Click here to enrol for a free course on workflows

Instructing works is a key workflow of Fixflo! To begin with, select the issue as usual and remain on the 'Next steps' tab. This is the place you will need to be in order to use a works flow and progress the issue.

The issue will always begin with the issue status 'Reported'. This can be found towards the top of the page on the left hand side of the screen. Underneath the 'Reminder date' you will be able to see everyone involved with the issue and who the issue lies with.

It is important that you take a look at both the issue status and who the issue lies with when you first of all click onto an issue. These two aspects will give you a good understanding as to where the job lies and who's responsibility it is to continue progressing the job.

Both the issue status and the 'Task to do' will automatically update as you begin to progress the issue. Before you progress the issue from the 'Reported' status we would recommend that you check to see if there are any notes on the issue. Notes can be made about:

- The Property
- The Occupier
- The Landlord
- The Contractor

The notes which have been made may change the way a maintenance issue is dealt with and therefore could alter the workflow you choose to use. Notes will sit directly underneath the parties involved with issue on the left hand side of the screen:

To expand the note, please click on it and a pop up will appear, displaying the entire notes: 

You can make any changes to the note here as well.

Please click here to find out more about adding landlord notes. For guides on other types of notes, simply search 'Notes' at the top of the page.

The workflows can be found on the right hand side of the page, underneath 'Next step'. You will want to select 'Instruct works':

Please note that when you instruct works to a contractor, this will allow you to instruct the works to one contractor only. If you have a multitask job and you need two different contractors, you will need to click on 'Actions' towards the top of the page and click on 'Duplicate issue':

This will create a carbon copy of the issue and will copy all of the information over, except for any comments on the 'Comments' tab. You will then essentially have two issues to work through - one to be instructed to contractor A and the other to be instructed to contractor B.

When you click on 'Instruct works' the following pop up will appear:

The 'Works authorisation limit' is optional. Please note that this will pre-fill if you have an authorisation limit set up for the landlord attached to the issue, or if you have an authorisation limit set up for the user who you are logged in as. This can be added, removed or changed at the time. 

The 'Works due by' box is also optional - this can be good to add so that when the contractor receives the job; they have a guide for when the work should be completed by.

There is also an option for instruction note templates which will be useful if you need to send the same message out to your contractors. A good example of this would be if you have a standard message for contractors wearing the correct PPE on certain jobs. 

You have the option to add Instruction notes and you can also add Instruction documents. 

When you scroll down, you will see there is some more information to add before you can select a contractor to instruct the job to. 

You have the option to add 'Health & safety documents' if you wish. These must be already added to Fixflo in order to pull through. 

Anything which has already been added to Setup > Document library will be pulled through on the drop-down here and can be added as a health and safety document. Please ensure that you add any documents there first.

Documents can be added by clicking on 'Add new document' and this will then pull through to the drop-down when you go to add a health and safety document:

Depending on the settings you have on your Fixflo site, your contractors may or may not have the ability to upload their invoices to certain jobs. We made this a little easier for contractors to provide invoices and costsfor issues. Agents can select the invoice method & the option for a contractor to provide costs on a per-issue basis so contractors will no longer provide costs for jobs that do not require an invoice.

The 'Payment' section will always default to 'landlord', but you can change this on the drop-down:

You can also add a Cost code if you wish. 

The final section of this pop up is the 'Invoice' section. This will be pre-set depending on what you have set up in your settings. You can make default changes by clicking on 'agency admin settings'. This can be set to either the agency, or to prefer the landlord over the agency.

Changes can also be made on a per issue basis, using this pop up.

Once you are happy simply click 'Proceed to next step'.

You will then be shown a new pop up, where you can select a contractor to instruct. If you are looking for a particular contractor then you can use the search bar at the top of the pop up.

Once you have found the contractor you would like to instruct the works to, you will notice that there is some information about them on the right hand side. 

Explaining these symbols:

The star rating shows the rating given to this contractor by agents. This can be given when you close an issue, and is optional. The number next to the stars shows the number of agents who have given this rating. The rating will be an average across the number of agents. So in this example they have a 5 star rating, given by one agent. Please note, this is confidential and cannot be seen by the contractor.

This symbol shows that this contractor is a favourite. It could mean that they are a landlord favourite, or an agent favourite. If you hover over it, the system will let you know which.

This symbol shows whether or not the contractor is compliant with their certification. You can manage all contractor certification on Fixflo if you wish. For more information on this, check out our guide here.

This number and symbol represent how many jobs the contractor currently has instructed to them at that moment in time. This has been added to ensure that you are giving the contractors a manageable amount of work. So in this example the contractor has two other jobs that they have been instructed on this Fixflo system.

Once you are happy with the contractor, you will need to select them on the left hand side of the pop up and then click 'Proceed to next step'.

Updates made on the 'Next steps' tab:

You will notice that the issue status will have automatically updated from 'Reported' to 'Job awarded, awaiting appointment date'. Meantwhile, the 'Reminder date' will have updated to a time and date in the future and the 'Task to do' will have moved to 'Waiting for' contractor:

The 'Reminder date' is showing you the date that this issue will come back into your 'Issues requiring action', allowing the issue to not fall through the cracks. This can be changed by clicking on the 'Reminder date' and moved as necessary. 

Please note that you can click on 'Waiting for contractor' where you will be able to resolve the issue on their behalf. It is recommended that the contractor resolves the issue by logging in themselves or you will find that they may start relying on you to progress their issues. The system works best if each party logs in and resolves their own issues.

We also have a contractor App which allows contractors to resolve maintenance issues on the go!

The email sent to the contractor:

The contractor will receive an email which looks similar to the below: 

The contractor will need to click on 'Enter job start date', which will log them into their Fixflo profile where they can resolve the issue. 

Once the contractor logs in:

The contractor will be able to see a screen which looks similar to the screenshot below:

Here they can see the issue status and they can see that the next step is to 'Set appointment date'. They can click on 'Detail' to see all of the details of the job and they can click on 'Comments' to send a message to the agent or reporting occupier. They also have an 'Appointments' tab where they will be able to manage appointments once they have entered the first one.

Underneath 'Job award, awaiting appointment...' in the middle of the screen, they also have the option to either 'Mark as complete' (this can be used if the issue is an emergency), 'Provide quote instead' or 'Decline job':

Before the contractor clicks on 'Set appointment date', it's important that they look at the information on the left-hand side of the 'Next steps' tab as this shows whether the occupier would like to be present or not:
 

When the contractor clicks on 'Set appointment date' the following pop up will appear: 

When they set an appointment date they will be asked whether the appointment time and date has been agreed with the occupier. Essentially here there are four possible scenarios:

1. The occupier doesn't want to be present and the contractor has agreed the start time with the occupier

2. The occupier doesn't want to be present and the contractor has not agreed the start time with the occupier

3. The occupier does want to be present and the contractor has agreed the start time with the occupier

4. The occupier does want to be present and the contractor has not agreed the start time with the occupier

In scenarios 1, 2 and 3 the occupier will receive an email to say that the work is due for completion with a time and date. 

In scenario 4, the occupier receives an email where they have to log in to the system to either accept or decline the proposed date and time. 

Once they have set the appointment date, they click on 'Save appointment date'. 

The contractor will now see that the issue status has automatically updated to 'Awaiting job completion' and the next step is to mark the job as complete. This button is sitting on the right-hand side of the screen.

The appointment will be sitting in the 'Appointments' tab, where the contractor can cancel the appointment, mark it as missed and add a follow-up appointment if necessary:

The appointment will also show in the next steps tab for agents:

Back on the contractor's 'Next steps' tab, they would click on 'Mark as complete' where they can add the job completion details. They also have the option to provide a quote instead in case they would rather do this. The 'Job completion date' must be added, and this will pull through based on the appointment date which the contractor gave before.

The job duration, feedback to the agent, the issue photos, the completion documents and the certificate documents are optional:

They must provide an invoice method and say whether they will provide the costs of the job (unless you have costs set to be mandatory). If they select the option to 'Create invoice within system' then the 'Provide costs' section will disappear, as they will have to provide the costs when creating the invoice.

The following invoice methods are available by default:

1. Invoice not required 

2. Invoice sent outside the system

3. Upload invoice 

4. Create invoice within system

Once they are happy with the job completion information, they click on 'Mark as complete':

The contractor will then be shown the following pop up:

The next screen will depend on the invoice option they have selected.

If they have selected 'Invoice not required' or 'Invoice sent outside the system' and said that they would like to provide the costs then they will see the following screen:

The 'Type' can be split between 'Labour', 'Materials' and 'Other' using the drop-down and they can easily add a new row. The rows will then be tallied up.

If they have selected 'Invoice not required' or 'Invoice sent outside the system' and said that they would not like to provide the costs then they will see the following screen:

Here the contractor can clearly see that the issue status has now moved to 'Job completed' and they can see that there are no outstanding actions for them to complete.

In the middle of the screen they have the option to 'Quote for further works', view the 'Job completion details' or 'Undo job complete'. 

If they have selected 'Upload invoice' then they will see the following screen:

If they have selected 'Create invoice within system', then they will be taken to the following screen:

The 'Invoice date' and 'Due date' will pre-fill for the contractor, however these can easily be changed. They must add an invoice number and comments are optional. 'Services rendered' are filled in for them and these cannot be changed. 

They then need to add the costs, these are split into three types, 'Labour', 'Materials' and 'Other'. They can add more than one row of costs and then press 'Create'.

Back on the agent's side of the issue, the job status will show as either 'Job completed, ready for closure' or 'Job completed, awaiting feedback, depending on whether you have Occupier feedback turned on for your agency.

The 'Reminder date' will show as the date which the contractor marked the job as complete, as the job is now in your 'Issues requiring action' as it is in the agent's 'Task to do'. The next step is to 'Close issue'.  

For our guide on how to close an issue, please click here.