assignee, or anyone with “Manage All” Work Orders can edit an open Work Order. Closed Work Orders are view-only.

If you can’t create or edit Work Orders, your workspace admin needs to assign you the right role or permission.


Can I delete a Work Order?

You can delete only Work Orders that are still in Draft. Once a Work Order is Open or In progress, use Close to finish it rather or Cancel rather than deleting, so you keep the full history for audits and reporting.