Work Order Priority Levels: How to Set Priorities, Response Times and Contractor SLAs

When every job is marked urgent, nothing is. Technicians pick the easiest jobs or the loudest requester, and the fault that really matters waits in the queue.

This guide shows how to define priority levels, set response and resolution targets, write them into contractor SLAs and escalate missed targets. To track priorities and due dates in one place, see our work order management software.

What are work order priority levels?

Work order priority levels are agreed categories that rank jobs by how much harm a fault causes and how fast it will get worse. Each level has a definition, a response time and a resolution target.

One widely used reference is the six-level scheme in the US Department of Energy's maintenance best practices guide, adapted from NASA guidance.

Six levels suit large estates with planning staff. Most facilities teams do well with four: emergency, urgent, routine and planned.

How do you set work order priority?

Score each job on two questions: how much harm does the fault cause, and how quickly will it get worse? The combination gives the priority.

• Impact is the harm: to people, to security, to a critical service or to a tenant's business.
• Urgency is the time: whether the harm grows within hours, within days, or not at all.

Treat any fault that puts someone at immediate risk as P1. If life is in danger, call the emergency services first and log the work order afterwards.

What response and resolution times should each priority have?

There is no legal standard for maintenance response times. Set them per site, based on the risk, your staff and what your contractors can actually deliver.

The table below is illustrative. Use it as a starting point for discussion, not as a benchmark.

Define three times for each level, not one:

• Response: from logging to acknowledgement or arrival on site.
• Make safe: the hazard is removed, even if the repair is temporary.
• Resolution: the fault is fixed and the work order can be closed.

How does the matrix work on a real morning?

Apply it job by job, and write down the reason for each choice. This example is illustrative, at a fictional office park with three buildings, logged between 07:00 and 08:00.

1. Water dripping from a ceiling onto a distribution board in Block A. High impact, high urgency. P1. Isolate if it is safe to do so, keep people away and call the electrician now.
2. Boom at the visitor entrance stuck up. Medium impact, because the guard can control the entrance by hand. High urgency, because the morning rush has started. P2.
3. Air conditioning not cooling in one meeting room. Medium impact, since other rooms are free. Medium urgency. P3.
4. Three ceiling tiles stained in a corridor. Low impact, low urgency. P4, but check whether the stain comes from the same leak as job 1.

Note the last point. A low-priority symptom can point to a high-priority cause, so whoever confirms priorities should look for links between jobs.

Who should set the priority: the requester or the maintenance team?

The requester describes the problem, and the maintenance team sets the priority. Requesters naturally rate their own problem as urgent.

Ask requesters factual questions instead: is anyone at risk, is anything leaking or sparking, and can people still work? The answers point to the right cell in the matrix without arguing about the label.

How do you write priorities into a contractor SLA?

Put the priority definitions, the targets and the evidence of attendance into the contract itself. A target that exists only in an email will be argued about.

• Each priority level with its definition and two or three examples from your site.
• When the clock starts: when the job is logged, or when the contractor acknowledges it.
• Whether the clock runs 24/7 or only in working hours, for each level.
• What counts as made safe, and what counts as resolved.
• The evidence required: arrival time, photos and a completed job card.
• How waiting for parts or access is handled, and who approves a paused clock.
• Named escalation contacts on both sides, and a monthly report of targets met and missed.

Contractors also matter under health and safety law. The Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 defines a mandatary to include an agent, contractor or subcontractor.

Under section 37, an employer can be presumed responsible for a mandatary's contraventions of the Act. Section 37(2) creates an exception where the parties have agreed in writing on arrangements and procedures to ensure the mandatary complies. Many facilities put this written agreement alongside the SLA. This is a summary, not legal advice.

How should overdue work orders be escalated?

By fixed rules that fire before the target is missed, not after a tenant complains. An illustrative ladder for a P2 job:

1. Halfway to the target: a reminder to the person assigned.
2. At the target: the supervisor is notified and calls the technician or contractor.
3. Past the target by a set margin: the facilities manager and the contractor's account manager are told.
4. After the job closes: the reason for the miss is recorded and reviewed monthly.

Escalation only works if each job has one owner and a due date. Writing those in properly is covered in how to write a work order.

How do you stop every job becoming high priority?

Make the definitions specific, limit who can use the top level, and review the mix.

• Publish the matrix and examples where everyone who logs jobs can see them.
• Let a supervisor or help desk confirm every P1 and P2.
• Record the reason when a priority is raised or lowered.
• Each month, check the share of jobs at each level. A rising share of emergencies is a warning sign.
• Move recurring emergencies onto a planned schedule. See planned vs reactive maintenance.

How does Worxit handle work order priorities?

Worxit's Work Orders module gives each work order a high, medium or low priority and a due date, with automated due date notifications.

• Technicians receive assigned jobs on mobile with the priority and due date shown.
• Status updates come from the field in real time.
• Managers see completion rates and time-to-completion across sites and technicians.
• Reports can be filtered and exported to Excel or PDF, which helps with monthly SLA reviews.

If your contract uses four levels, agree how they map to three before you start. For example, treat emergency and urgent as high and use the due date to separate them. For the system side of work orders, see our work order management system guide.

Licences are R600 per month for the dashboard, including one admin user, R75 per month for each additional dashboard user and R350 per month for each phone, tablet or radio running the app, all ex VAT.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Operations & Maintenance Best Practices, Release 3.0 (US Department of Energy, Federal Energy Management Program, 2010). Section 5.6, maintenance priority scheme adapted from NASA.
• Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (Government Gazette 14918, via gov.za). Section 1 definition of mandatary and section 37 on acts or omissions by mandataries.