For real estate owners, investors and operators, monitoring, evaluating and reporting the status of all raised work requests and open, scheduled, in progress and completed work orders is a must requirement. Not only this provides the insight on the cost of executing work orders needed to maintain the desired and required performance standard of those properties but also provides indirect understating of tenants’ satisfaction with the real estate property that can be reflected from the volume of issued and closed work requests.
Real estate owners, investors and operators need to have a real-time single version of the truth reporting of how work requests and work orders are managed on their properties, regardless where their properties are located. They need reports that is based on trust worthy data for which they can trace and audit the source of this data when needed. For some real estate owners, investors and operators, they might also combine refurbishment and other types of recapitalization projects when monitoring, evaluating and reporting their work orders status. For them, they consider that, work orders and recapitalization projects are both required to maintain the successful performance and value appreciation of their real estate assets.
To ensure that the captured information details for all reported work requests and work orders as well as recapitalization projects are trust-worthy, traceable and auditable, a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb needs to be used. PMWeb allows managing work requests, work orders and all types of recapitalization projects across the complete properties’ portfolio that real estate owners, investors and operators have.
PMWeb asset management module allows defining all properties locations, buildings with each location, floors for each building and spaces within each floor. For each location, PMWeb can capture all required details including the geolocation coordinates of each location. In addition, PMWeb will be used to capture all details associated with each space whether it was commercial, residential, elevator lobby, toilet, etc. as well as all other space details. Further, details of all equipment assets will be captured whether the equipment belongs to a space, floor or a building.
In addition to the many fields available for locations, buildings, floors, levels, spaces and equipment, PMWeb allows the organization to append those forms with additional user defined fields. Those fields could be text, date, currency, integer number, decimal number, Boolean and a value that can be selected from a predefined list of values.
The attachment tab which is common to all PMWeb processes, whether those processes are available as ready to use like locations, buildings, floors, spaces, equipment, work requests and work orders or created using PMWeb custom form builder will be used to attach all supportive documents needed for each specific process. Those supportive documents will be uploaded and stored in their designated folder or folders in PMWeb document management repository. In addition, links to the relevant PMWeb records and imported MS Outlook emails can be added to each process or form.
For Work Requests, PMWeb provide a predefined input form that can be used to submit all required work requests which could lead for a work order when approved. Those work requests can be created using any device including smart mobile devices. This will enable the user to take pictures or videos of the work that needs be rectified and attach to the work request. In addition, the work request can be appended with additional user defined fields if needed.
A work order can be generated from an approved work request so it can be scheduled, fixed and closed. In addition, there is the option to generate a project from the approved work request as well as an initiative, also known as an idea or proposal for a project.
PMWeb work order module is the module where all details of issued and closed work orders will be captured. Work orders also include preventive work orders which are scheduled in PMWeb. For each work order, PMWeb allows capturing details of work order scope of work, type, category, priority, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) it belongs to, geolocation to identify latitude and longitude of work being carried out, required labor and equipment resources and their cost if those defined in the resource database, material required and cost if the unit price was defined in the items cost database, other cost like the cost of maintenance contractor plus any additional information that could be needed.
In addition, a checklist can be added to each work order to ensure that the scope of work covered in the work order has been completed as per the documented standards for similar scope of work. In addition, text notes and attachments can be added to the work order. Those could be for example pictures of the assets before they were fixed and after they were fixed.
For all PMWeb processes that have a documented process for submitting, reviewing and approving each transaction of the process, a workflow needs to be added. For example, the work order process will have its own workflow to ensure that the work order is reviewed and approved by the right project team members. The workflow will identify all needed steps, the duration for each step, responsibility for each step, actions that can be taken for each step and sequence for performing those steps. PMWeb also allows adding conditions to the workflow steps to incorporate the approval authority levels.
To monitor, evaluate and report on the performance status of work orders that the real estate owners, investors and operators have, another report can be created to report on the status of all work orders that were issued, still open, in progress, completed and scheduled. For each work order, the report will display the work description, priority, status, asset name, cost for labor, material and other expenses as well as the total cost, work order planned start and finish dates as well as actual start and finish dates. For work orders displayed in the log, the stakeholder can drilldown to the selected work order in PMWeb where the stakeholder can view details of the work order as well as attached documents, workflow status and other details captured in PMWeb.
About the Author
Bassam Samman, PMP, PSP, EVP, GPM is a Senior Project Management Consultant with 40-year service record providing project management, project controls services and project management information system to over than 400 projects with a total value in excess of US$ 400 Billion. Those projects included Commercial, Residential, Education and Healthcare Buildings and Infrastructure, Entertainment, Hospitality and Shopping Malls, Oil and Gas Plants and Refineries, Telecommunication and Information Technology projects. He is thoroughly experienced in complete project management including project management control systems, computerized project control software, claims analysis/prevention, risk analysis/management (contingency planning), design, supervision, training and business development.
Bassam is a frequent speaker in topics relating to Project Management, Strategic Project Management and Project Management Personal Skills. Over the past 40 years he has lectured at more than 400 events and courses at different locations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and South America. He has written more than 400 articles on project management and project management information systems that were featured in international and regional magazines and newspapers. He was a co-founder of the Project Management Institute- Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC) and has served on its board of directors for more than 6 years. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) and Earned Value Professional (EVP) from the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) and Green Project Management (GPM).
Bassam holds a Masters in Engineering Administration (Construction Management) with Faculty Commendation, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, Bachelor in Civil Engineering – Kuwait University, Kuwait and has attended many executive management programs at Harvard Business School, Boston, USA and London Business School, London, UK.