Creating Work Orders

Reading time: 5 minutes

Today you'll learn...

• What Work Orders are & their purpose

• The anatomy of a Work Order

• Creating Work Order Templates

Why Work Orders?

Why Work Orders and not Tasks, Action Items, etc..?

In the construction industry in general, and the solar industry in particular, Work Orders are the nuts and bolts of getting things done. They're clear-cut guides for the crew, laying out the details for each task, whether it's up on a roof or behind a desk.

For the field guys, Field Work Orders cover the hands-on jobs like installing solar panels or doing a service check-up to keep systems running smoothly.

Back in the office, the Office Work Orders are all about the prep and follow-up - sorting out permits, handling net metering applications, and making sure everything's lined up right for a smooth operation. Both types are key; they keep the whole team in sync and the solar projects on track.

What are Work Orders?

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1. Statuses over Stages 🚦

We will be retiring stages in favor of statuses over the next 60 days. Almost everyone who's ever used Coperniq has asked or at least wondered why they have to assign the task and then manually set the stage to "ASSIGNED," schedule the task and then manually set it to "SCHEDULED," etc... Enter statuses!

If your team started using Coperniq after 05/17/2023, you wouldn't see the Stage sunsetting countdown can safely ignore this.

Below is a summary of Work Order Statuses, their meaning, as well as whether they apply to Office or Field Work Orders or both.

Status	Meaning	Office or Field	Manual or Automatic
QUEUED	All new Work Orders will now start out in "QUEUED" unless they are "ASSIGNED" or "SCHEDULED"	Field/Office	Automatic
ASSIGNED	Once you assign the Work Order to a user (this doesn't include updating the "Collaborators" field, only the "Assignee" field), the status will automatically update to "ASSIGNED"	Field/Office	Automatic
SCHEDULED	Once you schedule at least one Visit, the status will automatically update to "SCHEDULED"	Field	Automatic
DISPATCHED	If you schedule at least one Visit and assign the the Work Order to a user, the status will automatically update to "SCHEDULED"	Field	Automatic
ON THE WAY	Then when you press the "ON THE WAY"" button, the status will update to WORKING	Field	Manual
CLOCKED IN / WORKING	For Field Work Orders, press "CLOCK IN" before starting work. Note: If Geofencing is enabled, it may automatically clock you in. Geofencing will prevent you from clocking in if you're too far away. For Office Work Orders, click "START WORKING" before starting work.	Field/Office	Manual
CLOCKED OUT / WAITING	For Field Work Orders, upon completion at the worksite, press "CLOCKED OUT" to clock out. For Office Work Orders, when awaiting a Client or third-party response (e.g., Utility Company, AHJ), update the Work Order to "WAITING".	Field/Office	Manual
REVIEW	If the Work Order requires a review step, press the "SEND TO REVIEW" button to update the status to "REVIEW"	Field/Office	Manual
COMPLETED	Finally, if the Work Order is ready to be completed, pressing "MARK COMPLETED" will move it to COMPLETED 🎉 (Note: Make sure all Subtasks are completed on the WO or you will not be able to complete.)	Field/Office	Manual
CANCELED	If the Work Order is no longer applicable or falls through, you can update the Status to "Canceled".	Field/Office	Manual

2. Status shortcuts 🏎

Instead of clicking the status button, then selecting the next status with another click, you'll now be able to transition the status in a single click.

3. Field vs office Work Orders 🖥 / 🛠

You can now easily differentiate between office Work Orders (permitting, net metering applications, engineering) and field Work Orders (site surveys, installations, inspections). Watch out for the 🖥 icon which represents an office Work Order, and the 🛠 icon which represents a field Work Order.

4. Stage sunsetting countdown ⏳

Again, if your team started using Coperniq after 05/17/2023, you wouldn't see the Stage sunsetting countdown can safely ignore this.

5. Assignee (👷‍♀️) & Collaborators (👩‍💼👷‍♀️👩‍💼)

Many of you have been asking for a more streamlined way to distinguish between the team leader (crew chief, head permit coordinator, etc.) and the rest of the team members working on a particular Work Order. Now every Work Order will have a single assignee, allowing you to set multiple collaborators.

As another highly requested bonus, on the dispatcher, not just the assignee but also all the collaborators will see the Work Order in their respective swimlanes.

Work Order Templates

See Templates support doc in Coperniq support