1. Admin Documentation

Getting Started



What Is Sytewise?

Sytewise is a systems operations platform built for teams that manage physical spaces and the work that keeps them running. Whether you're overseeing a portfolio of commercial properties, coordinating vendors across dozens of locations, or tracking the AV systems inside a building, Sytewise puts the whole operation in one place.

For Property Managers

Managing a portfolio means keeping track of a lot of moving parts simultaneously. Sytewise is built around that reality.

Properties and Fixtures are the foundation. Every property in your portfolio gets its own record, and every piece of equipment or infrastructure inside that property is tracked as a fixture. You always know what's where, what trade it belongs to, and what's been done to it.

Work Orders are how you assign and track jobs. Create a work order, assign a vendor, attach the relevant fixtures, and send it. The vendor gets an email with everything they need, including links to any checklists assigned to that job. When the work is done, the record stays.

Checklists let you define exactly what a vendor needs to do, step by step. Require photos, signatures, notes, or file uploads at specific steps. Vendors complete checklists from their phone through a simple public link, no login required. Completed checklists with all their attached media are stored permanently and downloadable in one ZIP file.

Surveys let you send structured inspections to surveyors and track their responses across properties.

Contracts and Bills keep the financial side organized. Track vendor contracts, service agreements, and bills all tied to the properties and work orders they belong to.

Reminders handle the recurring stuff automatically. Set up rules tied to property events and Sytewise keeps the actions queue filled so nothing slips through.

The Email Log records every outbound email the platform sends, so you can always confirm what was delivered and when.

For Vendors

Vendors don't need to learn a new system. When a work order is created and assigned to them, they get a plain email with the job details and direct links to any checklists they need to complete. No account required, no app to download.

Checklist links open a clean, mobile-friendly page. The vendor works through each step, uploads photos or files as required, signs where needed, and submits. The property manager sees completion in real time.

If a work order is reassigned, vendor assignments on linked checklists update automatically. Vendors only ever see what's theirs.

For AV Integrators

AV integrators working in commercial spaces often manage complex fixture environments: racks, cabinets, displays, control systems, and the relationships between them. Sytewise handles this through the Fixtures and Cabinets modules.

Fixtures track every piece of equipment at a property, organized by trade. Each fixture has its own record, its own checklist history, and its own media archive. Nothing gets lost in a spreadsheet.

The Cabinets module takes it further. Build display cabinet preset layouts using a grid-based editor to represent cabinet configurations and equipment wiring layout drawings. These presets can be attached to fixture records, giving integrators a visual reference for what's installed and how it's arranged.

Checklists on fixtures make commissioning and maintenance workflows precise. Define a commissioning checklist with required photos at specific steps, assign it to a fixture, send it to the integrator, and collect signed photographic proof of completion. The same checklist template can be reused across every similar installation in the portfolio.

Work Orders tie it all together. When a service call is needed, the work order captures the scope, the vendor, the fixtures involved, and the checklists required to close the job out. Integrators receive everything they need in a single email and complete the job record without a back-and-forth paper trail.

Sytewise is designed to reduce the communication overhead that comes with managing physical spaces and the people who work in them. Less chasing, more doing.Quick Start: Getting to Know Sytewise

Managing buildings and the systems inside them involves a lot of moving parts, and most of the friction in that work comes down to one thing: communication. Who needs to know what, when, and whether it actually happened. Sytewise is built to reduce that friction across every relationship in your operation.

Property managers get a single place to track every property, every fixture, every vendor, and every work order across their entire portfolio. Instead of chasing status updates through email threads and spreadsheets, the information is in the system, timestamped, searchable, and attached to the record it belongs to.

Vendors receive clear, complete work orders with everything they need to do the job: scope, fixtures, due dates, checklists, and a direct link to their portal. No phone tag to clarify what's needed. No guessing about which location or which unit. And when the job is done, they submit their completion through the same link, with photos, notes, and signatures that become part of the permanent record.

Clients get visibility into the properties and work being done on their behalf, through reports, linked records, and direct communication built into the workflow rather than bolted on as an afterthought.

Tenants connect to the operation through surveys and service records, keeping the people who actually use the spaces part of the picture.

The result is a system where planned work runs on a schedule, unplanned work gets handled without losing track of the routine, and every action leaves a documented trail that gets more useful the longer you use it.

Where to Start

The articles below cover the core features of Sytewise. If you're new to the system, reading them in order is a reasonable path. If you're looking for something specific, jump straight to it.

What Is Sytewise — An overview of the platform and how it serves property managers, vendors, and AV integrators

A Tour of the Dashboard — Understanding your stats, map, property list, and navigation at a glance

Setting Up Vendors — How to add vendors, build out their contact records, and assign them as defaults for specific property trades

Creating a Property — Adding a property to the system, validating its location, and using the Library to build a fully populated property from a saved template

Adding Parts to Fixtures — How to document the equipment inside a fixture by hand, by cloning, or from a Library item, and why that record pays off over time

Creating and Sending a Work Order — Building a work order, selecting fixtures, assigning a vendor, sending the job, and managing it through completion

Using Checklists on Work Orders — How checklists and work orders work together, when to attach versus send directly, and what happens when a work order is reassigned or deleted

Fixture Checklists: From Assignment to Archive — The full lifecycle of a checklist from creation through vendor completion, media download, and archive

Creating Checklist Templates — How to build reusable checklist templates with required photos, signatures, notes, and custom checkboxes

Building an Annual Workflow with Reminders — Setting up recurring work orders, surveys, and inspections so your planned work runs on a calendar instead of on memory

Reporting in Sytewise — Property reports, fixture reports, work order and survey reports, CSV exports, and how to use a checklist as a fully customizable inspection report

The Left Menu: A Guide to Every Page — A quick reference to every page in the navigation and what it does

Welcome to Your Dashboard

The dashboard is the first thing you see after logging in, and it earns that spot. It gives you a live count of everything happening in your account, a map of all your properties, a full browsable property list, and quick access to vendors and clients. Whether you're getting your bearings or jumping straight into a busy day, this is where it all starts.

The Info Boxes

Running across the top of the page is a row of colorful stat boxes. Each one shows a live count of something important in your account: Properties, Vendors, Users, Work Orders, Surveys, Tenants, Reminders, Contracts, Bills, and Clients. Every box is clickable and takes you straight to the corresponding page.

You choose which boxes appear. Scroll to the bottom of the info box row and click Shortcuts to pick the ones that matter most to your day. If you only care about Work Orders and Vendors, show just those. If you want the full picture every morning, keep them all.

If your account has an overdue invoice, a red alert banner will appear at the top of the dashboard above everything else. It won't be subtle.

Quick Actions

Just below the info boxes is a three-part action bar.

On the left, you have property management shortcuts:

+ Property creates a new property record.

Print All Properties opens a print-ready view of your full property list.

Download All to CSV exports your property list as a spreadsheet, up to 200 properties at a time.

In the middle, there's a vendor search field. Type at least three characters and a matching list of vendors appears. Select one and you go straight to that vendor's detail page.

On the right, a client search works exactly the same way. Three characters minimum, pick from the results, land on the client page.

The Map

The left half of the lower dashboard is an interactive Google Map showing a red pin for every property in your account. The map automatically adjusts its zoom level to fit all your properties in view when it loads.

Click any pin and a small popup shows the property name as a clickable link. Clicking that link takes you to the property page. At the same time, that property gets highlighted in the list on the right side of the page, so you always know exactly which one you clicked.

If you don't need the map taking up screen space, click the chevron in the Map card header to collapse it. Click again to bring it back.

The Properties List

The right half of the lower dashboard is your full browsable property list. By default it loads up to 200 properties at a time. If you have more, a Load Next 200 button appears at the bottom to pull in the next batch.

Searching and Filtering

You have four ways to narrow the list:

Search by Name or Zip is the search field at the top of the properties card. Type at least three characters and matching properties appear instantly. Selecting one takes you to that property's page.

View By State is a dropdown that filters the list to a single state. Pick a state and only properties in that state are shown. Changing the state filter automatically clears any manager filter you had active.

All Properties (the manager dropdown) filters the list to properties assigned to a specific manager or user in your account. Selecting a manager clears the state filter. These two filters work independently of each other.

Search by Address is a secondary search tucked below the other filters. Click the "Search by address" link to expand it. Type at least six characters of a street address and click Search to find a property by its address. This is handy when you know the street but not the property name.

What Each Property Shows

Every property in the list displays:

Property name as a clickable link to the full property page

Property ID (a small badge in the corner, or a QuickBooks ID if your account uses that integration)

Print icon to open a printable report for just that property

Full address

Client assigned to the property, if one exists, as a clickable link

Vendor assigned to the property, if one exists, as a clickable link

Trade badges showing every trade active on that property. Each badge is clickable and takes you directly to that property/trade combination.

Contracts are available via a file icon on the property row. Click it and the contracts associated with that property load inline.

If a property has been marked as sold, a red SOLD! label appears next to its name.

How the Map and List Work Together

The map and the property list are connected. When you apply a state or manager filter, both the list and the map update together. The map clears its current pins and redraws with only the properties that match your filter. Whatever you're looking at in the list, the map reflects it.

Clicking a map pin highlights the matching property in the list. Clicking a property link in the list navigates to that property. They're two views of the same data, and you can use whichever makes more sense for what you're trying to find.

The Left Menu: Your Navigation at a Glance

Every page in Sytewise is one click away from the menu on the left side of the screen. Here's what each item does. Some menu items only appear if your account has that module activated, so your menu may not show all of these.

Dashboard — You're already here. The starting point with your stats, map, and property list.

Properties — Your full list of managed properties. From here you can browse, search, and open any property record. The submenu also gives you a direct link to create a new property, run an advanced property search, and merge duplicate records if your account has that feature enabled.

Contracts — A searchable list of all contracts across your portfolio. Open any contract to see its details, linked work orders, and billing history.

Clients — Manage the client organizations associated with your properties. Each client record holds contact information and links to the properties they own or manage.

Vendors — Your full vendor roster. Add new vendors, view contact details, track insurance certificates, and see the work order history for any vendor in your account.

Surveyors — Manage the surveyors assigned to properties in your account. Surveyors operate separately from vendors and are used for inspection and survey-related workflows.

Tenants — Track tenants associated with your properties, including contact information and unit assignments.

Users — Manage the admin users who have access to your Sytewise account. The submenu also gives you access to Contacts, which are the property-level contacts used throughout the system for notifications and correspondence.

WOs — Work Orders. A searchable list of all open and completed work orders across every property. Create new work orders, track status, manage vendor assignments, and link checklists.

Surveys — Create and manage property surveys. Assign them to surveyors and track completion.

Bills — Track bills associated with work orders and vendor services across your portfolio.

Fixtures — A cross-property view of all fixtures in your account. Useful when you need to find or manage a specific piece of equipment without navigating through individual property pages.

Cabinets — Build and manage cabinet preset layouts used in grid-based fixture planning. This is a specialized tool for accounts that track interior fixture grids.

Forms — Configure and review vendor-submitted forms. Forms are assigned to vendors for health, safety, and compliance documentation, and submissions are tracked here.

Checklists — Manage checklist templates and search fixture checklists across all properties. This is the top-level view; individual checklists are also accessible from each fixture and work order.

Insurance — Track insurance policies associated with vendors and properties. Manage policy details, expiration dates, and coverage records in one place.

Library — A document and resource library for your account. Store reference files, standard operating procedures, or any shared materials your team needs access to.

Reference — Manage reference articles that can be published and shared within the platform.

Email Log — A record of every email sent through Sytewise: work orders, checklists, surveys, and more. Useful for confirming delivery or tracking what was sent to a vendor.

Reminders — Set up automated reminders tied to property events and track pending reminder actions. The Reminders dashboard shows both incomplete actions and the active reminder rules driving them.

Account — Your account settings. Manage your company information, module activations, integrations, and billing.

Add and Edit Vendors

Vendors are the people that work for you on your properties.  They can be employees, outside contractors, or even you or your co-workers if you have jobs that you do regularly, or want record of when they were completed.

Listing your vendors in the Vendor section does some great things for you.

Keep Track of Vendor Information everywhere, anytime

Quickly Find the Preferred Vendor for any trade at any property

Instant Access to Important information about your vendors including Insurance Documents and Contracts

Store Contracts, Insurance, Proposals and any other form of work history documentation

Keep Track of Vendor Information everywhere, anytime

Who was it that fixed that HVAC unit on the top of Dollar General Store last April?  What is their phone number?  Answers to all of those questions about how to get in touch with the vendors that work on your properties are at your fingertips, anywhere you need the information, anytime you want to look it up.  You can look up vendors by Property, By Work Order.

To open the Vendor Page, select Vendors in the menu and then click on Vendors.  Once on the page you can type the vendor name in the search box and hit enter.

Or if you are on a Work Order, select the Vendor Name.  Either of these methods will open the Vendor's Profile Page.

The vendor profile page includes a lot of details about the Vendor including address and contact information, any Contracts they have, Work Orders they have been assigned, or documents such as Insurance Certificates or copies of written contracts.

Lists of the Vendor's Work Orders and Contracts are to the right of their contact info.

Below the list of contracts you can add Insurance Documents and any other fields that you would like to keep on hand.  File types include .Pdf docs, Excel, and Word documents.

To add a document, just select the Add a File or Policy button, select the file you wish to add and upload.

Most People want to keep a Certificate of Insurance (COI) for vendors that work on their properties. To add an Insurance Policy document of any kind, Select the Add a File or Policy Button, then Select the Insurance Policy Tab. Enter the information about the Insurance Policy and click on Save.  After the policy info is entered and saved you will see the Insurance Policy listed with a button that says Choose File.  Select the file for your Insurance Policy and click Save.  Your policy information will be listed with a link to the actual Insurance File.

To edit the information about the document, select the pencil next to the file link.  All of the information about the document or insurance policy can be edited, or the file can be deleted.

Quickly Find the Preferred Vendor for any trade at any property

You can track down vendors for a specific property by Trade and by Work Orders.  Just Go to the Property Page, Select the Trade Tab at the top of the window for the type of work your Vendor does.  Then look at the Preferred Vendor for that trade.  You can list your Preferred Vendor and up to six alternate vendors you use for that same type of work.

Scroll down to the bottom of the Property page.  There is a list of Work Orders performed on that Property under that Trade Tab.  All of the Vendors for your Work Orders are listed next to the description of each one.  It's easy to track down which Vendor did the work on each Work Order.

Instant Access to Important information about your vendors including Insurance Documents and Contracts

Sytewise has has the ability to store specific contract terms for any Vendor contracts.  If you have agreed upon terms for your landscaping throughout the year, or a fixed price per lamp on your pole light maintenance  you can keep them with you at all times and never wonder if the contractor completed everything agreed upon.

What is my per bag price for Ice Melt with my vendor for the Madison County Service Center?  Any contract information can be listed and available from anywhere.  Your staff can check the terms of contracts while they are on properties and communicate with vendors about work accomplished without having to run back to the office. 

Sytewise keeps track of which vendors you use on each of your properties for certain types of work. Take HVAC services, for instance.  If you have a company that you use on any of your properties to maintain your HVAC equipment, assign them as the default vendor for HVAC for that property.  That way every work order you create for HVAC on that property will autofill the name and information of your preferred vendor.  You don't have to worry about looking up all that data, and anyone else who needs to complete a Work Order will know who you like to use to work on the HVAC equipment at that location.

Any Contract listed on a Property includes the name of the Vendor that is a party to the contract.  It also includes the Property and Client contacts.  Selecting the Vendor name will take you to the Vendor Profile Page.

Creating a Property in Sytewise

Every building, location, or managed space in your portfolio starts as a property record. The property is the anchor for everything else: trades, fixtures, vendors, work orders, surveys, checklists, and reports all connect back to it. Getting a property created correctly takes about two minutes, and this article walks through every step, including how to use the Library to build a fully populated property from a saved template instead of starting from a blank slate.

Before You Start

Two things need to exist before you create a property:

A vendor must be in the system. The property creation form requires a default vendor for the first trade, and you can't proceed without one. If the vendor isn't in Sytewise yet, add them on the Vendors page first.

The property limit for your account must not be met. If your account has a maximum property count and you've reached it, the creation form won't appear and you'll see a message prompting you to contact your account representative. For most accounts this won't be an issue, but it's worth knowing.

Getting to the New Property Page

From the Dashboard, click + Property in the quick action bar or navigate to Properties in the left menu and select New Property from the submenu. Either route lands you on the same page.

The page has three cards working together: the property information form on the left, a library selection card in the middle (if you have library items saved), and the map and location confirmation on the right.

Creating a Property from Scratch

Step 1: Property Title

Property Title is required and must be unique within your account. Use a name that will be immediately recognizable in lists, reports, and dropdown menus. "2400 Commerce Street Nashville" or "Riverside Plaza HVAC" will serve you better than "New Property 1." Keep it descriptive enough that it reads clearly out of context.

The system checks title uniqueness in the background as you type. If the name is already in use, you'll know before you try to save.

Step 2: Full Address

Full Address is required and needs at least nine characters. Enter the complete street address including city, state, and zip. This is the address that gets sent to Google Maps for validation and coordinate lookup, so the more complete and accurate it is, the cleaner the result.

Step 3: Default Vendor

The Default Vendor field searches your vendor list as you type. Enter at least a few characters of the vendor name and select the right one from the autocomplete results. This vendor becomes the default assigned to the first trade on the property. You can change it later and add different vendors for additional trades once the property is created.

Step 4: Trade

The Trade dropdown shows all available trades in the system. Select the trade that applies to the first service area you're setting up on this property. If the property has multiple trades (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, AV, etc.), you'll add the others after the property is created. Every property needs at least one trade to start.

Step 5: Lookup Geolocation

This step is required and the Create Property button will not activate until it's complete.

Click Lookup Geolocation. Sytewise sends the address you entered to Google Maps, which validates it, formats it, and returns the precise coordinates. The map on the right zooms in to satellite view at the location, drops a marker, and displays the latitude, longitude, and formatted address.

Take a look at the formatted address that comes back. If Google interpreted the address differently than you entered it (a common occurrence with suite numbers or informal address formats), the formatted version shows you exactly what was matched. If the coordinates look right on the map, you're good. If the marker is in the wrong spot, you can drag it to the correct location. Dragging the marker updates the coordinates automatically.

If the geocoding fails (wrong address, unrecognized location, or an API issue), you'll see an error message describing what went wrong. Correct the address and try again.

Step 6: Create Property

Once geolocation succeeds and the map shows the right location, the Create Property button activates. Click it.

If the address is already in the system on another property, Sytewise will warn you about the potential duplicate and ask whether to proceed or start over. This is a safety check, not a hard block. If the property genuinely shares an address with an existing record (a multi-tenant building with separate property records, for example), choose Create Property Anyway.

On success, a confirmation message appears with a link to go to the new property detail page. From there you can add additional trades, assign a manager, link a client, add images, and start building out the full property record.

Creating a Property from a Library Item

If your account has property library items saved, a library selection card appears between the property information form and the map. This is one of the most powerful shortcuts in Sytewise for anyone managing a portfolio of similar or identical properties.

What a Library Item Contains

A property library item is a complete snapshot of a property's structure: trades, fixtures, and all the parts inside each fixture, including full part specifications. When you create a property from a library item, Sytewise builds all of that structure automatically as part of property creation. You end up with a fully populated property, with trades, fixtures, and parts already in place, rather than an empty shell you have to build from scratch.

The library card displays each saved item with its name and a set of trade badges showing how many fixtures each trade contains. A badge reading "HVAC 5 fixtures" means that library item includes an HVAC trade with five fixtures and all their associated parts ready to deploy.

Selecting a Library Item

The first option in the library card is always No Library: create a new, empty property, which is selected by default. To use a library item instead, click the radio button next to the one you want. The rest of the creation process is identical: fill in the title, address, vendor, and trade, run the geolocation lookup, and click Create Property.

When the property is created, Sytewise writes the base property record and then immediately layers in everything from the library item. Trades are created, fixtures are inserted with their coordinates and descriptions, and every part record from the library is recreated on the new property. You land on the property detail page with a complete structure waiting for you rather than an empty map.

What This Means for a Large Portfolio

The library feature is where Sytewise pays real dividends at scale. If you manage fifty retail locations that all run the same HVAC configuration, or a hundred venues with identical AV installations, you don't need to manually build out each property's trades, fixtures, and parts one by one. You build the first one carefully, save it to the library, and every subsequent property inherits that structure in seconds.

The consistency matters as much as the speed. When every property of a given type starts from the same library item, the records are structured identically. Trade names match. Fixture names match. Part numbers follow the same convention. That uniformity makes cross-portfolio reporting cleaner, makes searching more predictable, and makes onboarding new team members simpler because every similar property looks the same in the system.

The library item is a starting point, not a locked template. Once a property is created from it, every record on that property is fully independent and editable. You update the install dates, adjust the part numbers for the specific units on site, add location-specific notes, and the new property becomes its own complete record. The library item stays unchanged, ready for the next property.

Saving a Property to the Library

To save an existing property to the library, go to the property detail page, find the Fixtures section, and click the Library button. A small modal asks for a library title of up to 24 characters. Give it a name that clearly identifies the property type or configuration, something like "Standard Retail HVAC Config" or "Venue AV Platform v2," and click Save.

The system captures the complete structure: all trades, all fixtures with their coordinates and descriptions, all parts with their full specifications including manufacturer, model, part numbers, and technical detail fields. That snapshot is stored at the account level and immediately available on the new property page for any future property creation.

After the Property Is Created

The property detail page is where the rest of the setup happens. A few things to take care of right away:

Additional trades are added from the property detail page. Click New Trade, select the trade type, assign a vendor for that trade, and save. Each trade becomes its own operational area with its own fixture list, work orders, vendor assignment, and checklists.

Manager assignment is set on the property detail page. Assigning a manager connects this property to a specific admin user, which feeds into the manager filter on the dashboard property list and into property-level permission scoping.

Client assignment links the property to a client record. This is what makes the Clients module useful at a portfolio level: one client organization can have multiple properties grouped under it, with consolidated reporting and billing.

Property images can be uploaded after creation. Use the upload function in the map section of the property detail page to add site photos, floor plans, or reference images. Images appear in the property's map card and are included in the property print report.

Property details like square footage, number of units, contact phone and email, billing address, store hours, and QuickBooks ID are all editable on the property detail page. Fill in whatever is relevant for your workflow.

The property is ready the moment it's created. Everything else is refinement that makes the record more complete and more useful over time.Create A Fixture

You can create a new Fixture in the following three ways:

Create a brand new fixture from scratch

Clone and existing Fixture from the same property

Add a Fixture from the Fixture Library

Create a New Fixture from Scratch

Go to the Property Page where you want to Add a Fixture.  On the Property Page locate the Fixture Window

Select the +Fixture Button to open the Create Fixture Window.

Enter the Fixture Name and Description for the Fixture you want to Create.

Tip: Selecting good naming conventions for your property is super important.  It allows you to find devices easily and makes searching for Fixtures by Type easier.  It is worth putting some thought into how you name your Fixtures.  For some tips on Naming Conventions, look here.

The Height and Default Vendor are already filled.  The height defaults to 0-7ft.  Change it to match the height of the fixture you are adding.

The Vendor shows the Default Vendor for the selected Trade on the Selected Property.  You can select a different Vendor to associate with this Fixture.

Once you enter the Name and Description and select the Height and Vendor, click Save and the Fixture Page for this Fixture will Appear.

Once on the Fixture Page you will need to:

Locate your Fixture on the Map

Add Parts to the Fixture

Edit any Fixture Details

Adding Fixtures in Bulk using the Library

I have a lot of Fixtures!

Adding large numbers of Fixtures on your properties relatively quickly adds usefulness Sytewise account.  There are a couple of ways of adding Large Numbers of Fixtures to a property and both have their own benefits.

You can add large numbers of Fixtures to a single property using the import tool just below Fixture List.  This is great for large numbers of Fixtures with Specific Part Numbers that you want to import or Fixtures that don't apply to any of your other properties.  Think HVAC units and Fire Panels.

In this article we are going to discuss using the Fixtures Library to add Groups of Fixtures.  This is good for adding large numbers of Fixtures where Specific Part Numbers are not important to their maintenance.  Think Commode.  There are a few simple Sytewise Skills that you need to know to make this process go smoothly.

How to make a Fixture

How to make a Group

How to make a Library Item

How to Import a Library item to a property

All of these skills are simple to learn and should take a couple of minutes. Just click the link above on the topic for a tutorial, or if your ready to learn about Bulk Fixtures, start reading below.

Think of a Group of Fixtures like a Template for that Trade on your  property.  A good template will put as many Fixtures on the property as possible without the need to remove too many.  For Example, if you want to add plumbing fixtures for all of your locations and most of your locations have just two commodes per restroom, and one or two locations have more, only put two commodes in your Plumbing Group.  This allows you to add all the necessary Fixtures on most of your properties while adding some extras to only a couple of locations.  So here are some things to consider on making a good groups for Bulk Fixture Imports.

What type of Fixtures are easily managed in bulk

How to best prepare your Fixtures for importing in Bulk

How to Create and Import What type of Fixtures are easily managed in bulk

What type of Fixtures are easily managed in Bulk?

Using the Library to add items is more about item type, unless you standardize on only one manufacturer and part number across all of your properties for a specific Fixture, it is best to consider Fixtures that make up a specific System, or are a universal type.  Plumbing is a great example of a Fixture Type easily placed on site and managed without the need for a specific Part number.

Prepare your Fixtures List for a Bulk Library Import

The best thing you can do for your Fixtures is give them easily identifiable generic names as part of a group.  A standard name for all of your Properties that makes like items easily identifiable.  Commode #1, Commode #2, Commode #3 is a good example.  Another example is Front Door, Back Door, Overhead Dock Door.  You may want to add specific data to each of these Fixtures once they are on the property, but this allows you to get the greatest number of fixtures on the property fast and economically.

Also consider groups of systems that you may want to add as a pod or one of many similar systems.  A large shopping center may have more than one Fire Sprinkler System.  Having a Generic System that you can add several times across a large center makes it easy to establish those Fixtures and survey the items later.

With that in Mind, Away we go!

Go to a Property and the Trade you want to Bulk Enter Fixtures

Create all of the Fixtures you want in the Library Group

Click on the Selection Box next to Each Fixture you want in the Group

Click on the Group button and Create a Unique Group Name for These Fixtures and Click Enter

Click on the Library button

Select either All Fixtures or the Group of Fixtures

Name the Library Item

Go to same Trade on another Property

Click the +Fixture Button

Click on Library

Select the Library Item that you want to import for this trade

Click on Add from Library.

Create A Group of Fixtures

On the Property page select a Trade where you have several fixtures that you would like to view as all or a subset of all of the available fixtures.

Select the checkbox next to each fixture that you would like in the Group.

Once you select a Fixture you will notice that the +Group button become active.  Select the Group button and type in the Name of the Group for the list of Fixtures you have selected.

Click Save.  Now you can view just the items in that group by selecting it from the Group Selection pull down menu and the presence of a Group title just beneath the Selection box.

Set Up Recurring Work Orders

Setting up recurring work orders in the Sytewise platform is easy to do and keeps your recurring work up to date with minimal input.

Recurring work can be anything from grease trap maintenance to air conditioner filters.  For our purposes we will use a work order for conducting the Annual Fire Alarm Inspection.

To set up recurring work orders:

Select a Work Order you would like to replicate

Click on the Reminder Bell in the Upper Right Corner

Click on the Check Boxes to Attach a Reminder and Replicate a Work Order

Add a Subject and Message Note  about the work order

Click the Checkbox for High Priority if desired

Choose a recipient for Reminder from the list of Sytewise Users

Click the Repeating Check Box to establish as Schedule for the Work Orders to Repeat

Choose the Beginning and End Date of the Reminders.  Forever equals 100 Years.

Select your Repeat Time Frame of Day, Week, Month, or Year

Click Save

Select a Work Order you would like to Replicate

This can be any work order.  It can be Open or Completed.  It can be past due.  It doesn't matter.  When selecting a work order make sure you look at the Special Instructions to make sure they will be appropriate over time.  If you have a lot of information about special dates or times that won't be applicable in the future, it would be better to start with a new work order.  Make sure your special instructions are going to be evergreen for any future work order they will be part of.

Click on the Reminder Bell in the Upper Right Hand Corner

Select the Reminder Bell at the Top Right Hand Corner of your browser and the New Reminder Modal will Appear.  Once the Reminder Modal opens, click on the check boxes to Attach Reminder to this WO and Replicate This WO.

Add a Subject and Message Note about the Work Order

Once you have selected the check boxes for Attaching and Replicating the Work Order, Type in a Subject and Message about the work order.  This is a note to you or another person that will be tracking this Work Order in the Future.  Any Special items to remember as you go about getting the work completed.  This is not the work order instructions to your vendor.  Those are already in the work order you selected.

Check the box for Priority

This may be a simple item, but it will help work orders stand out in your work order list.  It will also help you notice important items that may only come up once a year.  All items are important.  I usually add this to time sensitive items that may cause additional expense if they aren't handled in a timely manner.  You can use it however best suits your workflow.

Choose a recipient for Reminder from the list of Sytewise Users

Every Sytewise System User is a potential candidate to receive the Reminder you are creating.  The default will always be to the creator of the Reminder.  You can select another user, or Select All users.  If you opt to send the Reminder to Everyone it show up on everyone's Reminder List until one User completes the reminder activity.  Then it will drop off of Everyone's list.

Click the Repeating Check Box to establish as Schedule for the Work Orders to Repeat

Once you Select the Repeat Check box you will see two boxes for a Start Date and an End Date for Reminders ( and Work Orders) to be scheduled and created.  Reminders created today will show up the next calendar day.  Choose your Starting Date and Ending Date for the recurring work orders.  If you want them to recur indefinitely then select the Forever Check Box.  That will immediately set the reminders to last for 100 years.

Select your Repeat Time Frame of Day, Week, Month, or Year

The calendar for reminders is very flexible.  You can select a daily reminder for something, or make a weekly reminder for every Tuesday, or every Third Tuesday.  You can select a Monthly Schedule to have reminders and work orders recur on a specific day of the month, or every other month.  Yearly reminders are great for those annual inspections that show up again before you know it.  That being said, best practice is to factor the amount of lead time you need for this work order into the reminder date.  The work order will be generated on the date you select.  Make sure that date gives your Vendor enough time to get the work on the books and completed by your deadline.  I try to give my Fire Panel inspectors at least a couple of weeks to respond.  Your lead times may be different.

A Daily Schedule will repeat every day, or every interval of days you select. If you enter a 1 the reminder will show up every day.  If you enter a 3 it will show up every day.

A Weekly Schedule is much the same.  Select the days of the week you would like the reminder to occur and then select the number of weeks in between each reminder.  This is great for work orders that repeat every other week or or on specific days of the week regardless of the number of monthly visits.  Any Weekly Service Schedule is perfect for this.

The Monthly schedule is great for events that occur on specific days of the month, every month, regardless of the day of the week.

Annual is great for those inspections or reports that need to be done every year.  Send  a Work Order out to get your Annual Sprinkler or Backflow inspections on the calendar before your Vendor gets backed up.  You can also set multi year reminders and work orders for specific Contractual Work or Lease Sensitive Items.  I have tenants that require repaints every 5 years.  Asphalt repairs or striping are other good uses of the multi year reminder.  If you have new staff, they may not know when the parking lot in front of Kroger was last striped.  Sytewise remembers and can remind them that this is the year to get it done.

Click Save

Of course you must hit save to complete the work.  Once you click Save your Reminder can be found on the Reminder Page.  Whe a

What happens Next?

Once your reminder is in the Sytewise System your calendar takes over.  Every morning the Reminder System looks for actions that are to be completed today.  When that happens you will have a Notification icon telling you how many reminders or actions that are current in your Reminder and Actions List.

The reminder will have an Action Button that says Create Work Order.  Select this button and a duplicate of the original work order is made.  Look at the work order, Make whatever changes you like.  Change the text.  Change the Vendor.  Once you are done, click on the Send Work Order button and you are done.

If the Reminder is attached to the work order, the Action Button will say Create Work Order.  If it is attached to a Survey, the Action Button will say Create Survey.

The Circle with Line icon will delete this instance of the recurring Work Order, but future Work Orders will still be created.  To Edit the Reminder Settings for your Work Order Reminder, click on the Pencil button.

You can always edit the reminder settings for the work order .  If you want to go from quarterly filter changes to every two months.  Change it in the settings.  If you want to Change the Vendor for all future work orders, you can do that in the Settings.

Creating a Work Order

Work orders are easy to create in Sytewise.  Each Work Order is specific to a Property and a Trade.  Watch this video or check out the step-by-step instructions below.

Create a Work Order

Select a Property and Trade

Make Sure the Fixture is selected as Needing Service.

Open the Work Order Menu

Add the Title/Description

Select the Due Date

Select the Vendor

Select the Fixture/Fixtures

Enter the Instructions to your Vendor

Select the Correct Emails For Delivery and Click Save

See New Work Order Number

Verify email has been delivered

Select a Property and Trade

Choose a Property by selecting it in either the Dashboard or Property Page list of Properties.

Make Sure the Fixture/Parts are selected as Needing Service

Once on the property page, look in the list of fixtures to find the right Fixture and make sure the toggle switch shows as red.  This indicates that the part nees service.  If this fixture is part of a Survey, the Surveyor may have turned the service indicator from Green to Red Already.  Once all of the Fixtures you wish to place on a work order have the status indicator as red, you can return to the Property Menu.

Open the Work Order Menu

In the upper right corner you will find a button for Work Order / Purchase Order.  Click this button to open the Work Order form.

Add the Title / Description

When you open the Work Order form you will notice the Title / Description is prefilled with the name of the property.  Enter the Name of the Work Order here.  This will become part of the Email that is delivered to your Vendor.  To make sure you are able to search easily for this work order later it is good to add words that identify the suite number, trade, and specific fixture if only one.  Something like, Suite 100 - Dollar General Men's Room Sink has a Plumbing Leak.  For more information on best practices for naming work orders click here.

                                                         

Select the Due Date

Both Date Fields have dates entered.  The Creation Date has the current date.  The Due Date is prefilled with one week from the date of creation.  Of course, this won't work for every scenario, so replace the prefilled date with the date that works for you.  You can select a new date by clicking on the calendar.  Or if you are like me, just type the new date in the field.  either one works.

Select the Vendor

The default vendor for this trade and this property will already be entered into the Vendor field.  This may be the vendor you want to use.  In that case, don't do anything.  If you want to change the vendor for this particular work, just start typing the name of the vendor in the Vendor field.  You will want to highlight the prefilled vendor name and then just start typing.  A list of vendors will appear.  As you continue, the list of vendors will shorten.  Keep typing until you see your vendor and then select with your cursor.

Select the Fixtures / Fixtures for this Work Order

This work order is going to be sent to a particular Vendor so, even if there are several fixtures that need repair, only select the fixtures that are going to be serviced by the vendor you've selected for this work order.  You can click on the None button at the top right of the Work Order Form to deselect all Fixtures.  You can click on the All button to show all the Fixtures in this trade, even if their status hasn't been changed from red to green.  Click the box to the right of each fixture to add that fixture to this work order.

Enter the Instructions to your Vendor

This is where you can get very specific about the work you want performed.  Don't leave anything to interpretation.  Get specific with your instructions so your vendor knows exactly how you want the work performed and what the end result needs to be.  If you have drawings or plans that would be helpful, you can attach them to the fixture and the Vendor will receive them with the Work Order.

Select the Correct Emails for Delivery and Click Save

Every Vendor can have multiple contacts.  Every contact with an email address in their profile will be listed just below the instructions.  You can send the work order to multiple people or just one person.  Here's where you select the recipients for this particular work order.  Once you've selected all recipients, just click Save and your email is on the way.

See the new Work Order Number

Once the Work Order Form disappears you will see the new Work Order number in the banner and a message regarding the success of the email delivery.  Click on the work order number to see the Admin version of the Work Order.

Verify Work Order Email was Delivered

Once you click Send on the work order, you will get an automatic notice if the email was successfully delivered.  If you need to see a verification of the email, look at the bottom of the work order page and you will see a list of every email that was delivered on behalf of this work order.

Creating a Survey

Surveys are useful for managing the care and maintenance of the fixtures at each of your locations.  Scheduling routine or unique inspections of your equipment can make the difference of how well your property looks and operates while making next years budget a bit easier.Managing Properties and Assets

Sytewise is a powerful asset management tool that has a property-centric view of fixtures and devices that need maintenance and regular service.

Creating and Managing Work Orders

A work order is the engine of property operations in Sytewise. It captures what needs to be done, who's doing it, which fixtures are involved, what it costs, and proves it all happened when the job is done. This article walks through every step from creating the work order to closing it out, including how to reassign it, attach checklists, and add line items along the way.

Starting a Work Order

Work orders are created from the property detail page. Navigate to the property, find the trade you're creating the work order for, and click the New Work Order button. The work order modal opens and immediately gets to work on your behalf.

The Work Order Modal

The modal is organized into two columns. The left side handles the job details. The right side handles fixtures, instructions, and email configuration.

Subject and Dates

Subject is auto-filled with the property name and "WO" as a starting point. You'll almost certainly want to change this to something that describes the actual work. Keep it specific enough that it means something six months from now when it shows up in a report. Four characters minimum.

Order Date defaults to today. Change it if you're backdating or scheduling in advance.

Due Date defaults to five business days out from the order date. Adjust it to match the actual deadline. This is the date the system uses to flag the work order as overdue if it hasn't been completed.

Work Start Date is optional. Check the Include a Work Start Date? checkbox and a second date field appears. Use this when the vendor needs to know when they can begin the work, separate from when it needs to be done.

Vendor

The Vendor field is pre-filled with the default vendor assigned to this property/trade combination. If the right vendor is already there, leave it. If you need someone different, start typing a vendor name and the autocomplete will find them. As soon as a vendor is selected, their contact emails load automatically in the email section below, ready to be checked or unchecked.

If the vendor field shows no name or the wrong name, it means either no default vendor is set for this trade or the default needs to be updated on the property record. See the vendor setup article for how to assign default vendors to property trades.

Contract and Costs

If the property has active contracts, a Select a Contract dropdown appears. Selecting a contract auto-fills the Reference Number with the account number from that contract and may pre-populate the Total field with the contract's monthly fee. Both are editable.

Add Line Item lets you build out a cost breakdown directly in the modal. Each line item has a description, amount, and total. Add as many as the job requires. Line items can also be added and edited after the work order is created, so don't let an incomplete cost picture hold up the process.

Fixtures

The right column shows every fixture in the property/trade. This is where a common question comes up: do you have to flag a fixture for maintenance before you can add it to a work order?

No. Every fixture in the property/trade is available to add to a work order regardless of its current status. The colored status indicator next to each fixture (green for all items working, yellow or red for partial or full outage) is informational. It tells you the state of that fixture at a glance, but it doesn't gate whether you can include it in the work order. If a fixture needs attention, add it. If you want to include fixtures as part of a routine service visit even though nothing is broken, add them. The choice is yours.

Click All to select every fixture at once. Click None to deselect. Or check individual fixtures one by one. Fixtures highlighted in green are already included in another open work order, which is useful context before you add them to a second one.

Special Instructions and Files

Special Instructions is a free-text field for anything the vendor needs to know before they show up. Access codes, safety requirements, specific contacts to call on arrival, scope details that don't fit in the subject line. It all lands in the email the vendor receives.

Add A Zip File lets you attach a reference document, drawings, spec sheet, or any supporting file that should travel with the work order.

Checklists

If fixtures are selected and existing checklists are available for those fixtures, a checklist chooser appears below the fixture list. Check any checklists you want to attach to this work order. Attached checklists are included in the vendor email as direct links. The vendor opens the email and has both the work order and the checklist tasks in the same message.

If the checklists you need don't appear here, it's likely because they haven't been created yet or they're assigned to a different vendor. Checklists can also be linked to the work order after it's created.

Email Recipients

Vendor Contacts appear as checkboxes showing each contact on file for the selected vendor with their name and email address. Check the contacts who should receive this work order. If the vendor has no contacts in the system, a warning appears here. That's your cue to go add contacts to the vendor record before sending.

Admins to receive the WO emails lists the admin users in your account. Check any who should receive a copy.

Include Management in WO Emails is a checkbox that adds property management contact information to the body of the email sent to the vendor, useful when the vendor may need to reach someone on-site.

Saving

Click Save and the work order is created. You land on the work order detail page where the full record lives.

The Work Order Detail Page

The work order detail page is where everything about the job is visible and manageable. It's worth knowing what's where.

The header shows the work order number and subject. Superusers can click the pencil icon to edit the subject after creation.

The left column shows the key metadata: order date, start date (if set), due date or completion date, the admin user assigned, the associated contract, the fee, account number, and any bills linked to this work order.

The middle column is the notes section. Add notes here at any point during the life of the work order. Notes are timestamped and attributed to whoever adds them. Use notes to document conversations with the vendor, status updates, changes in scope, or anything relevant to the job. These notes also appear in the property print report, so they contribute to the permanent record of the property.

The right column shows the vendor, admin contacts, and client (if one is assigned to the property).

Editing the Work Order

While the work order is open, an edit form sits below the header. From here you can update the subject, instructions, assigned user, contract, fee, order date, start date, due date, and account number. Click Save to apply changes.

Fixtures, Line Items, and Checklists on the Detail Page

Fixtures appear in a table below the edit form showing the fixture name, part number, description, and status. Each row expands to show individual parts when clicked. Fixtures are added during creation and are shown here as a read-only reference. The fixture table updates with status outcomes when the vendor submits their report through the vendor portal.

Line items appear in an editable table. Add new items using the input row at the bottom: enter a quantity, description, amount, and line total, then click the plus button. Edit existing items by clicking the pencil icon on any row. The fields become editable in place. Press Enter or click save to commit the change. Delete items with the X icon. This makes it easy to update costs as the job scope evolves.

Linked Checklists appear in their own section below the fixtures. If you didn't attach checklists during creation, you can add them here. The dropdown shows all checklists that are eligible for this work order, meaning they share the same vendor, property, and trade. Select one from the dropdown and click Link Checklist. To remove a linked checklist, click the trash icon next to it and confirm.

Sending the Work Order to the Vendor

When you're ready, click Send Work Order. This triggers the email to all checked vendor contacts and admin users. The email includes the work order details, the vendor link for accessing the portal, any instructions, fixture information, attached checklist links, and line item costs.

The Email Log section at the bottom of the work order page records every email sent: who it went to, when, and whether it was delivered successfully. Green rows are successful sends. Red rows are failures. This log is included in the work order print report, so you always have documented proof of when the vendor was notified.

The Send Work Order button only appears if the vendor has a valid email address on file. If it's missing, go to the vendor record and add contact information first.

Reassigning the Work Order to a Different Vendor

Vendors change. Schedules conflict. A better option becomes available mid-job. Reassigning a work order is straightforward and the system handles the downstream effects automatically.

On the work order detail page, find the vendor section in the right column and click Change Vendor. An autocomplete field appears. Search for the new vendor, select them, and their contacts load as checkboxes. Check the contacts who should receive the reassignment email. You can also update which admin users receive a copy.

Click Update Vendor when ready. Several things happen at once:

The work order vendor record is updated. The old vendor contacts are deactivated. The new vendor contacts are recorded. A new email goes out immediately to all selected recipients with the full work order details. And every checklist linked to this work order that hasn't been completed yet is automatically updated to the new vendor so the checklist assignments stay in sync.

Updating admin contacts only (without changing the vendor) uses a separate Update Admin Contacts button and does not send a new email.

Completing and Closing a Work Order

There are two ways to mark a work order complete.

Mark complete at creation by checking the Status: Complete checkbox in the creation modal. This is useful when you're creating a historical record for work that already happened.

Close from the detail page using the Close Without Changes button, available to superusers. This marks the work order complete, records the current date and time as the completion date, and adds an automatic note logging who closed it. Use this when the work is done and no fixture status updates need to be recorded from the vendor portal.

If a work order needs to be reopened after being closed, the Reopen Work Order button appears in place of the close button on completed work orders. Clicking it clears the completion date and puts the work order back into the active queue.

Keeping It Organized

A few habits make work orders more useful over time.

Write descriptive subjects. "HVAC Service Visit" is far more useful in a report six months later than "WO 142." The subject appears in property reports, work order search results, and vendor emails. Make it count.

Use notes generously. Every status update, vendor conversation, or scope change is worth a note. The note history on a work order tells the story of the job. When a question comes up about what happened, the notes are the answer.

Attach checklists whenever the job involves documented work. A completed checklist attached to a work order gives you photographic evidence, signed acknowledgment, and a step-by-step record of what was done. That combination is hard to argue with.

Set accurate due dates and update them when they change. The overdue indicator on the work order detail page and the dashboard count of open work orders both depend on due dates being realistic. A work order set due two years from now is invisible to the system's urgency tracking.Setting Up Vendors in Sytewise

Vendors are at the center of how work gets done in Sytewise. Before you can issue a work order, assign a checklist, or track who serviced what, the vendors doing that work need to be in the system. This article covers every way to add vendors, how to organize their contacts, and why assigning default vendors to your property trades is one of the most time-saving things you can do.

Three Ways to Add Vendors

Add Vendors One at a Time

The Vendors page has a collapsible Create A New Vendor section. Fill it out and you have a vendor in the system.

Required fields:

Company Name — must be unique in your account

Phone Number — primary contact number for the company

Company Email — the main inbox for this vendor

Login Username — the vendor's credential for accessing their portal

Password — at least 8 characters, one capital letter, and one number

Address — the vendor's physical business address

Before you can save the record, you need to click Lookup Geolocation. This validates the address through Google Maps and stores the coordinates used for distance-based vendor searches. The Create Vendor button won't appear until that step is done, so don't skip it.  Vendors can have multiple address in the system.

Optional fields include a Description and a QuickBooks ID if your account uses QuickBooks for accounting reference.

Import Vendors from a CSV

If you're bringing a vendor list over from a spreadsheet or another system, the Import Vendors List section on the Vendors page accepts a CSV upload. The required columns are Company Name, Email, and Phone. Address, Description, Username, and Password are optional. If a username or password isn't included, Sytewise generates one automatically.

A sample CSV file is available to download directly from the import section so you can see the expected format before you build your file.

Import from the Sytewise Vendor Network

Sytewise maintains a broader vendor network shared across accounts. If a vendor you work with is already in the system from another account, the Import Sytewise Vendors section lets you search for them by name and add them directly to your account without re-entering their information.

Building Out a Vendor Record

Once a vendor is created, their detail page is where the full picture lives. A few things worth setting up here before you start issuing work:

Contacts are the people at the vendor company who receive communications. Work order emails and checklist notifications go to vendor contacts, not just the generic company email. Add the right contacts and the right people get notified automatically when jobs are assigned.

Insurance and W-9 tracking is built into every vendor record. If a vendor has a current insurance certificate on file, a badge appears on their record and on the vendor list so you can see coverage status at a glance without digging. Same for W-9 status. No more spreadsheets tracking who sent their cert and who hasn't.

Working Trades shows which trades this vendor has performed or been assigned to. This builds over time as work orders are issued and completed.

Alternate Vendors can be added to a vendor record for situations where the primary vendor is unavailable. Having alternates ready means you're never stuck searching for a backup when the regular vendor can't make it.

Default Vendors: The Part Worth Getting Right

Here's where the real efficiency lives. In Sytewise, vendors aren't just assigned to properties — they're assigned to specific trades within a property. That combination, a property plus a trade, can have a default vendor that Sytewise uses to pre-fill work orders automatically.

When you open the new work order modal for a property, Sytewise looks at which trade the work order is for and fills in the default vendor for that trade automatically. The vendor field arrives pre-populated with the right company, and their contacts load up ready to select as email recipients. You don't have to search, you don't have to remember who handles HVAC at that building. It's just there.

This matters more as your portfolio grows. A property with ten trades and a different vendor for each one becomes a mental load fast. Default vendors eliminate that load entirely for the routine case.

How to Assign a Default Vendor to a Trade

When adding a new trade to a property: The New Trade modal includes a vendor search field right in the form. Select the trade, search for the vendor, and both are saved together. The default vendor is set from day one.

For an existing trade: On the property detail page, click into the trade tab, find the Vendor card, and click Change Vendor. Search by name, select the vendor, and the assignment updates immediately.

Find vendors by distance: Not sure who's closest? The Vendor card on a property trade lets you search for vendors by proximity: 10, 25, 50, 100, or 250 miles from the property. Results come back ranked by distance so you can make an informed choice before assigning.

Why Default Vendors Pay Off

The short version: every work order you create for a property trade with a default vendor set takes one fewer decision. The vendor is pre-selected, their contacts are loaded, and you move straight to describing the work and setting the due date. Also, if anyone has to pinch hit for your projects, the vendor you have a relationship with is a known quantity.

Multiply that across every work order your team issues in a month and it adds up quickly. More importantly, it reduces the chance that a work order goes to the wrong vendor because someone picked from a list in a hurry.

If the default vendor ever changes because of a new contract or a better relationship with a different company, updating the property trade record takes fifteen seconds. Every future work order for that trade at that property picks up the new default automatically.Building an Annual Workflow with Reminders

Reactive property management is exhausting. Something breaks, you scramble. A vendor falls through, you scramble again. The antidote is a planned calendar of recurring work that runs itself in the background, so when the unexpected does show up, you already have the routine under control.

The Reminders system in Sytewise is how you build that calendar. Set up your recurring inspections, work orders, and service checks once, and the system generates the actions, notifies the right people, and keeps a running record of what got done and when.

Two Things Worth Understanding First

Reminders in Sytewise have two parts that work together.

Reminder Sources are the rules. They define what the reminder is, when it repeats, who it's for, and what it creates when it fires. You set these up once and they run as long as you need them to.

Reminder Actions are the individual instances. Each time a reminder source fires, it generates an action on that date. Actions show up in your Incomplete Reminder Actions list and on the calendar, waiting for you to acknowledge or act on them.

Think of the source as the recipe and the action as each meal it produces. You write the recipe once. Dinner shows up on schedule.

Creating a Reminder

From the Reminders page or from within any property, work order, survey, fixture, or contract record, click New Reminder to open the reminder form.

Subject is required and becomes the label you'll see on the calendar and in the actions list. Be specific. "HVAC Filter Check" is more useful than "Maintenance" when you're looking at a full year of planned work.

Priority marks the reminder with a red indicator so it stands out in the list. Use it for anything time-sensitive or compliance-driven.

Message is the details. Instructions, notes, context for whoever is handling the action.

For lets you assign the reminder to a specific user on your team. Leave it as "For Me" if you're the one handling it. The Plus Everybody checkbox makes the reminder visible to all users regardless of who it's assigned to, useful for team-wide visibility on shared responsibilities.

Single Reminders vs. Recurring Reminders

Leave the Repeating? checkbox unchecked and you get a simple one-time reminder. Pick a due date and it shows up once.

Check Repeating? and the form expands into a full recurrence builder. This is where the annual workflow lives.

Starts and Ends define the window the recurring reminder is active. Check Repeat Forever? if the work has no planned end date (routine maintenance, annual inspections) or set a specific end date for things tied to a contract or lease term.

Frequency Options

Daily creates an action every day. Best for short-term tracking situations or daily checklists on active job sites.

Weekly lets you choose specific days of the week and an interval. Every Monday. Every other Friday. Every two weeks on Tuesday and Thursday. Weekly reminders are good for recurring vendor check-ins, safety walkthroughs, or any work that happens on a regular weekly schedule.

Monthly lets you pick specific days of the month and how many months between occurrences. The 1st of every month. The 15th and last day of every other month. Monthly reminders handle lease deadlines, billing cycles, filter changes, and equipment logs.

Yearly repeats on the same calendar date each year, with an interval if you need every two or three years instead of every one. Annual inspections, equipment certifications, fire system tests, and anything tied to a specific time of year all live here.

Attaching Reminders to Records

Reminders get much more powerful when they're attached to the records they relate to. When you create a reminder from within a property, work order, fixture, or contract, a checkbox appears asking whether to link the reminder to that record.

Leave it checked. Linked reminders appear in context when you open that record, and the action in your list will include a direct link to the related property, vendor, fixture, or contract so you're never hunting for context.

The Part That Makes Recurring Work Orders Possible

When you create a reminder attached to a work order, a second checkbox appears: Replicate this Work Order. This is the feature that closes the loop between planning and execution.

When this box is checked, Sytewise stores a snapshot of the work order including the subject, instructions, vendor, line items, fixtures, and fee. Every time that reminder fires and you click the action to complete it, the system offers to generate a brand new work order with all of that information pre-loaded. You confirm, the work order gets created in the queue, and you adjust the due date and send it to the vendor.

The same option exists for surveys. Check Replicate this Survey when attaching a reminder to a survey record, and each annual or recurring action gives you a ready-to-send survey with the same surveyor, structure, and instructions.

This means the recurring maintenance work order you build once in January can reproduce itself every quarter, every year, or on whatever schedule you define, without rebuilding it from scratch each time.

The Calendar View

The Reminders page has a calendar in the right panel showing all your upcoming reminder events. Future events appear faded so you can easily distinguish between what's already arrived and what's on the horizon. Click any event on the calendar to see its details.

Use the Current/Upcoming and Completed toggles to switch between your active queue and your history. Completed actions stay in the record so you always have a log of when work was done, by whom, and against which reminder source.

Notifications and the Actions List

When a reminder action arrives, it appears in the Incomplete Reminder Actions list on the Reminders page and increments the badge counter in the navigation. If you haven't seen it yet, it also appears as a toast notification in the upper right corner of the screen.

You can filter the actions list by reminder type to focus on just work orders, just surveys, just properties, or any other category. Click any action to navigate to the related record, or click the pencil icon to edit the reminder source settings without leaving the list.

If a category of planned work no longer applies, you can clear actions individually or use Clear All Incomplete Actions to dismiss the whole list at once. Note that clearing actions does not create work orders or surveys automatically, it only marks them as handled.

If reminder popups are distracting during a focused work session, check Do Not Show Reminder Popups in the settings panel at the top of the Reminders page. The actions list still accumulates normally, you just won't get the toast interruptions.

Building Your Annual Calendar

Here is a practical approach to turning the reminders system into a full annual operating calendar for a property or portfolio.

Start with the fixed dates. Annual inspections, fire system certifications, HVAC service contracts, elevator permits, roof inspections, and anything with a regulatory or contractual deadline all get yearly reminders first. These are the non-negotiables. Set them with the exact due date, attach them to the relevant property or fixture, and replicate the associated work order if vendor dispatch is required.

Layer in the seasonal work. Landscaping changeovers, winterization, cooling startup, holiday lighting, pressure washing cycles, and similar seasonal tasks get monthly or yearly reminders tied to the appropriate time of year. These don't always have regulatory teeth but they do have consequences when they're missed. A reminder that fires three weeks before the service date gives you time to issue the work order and confirm the vendor.

Add the routine recurring checks. Filter changes, pest control, generator exercise runs, fire extinguisher checks, exit lighting tests, and similar recurring maintenance live as monthly or quarterly reminders. Replicate the associated work order for each one so dispatch takes one click when the action fires.

Set reminders for contract and insurance milestones. Attach reminders to vendor contracts and insurance records with a start date set 60 or 90 days before expiration. When the action fires, you have time to renew before anything lapses. No surprises.

Assign the right people. A reminder nobody sees is just a calendar event. Assign each reminder to the user responsible for that category of work, and use Plus Everybody for anything with shared visibility. When an action fires, the right person knows.

When all of that is in place, the unplanned work, the burst pipe at 2am, the failed compressor, the storm damage, lands in a context where you already know where things stand, who your vendors are, and what's coming next on the calendar. The planned work runs on its own. You show up for the surprises.Reporting in Sytewise: What You Have, How to Use It, and How to Make It Work for You

Good reporting is the difference between managing a property and understanding it. Sytewise generates detailed reports at every level of the system, from a single fixture to an entire portfolio, and gives you the tools to turn those reports into a recurring documentation habit that builds a real operational history over time. This article covers what each report includes, how to get it, and how to wire the whole thing into a workflow that practically runs itself.

Property Reports

The property print report is the most comprehensive single document in the system. Open any property, click the print icon, and you get a full snapshot of everything tied to that property at that moment.

What it includes:

The report opens with the property header, address, unit count, and square footage alongside your company's contact information. A map or property image appears at the top depending on what's configured.

From there the report works its way through every layer of the property record:

Contacts lists every person associated with the property, with phone, email, and their role.

Trades and vendors shows which trades are active on the property and which vendor and surveyor are assigned to each one, so anyone picking up the report knows who handles what without having to dig through the system.

Property notes appear in chronological order with timestamps and their source, whether they were entered by an admin, generated from a work order, or submitted through a survey. Reading the notes history of a property tells you the story of that building's issues and resolutions over months and years. That accumulation of notes is genuinely useful when you're trying to figure out why a recurring problem keeps happening.

Fixtures appear as a summary table with status, recent notes, image status, type, and description. If checklists are attached to fixtures, their completion percentages and progress bars appear in the report so you can see at a glance how much documented maintenance has been completed.

Work orders appear in a table with number, date, subject, vendor, due date, completion date, account number, and total fee. The full work order history of a property in a single table is one of the fastest ways to see how much was spent, what vendors were used, and how often specific types of work recurred.

Surveys appear similarly with surveyor, dates, and completion status.

Bills and insurance/files round out the financial and compliance picture.

At the bottom, a chart shows fixture status changes over time so you can see visually whether a property's overall condition is trending up, holding steady, or declining.

This report works well as a handoff document when a property changes management, as a quarterly review packet, or as the foundation of a client-facing condition summary.

The Properties Report Page

The Properties Report page (separate from the property print view) lets you search and filter across your entire portfolio and export results as a CSV. You can report by:

Trade: All properties with a specific trade, showing the property name, address, vendor, and client for each.

Vendor: All properties served by a specific vendor across the portfolio.

Line item type: For portfolios with service contracts, report by specific contract line items across all locations.

Fixture text search: Find all properties containing fixtures that match a name, part number, or model.

Every result table has a Download CSV button so you can pull the data into a spreadsheet for further analysis or client reporting.

The portfolio-level reporting is where you start to see patterns that individual property views can't show you. Which vendor shows up on the most work orders? Which trade generates the most spend across the portfolio? Which properties have the most open work? The CSV exports make it straightforward to answer those questions.

Fixture Reports

The fixture print report goes deep on a single piece of equipment and its complete documented history.

What it includes:

The header identifies the fixture by name, description, and property context. Any cover image designated as the primary archived photo appears at the top.

Notes appear in chronological order with timestamps, giving you the full running log of everything observed, repaired, or noted about this specific piece of equipment.

Images are displayed in a gallery grid, providing a visual record of the fixture's condition over time. A picture taken during a service call six months ago is still there when a problem recurs, and being able to compare current condition to past photos is genuinely useful for diagnosing whether something got worse or was never properly fixed.

Parts and specifications appear in a structured table with part numbers, manufacturer, model, description, and installation dates. For AV and technical fixtures, this is the complete equipment manifest for that installation.

Checklists attached to the fixture appear in full detail, with every item, its completion status, notes entered, images uploaded, and signatures captured. A fixture that has been through three annual maintenance checklists has three years of documented inspections in this report.

The fixture log at the bottom shows a chart of status changes over time, the same visual history as the property report but scoped to this one fixture.

The fixture report is the document you want when a vendor questions whether a piece of equipment was ever serviced, when an insurer asks for maintenance records, or when you need to make a capital replacement case based on documented decline.

Work Order Reports

Every work order has a print view that serves as a formal record of the job.

What it includes:

The header identifies the work order by number and name. The report shows the from and to parties (your company, the client, the property, the vendor) alongside the account number, issued date, due date, and fee.

Instructions appear in full, followed by any vendor notes and a chronological notes history showing every entry made during the life of the work order.

Fixtures appear in a table showing the fixture name, part number, description, and the status outcome for each one as reported during the work. Status badges (OK, FAIL, FAIL/REP, No Change) give a quick visual summary of what was found.

Line items show the detailed cost breakdown with quantities, descriptions, and amounts.

The email log at the bottom of the work order print is one of the most underappreciated parts. It records every email sent from that work order, who it went to, when it was sent, and whether it succeeded or failed. This is your proof of notification if a vendor ever claims they didn't receive the assignment.

Work order reports are the natural output at the close of a job. Archiving them by property gives you a searchable maintenance history. The CSV export from the work orders list lets you pull the full WO history for a property, a vendor, a date range, or a trade combination and analyze it however you need.

Survey Reports

Survey reports document what a surveyor observed in the field.

What it includes:

The header identifies the survey, property, and surveyor. The report shows due and completion dates, with color coding for overdue status.

Instructions given to the surveyor appear first, followed by the submitted fixtures section showing each fixture the surveyor reviewed. For each one: its on/off status, part number, position, description, surveyor notes, and any images captured during the visit.

Fixture updates and part updates capture any changes the surveyor noted during the inspection.

The email log records every communication sent as part of the survey workflow.

Survey reports work well as scheduled condition documentation. A quarterly survey with a consistent set of fixtures builds a time-stamped record of how each one looked at each visit, which is exactly the kind of documentation that supports capital planning conversations and vendor accountability.

Checklist Reports and the Custom Report Engine

Here is where reporting in Sytewise gets genuinely flexible.

A completed checklist is a report. Every item in the checklist is a data point: a note, a photo, a signature, a set of checkboxes, a file upload. The checklist print view presents all of that in a clean, structured document with the fixture and property context, completion percentages, who completed each step, and when.

That means the checklist system is not just a task-completion tool. It is a fully customizable report builder.

Building a Property Condition Report

A property condition report is a structured walk through a property or set of systems that documents what was found, with evidence, signed off by whoever conducted the inspection. Here is how you build one using a checklist template.

Create the checklist template. Go to the Checklists page and create a new template. Give it a name like "Property Condition Report" and set the trade to "Any Trade" so it's available across property types.

Build the checklist items as inspection categories. Each item in the checklist becomes a section of the report. For a property condition report, you might build items like:

Exterior Condition with a note field (required), up to five images (required), and simple checkboxes for items like "No visible damage," "Landscaping maintained," "Signage intact"

Parking Area with a note field and image upload, checkboxes for "No standing water," "Lines visible," "Lighting functional"

Roof Access and Condition with a note field, required image upload, and a signature requirement so the inspector certifies the observation

HVAC Units with a note field, images, and checkboxes for "Units operational," "No visible leaks," "Filters checked"

Common Areas with notes and images

Any system, space, or component you want documented

Use the requirement options to enforce quality. Mark photos as required on any item where visual evidence matters. Require notes on anything where a written observation is necessary. Require a signature on the final summary item to capture who conducted the inspection and certify the report. These requirements mean the checklist can't be marked complete without the evidence being submitted.

Assign it to the property as a fixture checklist. When it's time to conduct the inspection, assign the checklist template to the relevant fixture or property-level fixture, set a due date, choose the inspector as the vendor or internal user, and send the link.

The inspector completes it from their phone. They walk the property, tap through each section, write their notes, upload photos from their camera, check the applicable boxes, and sign off at the end. All of it is submitted and stored.

Print the completed checklist. The checklist print view becomes the condition report: every section, every note, every photo, every checkbox result, every signature, with the date and name of who completed it. It is a fully documented property condition assessment built from a single checklist completion.

The same template can be reused. Assign it again in six months and you have a second condition report. Compare the two and you have a documented record of whether conditions improved, held steady, or declined. Over two or three years, that pattern becomes a legitimate basis for capital planning, vendor performance conversations, insurance documentation, or client reporting.

The template is fully customizable to any report type. A fire safety walkthrough. A move-in/move-out inspection. An AV system commissioning sign-off. A post-storm damage assessment. An annual vendor performance review. An equipment inventory audit. Any structured inspection or documentation process that benefits from notes, photos, signatures, and checkboxes can be built as a checklist template and reused indefinitely.

Turning Reports Into a Recurring System

A report generated once is useful. A report generated on a schedule, consistently, over time, becomes a documented operational history. Here is how to wire reporting into a recurring workflow using the Reminders system.

Create a checklist template for each recurring report type. Property condition report, quarterly HVAC inspection, annual fire safety walkthrough, whatever your portfolio requires. Build the template once so the structure is consistent every time it's run.

Set up a work order with a recurring reminder. Create a work order for the inspection or service, assign the vendor or inspector, and attach the relevant checklist. Then attach a reminder to that work order with Replicate this Work Order checked, set to the correct recurrence frequency (quarterly, annually, semi-annually). Each time the reminder fires, one click creates a new work order with the same structure, the same vendor, and the same checklist, ready to be sent.

Set a reminder to assign the checklist directly. For condition reports or inspections that don't require a full work order, create a reminder attached to the relevant property or fixture and set it to the appropriate frequency. When the action fires, you assign a fresh checklist from the template to the fixture, send the link to the inspector, and the report is collected and stored.

Use the calendar view to see the full year. The Reminders calendar shows every scheduled recurring event across your portfolio. A properly set-up calendar shows you inspection months, service windows, contract renewal dates, survey cycles, and reporting deadlines all in one view. Planned work is visible. Unplanned events land in a context where you already know what's coming and can respond without losing track of the routine.

The long-term value compounds. A property that has a condition report completed every six months for three years has six documented snapshots of its physical state. That record answers questions before they're asked. It supports warranty claims. It demonstrates due diligence to insurers. It shows clients that conditions are being actively monitored. And it gives you the factual basis to have productive conversations with vendors about work quality and recurring problems.

Reports are only as useful as the habit behind them. The Reminders system is how you turn that habit into infrastructure.

Parts: Create, Edit and Clone

Sytewise Parts are attached to Fixtures. A parts list is associated with fixtures. To create a new part:

Go the the Fixture that will have the part being created.

In the right column below the Fixture details and click "New Part"

Fill out the form and click "Save".

Parts have the following attributes.

A Part Number: (Required, 60 characters) You can use a serial number or something descriptive. Both the Part Number and Description appear on the part list on the fixture page so descriptions can be confined to the description field

Description: (Required) Here is where you give useful descriptive text like Fan Belt.

Installed Date: (Required) Default: day the part was entered. You can change this to an earlier date if the part was installed at a different time.

Position: (Optional, 12 characters) A short description of the location of the part on the fixture: "Front", "Left", "Top" or simply "A" works. This field sorts the parts list after Part Number and Description.

Model Number: (Optional, 80 characters)

Warranty Expiration Date: (Optional) If a warranty is applicable, enter the expiration date.

Warranty Description: (Optional) Who services the warranty or other terms.

Table Details: (Optional) use this field to create a table of additional data if needed. Each table row per line. Column breaks with commas.

Parts are either Status “On” or “Off”

 

Admins can change the status of any part simply by clicking the green or red toggle. Once you've changed the all the part statuses make sure to click "Save" at the top of the list.

Surveys and Work Orders can affect changes to parts statuses as well.

Cloning Parts

You can clone any part already created in your account. This may come in handy if you have redundant parts, especially ones with a lot of detail. Cloning parts places the cloned part within the original Fixture. To copy a part (or a select set of parts) into another fixture look into create a Library of that part (or parts) to reuse elsewhere.

To Clone a Part:

Navigate to the fixture where the part is going to be cloned.

In the listing of parts check the checkbox on the right side next to the print icon.

You can only check one part to clone.

To copy more than one part use the Library feature

Click "Clone" at the top of the Parts list.

Enter a position if necessary for this copy of the part.

Change the part number to help identify this part from the original. Alternately, position can serve as the differentiator.

Reference: Terms & Concepts

Terms and concepts related to using the Sytewise platform.

Properties

Properties are one of the fundamental concepts of the Sytewise system.  A Property can be an actual property that you manager, or it may just be an address of the location where you have an asset that you manage.  It can be the location where you do contractual work or provide a service.  Whatever it means to you and your company, Sytewise sees a Property as a location and that location is unchangeable once established in the system.

When you add a property to your Sytewise account you are establishing a physical location on the planet for any Trade you use within your account.  HVAC, Plumbing, Asphalt, Doors, and Keys are just a few of the many Trades you can establish for a Property Location in your account.

Trades

A Trade is a type of work conducted on your property locations.  It can be work conducted by your staff or outside Vendors.  Establishing a Trade for a property allows you to do the following:

Establish a location to store Work Orders and Information for Similar Types of Work. (HVAC, Plumbing, Roofing, etc..)

Establish a default Vendor for Certain Types of Work at Certain Properties. (Who's our Plumber in TN? What's his number?)

See all of a specific type of Fixtures on your Property in One Place.

Quickly access trade specific notes about your properties. (Does the Landlord maintain the HVAC units or the Tenant?)

Below is a Property Header showing several Trades.  Notice that the Keys Trade is Highlighted.  The Preferred Vendor and Surveyor are listed just below the Property info.  Your Client for this Property is listed along with any special notes.  Moving from one Trade to another is as simple as clicking the Trade tab at the top of the Header.

Fixtures

A fixture, in the Sytewise Property Asset Manager, is a fixed property asset that requires maintenance, repair or replacement. From the Property / Trade you wish to associate the fixture you can add fixtures in a few ways.

Add One Fixture

Click the + Fixture button at the top of the fixture list.

All the fields are required.

Adding a vendor works the same throughout Sytewise. Start typing the name of the vendor you wish to choose. Arrow down or click the name that appears in the list to select. Confirm  by clicking the check, if present.

Adding multiple fixtures

Sytewise gives you the ability to add many fixtures at once to any Property / Trade. The software accepts CVS formatted files prepared in a specific column order. Clicking the "Import Fixtures" button shows a Modal window where you can choose the file to upload. In the modal there are specific instructions on how to format your CVS data. Files not formatted correctly can import fixtures that are incorrect.

Check the preview table for any errors or misalignments before committing the import.

You can only import 50 fixtures at a time.

Parts

Parts are Where the Work Gets Done

Parts helps you track the components of your fixtures along with their repairs and updates.  They are the pieces of your Fixtures that wear out, need adjustment, get updated, and generally need to be maintained.

Actions can be Parts, Too!

Parts are mostly seen as the physical components of your Fixtures.  But don't limit the usefulness of the Sytewise platform to only the physical parts of the system.  Actions can be listed as parts also if you have a need or want to track them.  Take Annual Fire Panel inspections for example, or Routine Maintenance.  If you add Routine Actions to your Fixture, you can select them as a part that needs repair on a Work Order and keep track of their dates of service.

Examples of Actions that can be listed as a Fixture Part could be:

Quarterly Filter Changes on HVAC Units

Inspecting your Fire Extinguishers

Annual Inspection of Backflow and Sprinkler Systems

What are the Good Parts to Add to my Fixture?

Some Fixtures you may want to list all of the parts from the beginning.  This can establish what type of equipment you have on site at a particular location.  A Solid Waste Dumpster for Example, may have a lock on it, It may be in an enclosure, and that enclosure may have doors, or gates, or even a roof. Listing all of these items up front lets you easily access what type of equipment you have at that location.

Other Fixtures may be best served by only listing the parts that need and/or have been repaired.  This can make it easy to see what work has been done on a Fixture and keep track of updated parts and warranty information.  An HVAC unit is a good example of a Fixture with a lot of Parts.  You may be tempted to add the Compressor part numbers and other common features that you want to track.  The information can be helpful, but it can also make it less apparent what, if any parts have been replaced.

A good rule of thumb on when to add a part to a Fixture, if a part is an element of structure that isn't likely to change, and you will need to be able to recall and track, make it a part.  If a part is something that can be updated, like firmware, or changed when it wears out, like a compressor on an HVAC system, wait until you actually need to change it to add it to the Fixture.  This allows you to see at a glance what the permanent elements of your Fixture are while quickly establishing which parts have been serviced or replaced.Clients

Clients are the people or entities that own the properties or locations that you manage with Sytewise.  Clients will be part of the contracts you create and can be associated with all or just some of the properties you manage.Adding Photos to Fixtures

Fixtures are any fixed property asset that requires maintenance or repair. Fixtures are located within a Property / Trade that is managed by the Sytewise Management Platform. All fixtures have a GPS location or a coordinate location on a floorpan.

To add a photo to a fixture you need to be on the fixture page and click the "Upload Files" button in the right side of the Fixture Page Header.

This will open a Modal window on screen that allows you to drag and drop up to 10 files. You can also use the browse button to find files on your computer to upload. Here is the upload window.

You can choose to add files from a web URL or your computer's camera.

You can only upload image files that are PNG, GIF, or JPG and PDF files. Images of any dimension larger than 400 x 400 pixels can be uploaded as long as they are less than 10MB in size.Work Orders

A work order is an action request for a trade vendor to complete work on a fixture related to a property.Why Property / Trade?

The Sytewise Property Management System is property centric, meaning all activity recorded and stored is associated with a property. Properties can have multiple Trades. These trades represent the industries that install, maintain, repair and replace the fixtures on each property.

For example, a property may have several trades: Grease Traps, Lights, and Roofing; just to name a few. Each trade has it's subset of Fixtures, Contracts, Insurance, Preferred Vendors and associated Work Orders.

Depending on your Sytewise account profile the trades available to you may differ from those in the example above.

Adding a trade is as simple as clicking the [+] icon next to the trade tabs, selecting the new trade (if any are available to your account) and choosing a vendor. The default vendor for the property is already chosen for you.

Survey

A survey is an action request for a Surveyor to look at and document the status of fixtures on a property.Tenants

Tenants are those that occupy the properties and spaces that you manage.  They can be your actual tenants if you manage multi family properties or commercial shopping centers.  They can also be the GM's of your local stores if you manage real estate for a multi-site commercial entity.

Users

Users is anyone that uses the Administration portal of the software.  The can be a property manager or a project manager.  Anyone that has log in credentials to view or add data in the system.  A super-user can create other users in the system.Contracts

Contracts are agreements between Clients, Vendors, and Properties.  Contracts keep your scheduled work on track and terms of the agreement available to you, no matter where you are.Contacts

Contacts are people associated with Vendors, Clients, or Properties.  Keeping their contact information with you at all times in the context of their company or property is very useful, and in an emergency can keep an emergency from turning into a disaster.The Property Information Funnel

Designed for Work and Designed for Data

The Sytewise  platform is designed to help you gather the information you need to make good sense spending and business decisions as you go about the process of managing the maintenance and care of your assets.  The data is literally the passive byproduct of working in a system designed to harvest meaningful information as a dividend on the day to day labor of asset maintenance.

Everyday as you create work orders, survey systems or components, or schedule inspections you are planting useful information into the system that can be used to make decisions from a very narrow perspective, and also light up trends across your entire portfolio.

So with that introduction, here is what the Sytewise Data Funnel looks like and where you can reach in and harness the information that will make your assets more profitable and your relationships with owners and vendors much more lucrative.  For the purpose of this graphic the assets are properties, but if you can see it, Sytewise can handle it.

Hopefully you have as many Clients as you want.  Each of them can have several Properties.  Every property will employ Vendors of several trades.  Every Trade will have several Fixtures on each Property. And finally each Fixture is composed of its several Parts.

At each point we have people who need information and can give us information about our Assets.

Clients need information about their Properties

Vendors need information about the Property, The Fixture and The Parts

Your Tenants Have Helpful Information about your Property and need information about the Work of Vendors.

Sytewise is the place to store everything with a savvy interface to perform your daily tasks and harvest the intel when you need it.

WO, Survey Email Preferences

When you create a Work Order or Survey, you have an option to send the vendor or surveyor an email of the order. This email has a link to the work to be done. Once The Survey or Work Order is complete, either work finished or rejected in the case of Work Orders, the status of that order is updated in the system along with all the fixtures, parts and properties are updated.

But what if you want to be notified of that completion? You can set email preferences for each Sytewise user that dictate when they are sent a message of the update.

To Set Your Global Email Preferences for Work Order or Survey Notification

Global settings are for every instance of a Work Order or Survey. For settings specific to any one property see below.

Go to the user's page you wish to setup Users > User

Under the section Global Email Preferences check your choices

Receive All Work Order Responses - You will receive all Work Order submissions from vendors, no matter the property.

Receive All Work Order Rejections - You will only receive Work Orders vendors reject.

Receive All Survey Responses - Every survey submitted for any of your properties will be sent to your email address.

Click Save to keep your choices.

To Set Your Email Preference for Individual Properties

You must create favorite properties to add email notices to.

To add a property to your favorites

start typing the name of the property in the text box provided.

Select the property from the list of search results (be sure to spell it correctly)

Hit return.

Any favorite property can have Work Orders or Survey responses sent to you.

If you have set WOs or Surveys to be globally sent you cannot add individual properties to your email preference.

Favorite Properties

Your Dashboard and Properties pages in the Sytewise Admin show a list of your favorite properties. This is a convenient list for quick reference. Otherwise you can search for properties by name, by state, or by other user's favorites at the top of the property list.

To make a property your favorite

Find the property you want to make your favorite and go to the property page.

Find the star to the left of the property name

Click the star.

Make a property your favorite from your User page.

Go to your user page

Find the list of favorite properties on the right.

Start typing the name of the property in the search box

Select with your arrow keys of your mouse the property you wish to add.

Hit return.

Reference: The Sytewise User Interface

A rundown of the Sytewise user interface from the main admin screen through the menus and pages.

Interface parts

The Sytewise User Interface

Once you are logged in the Sytewise interface will have the following components always available to you.

A. Menu Collapse

Click this "hamburger" icon to the right of the Sytewise Logo to collapse the main menu bar to the left. This is convenient when you need more screen real estate in the main window area.

B. Account Block

At the top of the main menu bar on the left is your account block. This area contains the Photo you uploaded for your user profile (the username and password you logged in with). Clicking the Username or the Photo takes you to your user profile page. If you have super user privileges you can click the Account name under the user's name to go to the account settings.

C. Quick Tools Navigation

At the upper right of the top of every page you will find a series of 4 icons. These are quick links to useful tools in the Sytewise system.

Shortcuts Arrow: Clicking this opens a dropdown with quick links to the shortcuts

Reminder Bell: This drops down the reminder tool. Reminders are one-time or recurring events that remind you on a particular day to do something in Sytewise. Reminders can be attached to many of the items within Sytewise. Just go to that page and start making a reminder.

Help Icon: Clicking this question mark icon takes you to the Sytewise help site. (this site)

Logout Icon: Clicking this icon will log you out of Sytewise. You are automatically logged out after an hour.

D. Shortcuts

You can set shortcuts for yourself in your user profile. They are in the shortcut quick tools dropdown and are shown on your dashboard (as seen in the image above).

E. Main Menu Navigation

On the left of the screen in the dark band is the Main Menu. Here are links to every section within the system and their details. Some links have more detail pages in them and require one click to reveal those detail pages. Properties > New Property, Properties > Property Search for example.

F. Page Header

Each page has a header with a breadcrumb for knowing the context of your current page, a page title and a refresh icon. You can click any of the upward links in the breadcrumb to go back to that page. The refresh Icon is helpful if you need to start your entries.

G. Reminders Indicator

Next to the Reminders Main Menu item there will occur a number in a red circle. This is the un-attended-to reminders number. If this number appears (it will not if there are zero reminders to attend), you can click "Reminders" in the Main Menu to see what is in your reminders queue.The Dashboard

The initial page once you log in is your property management dashboard.

Shortcuts

The top contains your shortcuts. These are summary color blocks that are also links to important sections of the Sytewise system.

To edit your shortcuts

Go to your user profile page by clicking your photo

Or click the shortcuts button below the blocks

Or click the "Configure" item in the shortcuts dropdown

Find the shortcuts section and select up to 5 by checking the checkbox next to the shortcut.

Special Dashboard Tools

Just below the shortcuts is a set of buttons and search boxes that have particular functions. These choices are changing as Sytewise continues to improve it's toolset but the basics will remain the same.

Creating a new property

You can create a new property from the Main Menu on the left at anytime. Go to Properties > New Property. The dashboard and property pages also have a one click button that take you to the new property page.

Printing and Downloading All Properties

Sytewise lets users maintain a "Favorite Properties" list that is what is displayed in the Properties Summary on the dashboard and properties page. If you want to print or download a CSV of all the properties in the account click the associated button.

Quick Searches

On the dashboard there are quick search fields for going straight to a vendor or client profile page. Simply start typing the name of a vendor or client in the field, select the name from the list (arrow keys or with your mouse) and hit return. This will take you to the appropriate page.

Property Summary Map and List

The main part of the dashboard and property pages is the map and list of your favorite properties. You can add favorite properties in your User Profile or by visiting a property page and click the star next to the property name.

Clicking on a map marker reveals the property name (as a link to that property) and highlights the property in the list to the right. You can scale and move the map around with your mouse. You can also switch views and even go to street level view in every map on Sytewise. Sytewise maps are generated from Googles maps interface and will reflect their user interface and data.

Search by Name

Clicking in the "Search by Property Name" field and start typing will dropdown a list of properties in your account that match by name. Clicking (or using the arrow keys) to a name in the list and hitting return will go to that property page.

Narrowing or Expanding the Summary List

The list of properties (and their corresponding map locations) can be changed using the View By State and User dropdown choices. Simply choose any of the options in the lists and the list changes to only include those. Choosing a state will show all the properties located in that state. Choose a user will show you that user's favorite properties. This can be useful for management to check on the status of an employee's properties.

The Property List

The Property Name Line has the Sytewise internal property ID first, then the given name for the property. Clicking either of these will take you to the first created trade for that property. Finally, there is a printer icon which takes you to that property's printable page. The address is always on the second line.

Client and Vendors Line lists the client (which is for every trade on this property) and the default vendor for the first trade created for the property. To see who the vendor is for each trade go to the trade for that property.

Blue Contract Icon to the left allows you to reveal any contracts for the property. Clicking it will load a list of contracts under the property trades.

Property Trades are listed under the client and vendor line. Clicking "Load Trade Statuses" will change the color of each trade button on the list to the current status of that trade. Green: all fixtures in good order. Yellow: at least one fixture is out of order. Red: all fixtures and parts in that trade are in need of attention.Property Page (part 1)

The property page in the Sytewise system is the central hub for all things property management. The page contains all pertinent information about a property with direct links to everything you need to know, if it isn't already represented on the page. There is, in fact so much to cover on the property page we created two pages just for the overview. Reminder: more detailed information about the use and best practice of Sytewise is contained in other chapters on this help site. Read about the bottom half of the property page.

 FYI Anytime you see this icon clicking it expands more information related to the title next to this button.

A. Trade Tabs

Each property has at least one trade. Your account has a set number of trades it can create, contact Sytewise to add or change that list of available trades. Adding a trade is as simple as clicking the "+" button at the far right of the trade tabs.

Switch between trades by clicking the tab. The colored dot indicates the status of that trade's fixtures. Green: all good. Yellow: at least one issue. Red: all parts and fixtures have issues.

B. Property Settings

The left third of the property info section is for specifics about the whole property, including any trades. Clicking the "Edit" button will open a form to change these settings.

NOTE: The property address is not editable. It was set when the property was created in Sytewise and is based on Geolocation technology for properly formatted addresses. It also includes the specific GPS location of the property marker.

C. Property Client

Each property can optionally be assigned a client. To see the client's contacts and other information expand the information box by clicking the "+" next to the client name.

D. Add Buttons

On the top right side of the property info section you will find a group of buttons for creating new Work Orders, Contracts and Surveys.

The download icon will download all the fixture data in a CSV format.

E. Notes

The right side of the property info section includes a notes tool. Simply type a note in the field and hit return to create a new note. Clicking the red "X" will delete the note. Clicking the blue thumbtack will pin the note to the top of all notes.

Each note is timestamped and indicates the username who created it.

F. Vendor Section

The vendor for the selected trade is listed in the title with a link to that vendor's page. Clicking the "+" button shows the vendor's contact details including any staff or other contacts you've created for that vendor.

To change vendors for the selected trade you can select a vendor by name or by distance from the property. Selected vendors are chosen when creating work orders or contracts for the selected trade.

Select a vendor by name

Starting typing a vendor's name in the vendor name field. From the list of found vendors click or arrow-key to the name and hit return.

This will change the vendor for the selected trade.

Select a vendor by distance

Choose a distance from the dropdown list of distances and click "Find".

This will produce a list of vendors within the distance selected sorted closest to furthest

Click the "Select" button next to your vendor of choice to change the vendor for the selected trade.

Alternate vendors can be added to a trade. This is useful of your trade vendor is not available for particular work orders. Add alternate vendors the same way you select the primary vendor by name.

G. Surveyor Section

Surveys are a way of evaluating your properties with a visit from a particular type of vendor or employee. They are given a portal in which they can evaluate the status of your fixtures and parts and report on them directly into the Sytewise system.

Selecting a Surveyor works exactly like selecting a vendor by name but from your list of surveyors.

H. Contracts Section

This section gives a summary of any contracts associated with the property / trade. It includes links to related vendors, clients and the contract itself. Clicking the "+" next to the contract name reveals more details about the contract. A contract with a gray background has expired.

I. Fixture Map Section

Sytewise enables you to show fixtures for any Property / Trade on a GPS map or overlaid on a floorpan. By default fixtures are placed on the GPS map, and when you create a new fixture it is placed in the same GPS location as the property.

Custom markers indicate the fixture position on the map or floorpan. Yellow markers are for fixtures at ground level up to 7ft. Blue are from 8 to 16ft and Red and 17ft and higher.

To use a floorpan instead of the GPS map you click "Upload Floorpan". Follow the on screen instruction to upload an image. A floorpan must be at least 790 pixels and no more than 2200 pixels in either dimension. Once uploaded any existing markers will be placed in the upper left corner of the floorpan.

A Floorpan can be converted back to GPS, you will lose any marker position data if you do so.

The GPS map is embedded from Google's mapping API and operates like a typical interactive map with size, scroll, satellite and street views.

J. Fixtures List Section

The list of fixtures for the selected trade includes a lot of useful at-a-glance information and functions.

Status and Name: The colored dot indicates the fixture's status. Green: all parts good, Yellow, At least one part needs service, Red: all parts need service. See the gray numeric indicator to the right for the total good parts / total parts in the fixture. Clicking the name or the status dot takes you to the fixture page.

Note and Image Icons will appear to the right of the name if there is either of those associated with the fixture. Mousing over the note icon will summarize the most recent note.

[Height group] The fixture's height group is indicated in the brackets.

The Vendor for the fixture is indicated after "V:". and is a link to that vendor. A fixture can have an independently assigned vendor, otherwise it is assigned the default vendor for its Property / Trade.

If you set a separate vendor for a fixture and then go back to the Property / Trade and change default vendor this will change the specific vendor for each fixture.

The last line of the fixture listing is the most recent activity on that fixture as a one line log.

Read more about the property page.Property Page (part 2)

The bottom half of the property page includes related information and links related to the selected Property / Trade. This article covers these parts of the property page. Read more about the top portion of the property page.

The property page includes a Tenants Section, A Work Orders Section, A Surveys Section and a section for Files and Insurance.

The Tenants Section

Each Sytewise property can have a number of tenants. They are trade independent so they are available no matter what trade you select. A tenant portal is available for tenants to respond to memos and send messages to admins.

Sytewise's tenant portal is a way to communicate with tenants in a convenient way that associates property and fixture information from the Sytewise Property / Trade specifically.

To create a memo

Click the "+Memo" button. In the popup window you can set a subject (which will be the email subject as well), a message and select fixtures to include in the memo from the fixture list. This sends the tenant a memo email with a link to the tenant portal. You can view any memos and their responses clicking the chat icon.

Once a memo has been created and it is associated with a fixture clicking the "Add to Fixture" button adds a note and any images in the memo to the associated fixture.

To add a tenant

Click the "+Tenant" button and fill out the popup form. If you want tenants to access the Tenant Portal create a username and password.

Once you have tenants you can click their name to go to their profile page and edit their information.

Clicking the envelope icon opens your email client with a new message to the tenant.

Work Orders and Surveys Section

All Work Orders and Surveys are listed in their respective sections. These are sorted by date with most recent at the top. A white background listing is active but incomplete. Green is completed and red is past due.

Clicking the number, date or title of the Work Order or Survey takes you to their respective details. You can also go directly to vendor's or surveyor's page from the list.

Files and Insurance

At the bottom of a Property / Trade page, as well as several other contexts within Sytewise, you can upload files. These files can be image (gif, jpg or png) or PDF files.

Once you've uploaded a file you can designate that file as an insurance policy. Doing so will add the insurance effective dates and policy specific information. Expired policies are indicated with a red background.

Fixture Page

Fixtures are where Sytewise's power comes in full display. A property manager manages fixed assets (Fixtures) and their detailed parts by entering critical information for fixtures and the maintainable parts of any fixture. Simply as a reference this is a substantial resource. But when coupled with Sytewise's Work Orders not only do you have reference you have history and performance.

The Fixture Page Sections

Fixture Details Section

Fixture Details

This section includes editable detail fields for your fixture including the title, description, installation notes and the default vendor among other characteristics.

The middle portion is for notes.

Enter a note and hit return to save it. You can delete or pin saved notes.

The right portion is for uploaded files.

You can upload images (gif, jpg, and png) and PDF files. When you've uploaded a file a thumbnail appears. Clicking the middle of the thumbnail opens images in a popover modal with the original filename at the bottom. Clicking a PDF opens the file in a new browser window from which you can save the file to your local computer.

Click the "Heart" icon in the upper right of any thumbnail to make it the primary image that shows up on the printed summary of the fixture and places it as the first file in the thumbnail grid of files.

Fixture Map

The Fixture Map is where the map or floorpan marker is located in context. Fixtures are on either GPS or Floorplan maps.

For GPS Property / Trades Markers

The marker is located by GPS coordinates. The fixture selected will be the larger marker in the center of the map. To relocate the marker click and drag the marker to it's new location. If you have trouble grabbing the marker place your mouse over it's edge and wait a couple seconds. If a "Move Me" label appears, move the marker to your desired location on the map.

Once the marker is at the desired location find the red "Save" button above the map. It will show the new coordinates of your marker. Click save.

For Floor Plan Markers

When the Property / Trade has an uploaded Floor Plan you can move and save the markers in the same way. Just find the larger marker and click and drag it. (The other, smaller makers are not "draggable). Make sure you save the new location before leaving the page.

The Parts List

The parts list is an at a glance view of all the parts in a fixture with tools for managing the list. Each part lists a summary of the data for that part including

[The Position] in brackets. Position is a short text field that let's you reference how to differentiate similar parts. Uses include "Top", "Southwest", "A", "Internal" etc.

Part Number is the next field, or the name of the part. Both position and Partno are links to open the detail part editor.

Description is on the end of the first line.

Manufacturer and Model Number are on the second line.

Recent Activity is on the bottom

Managing, Editing Parts

Status Change

A part can have one of two status's. On or Off. "Good" or "Bad", "In Service" or "Out of Service". You can change this status by clicking the Red or Green status toggle and clicking the "Save" button above the list. This will be logged as an Admin change to the status of that part and fixture status.

Surveys and Work Orders are the most common way part status's get changed although an admin has the authority to make those changes within the Sytewise master system.

To Clone A Part

Select the part to clone by checking the radio choice on the right side of the part listed. It's to the left of the print icon.

Click "Clone Part" at the top of the list to open the clone part modal window.

Give it a Position and a new part number if necessary.

Save.

This will create an exact clone of the part with all the details.

Open the new part to edit any differences.

To Delete A Part, open the edit modal and click "Delete This Part"

Part Details

If the fields made available to you in the parts details are not enough for the information you wish to add to your parts, Sytewise gives you a simple tool for adding a table of data for your parts.

To add a detail table to a part do the following:

Open a part detail editor by clicking the part name or position

Find the field labeled "Table Details"

Enter comma separated text to the field.

For example enter: Label, Value, Units for three columns

Add a line break (return) to start a new row and enter the same number of comma separated values.

To preview your table click outside the edit field or tab to escape the field.

The new table will appear below the buttons.

Feel free to make changes and click out of the field to continue editing

Once you are done adding your table don't forget to click "Save"

Creating A Work Order

Sytewise' is a Work Order platform at its heart. This is where the hard work of your property, trade, fixture, part, client, vendor, contract and historical data come to play. Work Orders are easy to create, manage and track. Plus the Sytewise Vendor Portal is a power and convenient way for vendors to record their work. This is the first of a series of articles on Work Orders. Here we will outline the creation of Work Orders from the Property / Trade page.

Creating a Work Order in Sytewise

From a Property / Trade page you will click the "+WOs" in the top right of the Property Info Section. The New Work Order Modal window will appear and it will look something like this:

Parts of the New Work Order Modal

A. Status Complete

Checking this box will create the work order but will set the status as complete. The due date will be moot as the completion will be at the time of creation. This is helpful if a property manager knows the work is complete and doesn't want to have the Work Order decay in the system.

B. Subject and Dates

The Subject of the Work Order is it's title and will be referenced as such in the system, but it will also be the Subject in the email(s) sent to vendors and the responses to administrators.

A Note about Notifications: Sending Work Orders to vendors via email occur when your create it, but you can also send the Work Order after it is created. Simply go to the Work Order and re-send.

You must set your notification preferences in your user's profile to receive notification of a completed Work Order or Survey.

Order Date and Due Date help manage vendor work and system logs. Past due Work Orders are listed in the system with a red background.

C. Fixture Selection

Any fixture with a non-green status is automatically selected to be in a new Work Order. To choose other fixtures in the Property / Trade click the every button to load and select all. You can then use the check marks associated with each fixture to include or not include in the work order.

D. Special Instructions

You can add a text note to the Work Order for the vendor to read. Use this field to add any instructions that aren't obvious from the property location and the fixtures included. This text shows up in the emails as well as the Vendor Portal.

E. Vendor Selection

The Property / Trade vendor is automatically populated as the Vendor choice for a new Work Order. To change that simply start typing a vendor name in the text field, click or arrow to the vendor name in the list to select that vendor. This choice will only effect the current Work Order and not the Property / Trade or fixtures.

F. Email Checkboxes

To have the new Work Order sent to the vendor check the boxes next to their email addresses. These email addresses are captured from the vendor profile. It is the main contact email address for the vendor and any contacts within that vendor that have email addresses. If you see no email choices you may want to go to the vendor profile and add one.

Changing vendors for a new Work Order will change the choices of email addresses available.

Costs, Accounts and Contracts

Here is a portion of the screenshot above that deals with Work Order costs.

G. Select A Contract

If the selected Property / Trade has any contracts associated they will appear in this dropdown menu. The most recent and active contract will be chosen if you there are more than one.

When a contract exists the expected costs and account number are automatically inserted into the Work Order. If you change contracts those numbers will change again.

H. Account Number

If you have a reference or account number to enter for the vendor to see in their Work Order enter it here. Account numbers from contracts are inherited. Vendors can change account number when submitting the Work Order. If they do so a note is added to the Work Order and in your notification.

I. Costs

You can enter an expected cost and even add line items to a Work Order. This will enable the vendor to see the costs when doing the work. Vendors can change costs when submitting the Work Order. If they do so a note is added to the Work Order and in your notification.Work Orders in the Vendor Portal

Sytewise offers a Vendor Portal to all accounts where vendors can interact with Work Orders and their account information. When you create a vendor they are given credentials for logging into the portal. When you create a new Work Order it is registered in the system and added to the vendor's portal account. If you send an email version of the Work Order to the vendor the email contains a link to the Work Order in the portal with an option to login.

The Work Order Options

Simple Completion Option

If the vendor is able to complete the work with no issues or changes they can simply click the "All Complete" button. They can optionally add a note and update (if available) the Account or Invoice Number and the final cost. The fixtures and parts are updated, Sytewise logs the activity and you get notified. Done!

Detailed Completion Option

Vendors may need to enter some extra details with the work they perform (or cannot). This when they use the Detailed Completion option.

The fixtures in question will be shown on a map or floor plan. Expanding the fixture details using the "+" button next to the fixture name reveals all the parts and each three choices for each.

OK: They find the part to need no service and they did not perform any. In this case they check "OK"

Needs Service: the vendor can chose this if they find the part faulty but are not performing any repairs

Repair Complete: This is most typically what a vendor checks. The part needed service and they performed a repair or replacement therefore the part repair is complete.

If a part is changed to Repair Complete or Needs Service a note field and image uploader is provided. Vendors can enter notes and upload as many as 6 images. These entries will be a part of the Work Order but also integrated into the fixture on Systwise.

Just like the simple completion version, the detailed version allows the vendor to enter or update costs and account numbers. Once submitted the Work Order's data is integrated into the Sytewise account.

Reject Work Order

A vendor is given the opportunity to reject any submitted Work Order. This will notify the account managers as set in their preferences and show the Work Order Rejected in the system.

Creating A New Property

To create a new property in Sytewise use the Main Navigation Menu on the left go to Properties > New Property

Read more about creating properties here :Getting Started > Create A Property.Sytewise Vendors

In the Sytewise ecosystem Vendors are the moving parts that keep things working. Vendors, through the Work Order system, correct all wrongs and each property / trade has a default vendor. The vendor portal is how they interact with your properties, fixtures and parts.

Creating Vendors

Before you can create a property and get started with managing your assets you must have at least one vendor. That vendor can be you, but better yet are a list of reliable and specific trade vendors you can enter into Sytewise to get your work done.

Read more here about creating vendors and how they interact with Work Orders and your Sytewise account.Sytewise Surveyors

In the day to day management of any property information is king. And the assessment of your assets with a regular check on their status keeps you ahead of the curve. This is where the Sytewise Surveyor enters the process.

Sytewise Surveyors are a special kind of service provider who is available and trained to evaluate property assets. They interact with the Survey Portal where they locate each fixture in a particular trade. Once an issue is identified the surveyor can use GPS or a floorpan to identify precisely which fixture and part is in question and flag it for issues. They can also choose to take photos or add notes to their report.

The surveyor's input immediately reflects on the property, fixture and part. If they created notes or uploaded images those are also added to the appropriate fixture and part.

Creating A Surveyor

Go to the Surveyors page and expand the section "Create a new surveyor". This will reveal this form.

All the fields are required but the address and description. The login username will need to be unique within the entire Sytewise system and the form will let you know if you need to choose another login name.

Once you've created a surveyor you can start sending surveys.

Adding and Managing Clients

Clients are an integral part of property management if the relationship with the property manager is on behalf of an owner. This would be the client. Clients are also integrated into the contract system as there is a relationship between the the vendor and the client and sometimes the Sytewise account holder (the property manager).

To create a new client

Go to Clients > Clients and expand the section "Create a New Client". A form will appear that looks something like this:

Clients must have a name, a contact phone number and a valid email address at a minimum. Remember to choose unique names so you can differentiate between entities like clients.

The Client Profile Page

The client profile page allows many contextual links and tools. Creating Surveys

You will and various times need to asses your property's health by checking if everything is in good working order. For example, parking lot lights must be checked on a regular basis. You can't always rely of tenants or others to report outages. This is where Sytewise Surveys do their work.

A survey is a scheduled check of fixtures on your property by trade. Property managers order a survey through the Sytewise system and the surveyor arrives on site before or on the due date. They check if everything is operating and report on the specifics directly into the Sytewise system through the Surveyors Portal.

To Create A Survey

Go to the property / trade you want to be surveyed.

In the top right information section of the property page find the +Survey button and click it to open a modal window.

The default surveyor for that trade is chosen for you. You can chose another by typing the name in the surveyor's field and choosing from the list. The instructions will be included in the email sent and on the Survey Portal.Contracts

The relationships between a property manager, the owner (client) and a vendor often requires contractual definitions. Sytewise contracts are available for any property / trade where required.

Creating A Contract

From the property / trade you wish to add a contract, click the +Contract button found in the top right of the page header. This will open the new contract modal window.

A title is created based on the Property / Trade. You can change the title to anything you want, just be sure to make it unique and identifiable. See this article on naming.

The start date is today by default but you can change it to whatever suits your needs. The end date is set to one year from today by default but feel free to change that.

The user is assigned for reference and can be used to track the responsible person for the contract. It is by default the user who is logged in.

The vendor is set to the default vendor for the property / trade. This can be changed.

Percentage and flat rate are basic cost references for calculating fees. Sytewise can create custom contract calculations and terms forms. Simply contact us to arrange for an estimate.Libraries

A library is a saved set of choices or values associated with a Sytewise Contracts or Fixtures. When used to create a new Object, the library makes it easier to add a complex set of information with one click.

Libraries can be created and used in the following contexts.

Creating A Library Item

From any existing contract, fixture or property (to save a group of fixtures) click the +Contract button, give the library item a name and save. Make sure your titles are unique and informative. See this article about naming in Sytewise.

When creating a new item you can choose to create one from scratch or choose to use a library version. Just click the Library Tab when creating a fixture or contract. Choose the library item you wish to use, give it a name and create it.

For Contracts the new contract will inherit all the base settings of your library contract and add any line items from the original.

For Fixtures the new fixture will have all the same values as the original and every part with their details included.

If the library item was created at the property level it will add every fixture in the library reference plus all the details for parts.

The logs for each will not be generated as these are new instances of their respective objects.The Fixtures Page

In the Sytewise user interface, there is a menu for "Fixtures". This is a fixture search across all properties and trades within your account. You can search within any trade and on a term. The search term must be more than 3 characters.

The resulting list allows you to see what properties are associated with any resulting fixture. Plus the status of each and the created and modified timestamp.Reminders

Reminders are calendar based action items that can be associated with any Property, Trade, Fixture, Client, or Contract.  They can be used to issue a new Survey,  Create a new Work Order, or Renew a Contract.

Creating a reminder is as easy as going to the page of an item you want to remind yourself of visiting. Touch the bell in the top right navbar.

This will bring up the Reminder Form.

You must at least give your reminder a subject. Messages are for more details and may require the user to click deeper into the reminder to see. A priority message is red and at the top of a list of reminders.

Email Log

Sytewise notification system utilizes a transactional email service. When a Work Order or Survey is issued an email is sent to the vendor or surveyor. Upon completion (or rejection) or the order a new message is sent to administrators who've opted in for property update emails.

Each Work Order and Survey have a log of all emails sent regarding that action. The log shows the status of that message, if it was sent successfully or not.

The Email log is a summary of all emailing acting in one place. You can narrow it down to Work Orders or Surveys and see the list in descending order by date time.Creating a Checklist Template

Think of a checklist template as the master recipe for a recurring task. You write it once, and from that point on, anyone on your team can follow the same steps every time, at every property without reinventing the wheel. Whether you're building a seasonal HVAC inspection, a roof walkthrough after a storm, or a move-out cleaning verification, templates keep the work consistent and the records clean.

This article walks you through building a template from scratch and explains every option available when setting up each item.

Getting There

From the main navigation, click Checklists. The page opens with two sections. Checklist Templates at the top and Fixture Checklist below. All template work happens in the top section.

Click + New Checklist to open the template panel and get started.

Step 1 — Set Up the Template

The top portion of the panel is the template's identity card — it tells the system what this checklist is, who it belongs to, and how often it should run.

Checklist Title (required)

Give your checklist a name that leaves no room for confusion. Rooftop HVAC Quarterly Inspection will serve you much better than HVAC Check six months from now when you're looking at a list of forty templates.

Minimum 2 characters.

Trade

Assign this checklist to a specific trade — Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, General Maintenance, and so on, or leave it at Any Trade if the checklist isn't tied to a specific type of work. This determines which work orders and vendors the checklist can be linked to when it's assigned in the field.

Default Start Interval

When this template gets assigned to a fixture, how far out should the first due date land? Enter a number and pick the unit:

Unit

Maximum

Days

150

Weeks

52

Months

12

Setting this to 3 Months means every new assignment of this template automatically lands 3 months out on the calendar. You can always adjust individual assignments. This is just the sensible default so you're not starting from zero every time.

Instructions (optional)

Got something important to say before the technician even looks at item one? Put it here. The rich-text editor supports bold, italic, lists, tables, and links so you can include safety warnings, required tools, reference documents, or a note like "Do not attempt this inspection during active rainfall." Instructions entered here appear at the very top of the checklist when it's opened in the field.

Step 2 — Save the Template

Click Save Checklist. The record is created and the Checklist Items section appears below. Now for the fun part.

Step 3 — Add Checklist Items

Each item is one task, one inspection point, or one step in the process. Click Add Item to expand the form and fill in the details.

Item Fields Explained

Item Title (required)

Action-oriented titles age better than vague ones.

Check condenser coil for debris and clean if needed is clear, useful, actionable. Condenser coil is technically correct, completely unhelpful.

Minimum 2 characters.

Description (optional)

This is your chance to elaborate. Step-by-step instructions, acceptable tolerance ranges, reference measurements, specific product numbers, safety reminders — anything the person doing this task needs to know goes here. The rich-text editor gives you full formatting including tables, which is handy for things like pressure reading charts or torque spec tables.

Example — Electrical Panel Inspection: Title: Inspect all breakers for heat damage or corrosion Description: Use a non-contact thermometer. Any reading above 140°F on a breaker at normal load warrants flagging. Document the breaker number and reading in the notes field.

Checkboxes (optional)

Some steps aren't one thing — they're five things that all need to happen. Rather than creating five separate items, you can load a single item with a set of sub-checkboxes. Type each one on its own line and the system turns them into individual checkboxes in the field.

Example — Filter Replacement item:

Old filter removed and disposed of properly

New filter installed in correct airflow direction

Filter size and rating logged

Access panel secured

Thermostat reset to schedule

A few things to know:

Blank lines are ignored

Duplicates are removed automatically (the system is forgiving if you're copy-pasting from a document)

Checkboxes can't be used on PPE Detection steps — more on those below

Completion Requirements

Must Complete This Item

The red star treatment. When this is checked, the field technician cannot submit the checklist without addressing this item — no skipping, no sneaking past it. Uncheck only for items that are genuinely optional in every situation, like Photograph optional secondary access panel.

Required items show a red star (✱) in the item list so you can see at a glance which items are locked in.

Default: checked — because most items on a maintenance checklist probably matter.

Zip File Required

When you've attached a zip resource to this item (a wiring diagram, installation manual, or spec sheet — more on that below), checking this box means the technician must download and acknowledge that file before the item can be marked complete. It's the system's way of saying "you actually have to look at this, not just scroll past it."

Notes

Three options. Pick the one that fits the item:

Option

What happens

Note Allowed

A notes field appears but it's optional. Staff can comment if there's something worth recording.

No Note Allowed

No notes field. Clean and simple — the item is pass/fail and a comment section would just add noise.

Note Required

Staff must type something before moving on. Perfect for items where a reading, measurement, or observation has to be on record.

Example — Note Required use case: Item: Record static pressure reading across the air handler With Note Required enabled, the technician has to enter the actual reading before they can check the box. The number lives in the record forever.

Example — No Note Allowed use case: Item: Confirm unit is powered off before beginning work This is a safety confirmation. There's no measurement to record and no variation — it's either done or it isn't.

Signature Required

When this is checked, the person completing the item has to provide a digital signature before it can be marked done. Use this for safety-critical sign-offs, supervisor confirmations, or any step where accountability needs to be unambiguous.

Example: Supervisor sign-off: all work completed and tested before leaving site

Signature items show a signature icon in the item list.

Images

Two controls work together here:

Max Images Allowed — A dropdown from 0 to 9.

0 means no photos on this item at all

1–9 sets the ceiling for how many photos can be attached

Image Required — When checked, at least one photo must be uploaded before the item is complete. Only available when Max Images is 1 or higher.

Example — Image Required use case: Item: Photograph equipment nameplate showing model and serial number Set Max Images to 1, check Image Required. The record now always has the nameplate photo attached. No photo, no sign-off.

Example — Max Images without Required: Item: Document any visible damage or wear Set Max to 5, leave Image Required unchecked. If there's nothing to photograph, the technician moves on. If there are five things to document, they can capture all of them.

Illustrations (optional)

These are reference materials you attach to the item — not photos taken in the field. Think wiring schematics, product installation diagrams, floor plan excerpts showing equipment locations, or any visual aid that helps the technician do the work correctly.

Images open in a full-screen viewer

PDFs open in a new tab

Multiple illustrations can be attached to a single item

Technicians can see them; they can't delete or replace them

Click Upload Illustration to attach files via the media uploader.

Example: Attach the manufacturer's maintenance diagram to a Clean and inspect burner assembly item so the technician has the correct exploded view right there in the checklist without having to hunt for it.

Zip File Resource (optional)

Need to deliver a whole folder of materials to the technician for a specific step? Attach a zip archive. One zip per item, up to 3 GB.

This is the right tool for: firmware update packages, multi-document installation kits, collections of reference PDFs, or software tools needed to complete the task.

Click Upload Zip to attach. If Zip File Required is also checked, staff must download it before the item can be completed.

Can Annotate Images

(Available on accounts with the Annotation module)

Checking this gives field staff the ability to draw directly on photos and illustrations — circling problem areas, adding labels, marking specific locations. The annotations become part of the permanent record.

Example: A roof inspection item where the technician photographs a cracked flashing and then circles the crack and labels it "Active moisture intrusion — NW corner drain" before submitting.

PPE Detection

(Available on accounts with the optional Detection Module)

This one's a bit different. Instead of a standard task item, PPE Detection turns this step into an automated safety verification — the system actually analyzes a photo to confirm the right protective gear is being worn before the step can be cleared.

When enabled:

The standard form is replaced with the PPE verification panel

The item becomes required automatically

The technician must upload a photo, and the system checks it for the selected equipment

Select the gear to verify:

Code

Equipment

VEST

Safety vest

HELMET

Hard hat

GLOVE

Gloves

PERSON

Person present in frame

BOOTS

Safety boots

GLASS

Safety glasses

Example: For a rooftop electrical inspection checklist, add a PPE Detection step as item one — Confirm PPE before beginning work — and select VEST, HELMET, and GLASS. The technician snaps a selfie in their gear, the system verifies the equipment is present, and only then can they proceed to item two. No gear, no green light.

Managing Items

Reordering

Each item has up and down arrows. Click to shift an item one position. The first item has no up arrow; the last has no down arrow. Build your checklist in the logical sequence a technician would actually follow — don't make them jump around.

Editing an Item

Click anywhere on an item row to expand its edit form. Opening one item automatically collapses the one you were looking at, so the list stays readable.

Deleting an Item

Open the item's edit form and click Delete Item. Permanent — so give it a moment's thought before clicking.

Item Status Icons at a Glance

The item list shows a row of small icons for each item so you can read the configuration without opening it:

Icon

What it means

✱ Red star

Item is required

Signature

Signature required

Paintbrush (blue)

Has an illustration attached

Paint tool

Annotation enabled

Image

Photos allowed

Image + red slash

No photos allowed

Image + checkmark

Photo required

Comment bubble

Notes allowed

Comment + red slash

No notes allowed

Comment + checkmark

Notes required

Archive icon

Zip file attached

A quick scan down the icon column tells you a lot about how a checklist is structured — which items are high-accountability, which are documentation-heavy, and which are straight pass/fail.

Duplicating a Checklist

Built a solid template and need a close variation of it? Open the template and expand the Duplicate section at the bottom of the panel. Give the copy a new name — the system helpfully pre-fills it as [Original Name] COPY — and click Duplicate.

Everything comes along for the ride: all items, all illustrations, all zip files. Edit the copy freely without touching the original.

What Happens Next

A template on its own just sits in the library. The action happens when you assign it to a specific fixture on a property — at that point, a live instance is created with its own due date, completion record, and history. The template stays pristine and reusable. The instance is the real-world paperwork.

Head to the Checklists tab on any property to put your new template to work.Fixture Checklists: From Assignment to Archive

Checklists are how work gets done, tracked, and proven. Once you've built a template (see the article on creating checklist templates), it's time to put it to work on an actual fixture. This article walks you through assigning a checklist, managing it through completion, and downloading the evidence when the job is done.

Assigning a Checklist to a Fixture

Navigate to the fixture detail page for the unit that needs the checklist. Scroll to the Checklists section and click New Checklist.

A two-step form appears.

Step 1: Pick your template. The dropdown shows only the templates that match the fixture's trade or are set to "Any Trade," so the list stays relevant. Select your template and click Next.

Step 2: Configure the assignment. Now the fun part:

Checklist Name is auto filled with the fixture name and template name combined. You can rename it if a more specific name will be better, or add a date to make sure repetitive work is easily found by date.

Completion Due Date is pre-calculated based on the template's default interval. Adjust it to match the actual deadline.

Choose A Vendor is optional. If someone needs to do this work, type at least three characters to search and select from your vendor list.

Vendor Emails appear as checkboxes once you select a vendor. These are the contacts from the vendor's profile who will receive the checklist notification. Check the ones that should get the email. If you're not assigning a vendor yet, leave it blank.

Instructions pulls in from the template but can be edited here for this specific assignment.

Upload ZIP Resource is available if you need to attach reference files (like specs or drawings) for the vendor to download when they open the checklist.

Click Create to save the checklist and send notifications to any selected vendor emails.

Checklists and Work Orders

The most common way vendor email recipients are handled is through the work order, not the checklist assignment directly.

When a work order is created for a property and vendor, the Linked Checklists section on the work order page shows any fixture checklists that match the same vendor and property/trade. You can add them to the work order by selecting from the dropdown and clicking Link Checklist. The work order email that goes out automatically includes links to those checklists, so the vendor gets everything they need in one place without you having to send checklist notifications separately.

This means that when you're assigning a checklist to a fixture, you may intentionally leave the vendor email checkboxes unchecked because the work order will handle getting the link to the right people. The direct vendor email option on the checklist is there for cases where you're assigning a checklist outside of a work order and need to notify someone right away.

Making a Checklist Visible to the Public

On any active checklist, you'll see a checkbox labeled Visible on the public site. Toggle this on and the checklist gets a public URL that doesn't require a Sytewise login.

That link can be shared with a vendor or field tech who needs to complete the checklist on a phone or tablet. They see a clean, mobile-friendly version with only the checklist, not the rest of the admin. The link is also included in the notification email that goes out when you assign the checklist.

Watching Progress

Checklists live in three states: Not Started, In Progress, and Complete. A progress bar on the checklist header shows where things stand at a glance.

While a checklist is in progress, each task card shows the vendor what they need to do. Depending on how the template was built, a task might ask for:

A written note (allowed, required, or not available at all)

One or more uploaded photos or files

Simple checkboxes to tick off

A signature with a typed full name

A zip file upload (for submitting documents or reports)

Required items must be completed before that step can be marked done. Optional items are there if the vendor needs them.

The vendor taps Mark As Complete on each task when they finish it. The checklist automatically moves to Complete once all required steps are done.

Editing an Active Checklist

Even after a checklist has started, you can make changes. Click Edit on the checklist header to update:

The checklist name

The assigned vendor

The due date

The instructions

The attached ZIP resource

Vendor email recipients can be updated here as well. Useful when the original contact changed or you need to loop someone new in.

When It's Complete: Reviewing the Work

A completed checklist shows everything the vendor submitted:

Notes entered for each step

Images uploaded (click any thumbnail to enlarge)

Checkbox responses

Zip files submitted

Signatures with the signer's name and timestamp

Click Check All Media to see every photo and file in one view. If any images are worth adding to the fixture's permanent record, use the Add Media to Fixture checkboxes to copy them over.

Downloading All Attachments

When a completed checklist has photos or uploaded files, the Download Assets button appears. Click it and Sytewise bundles everything into a single ZIP file and downloads it to your machine. One click, all the proof.

Deleting a Checklist

The Delete This Checklist button is available at any stage. Deleting is permanent, so Sytewise will ask you to confirm before anything disappears. If the checklist is linked to a work order, you can remove that link separately from the work order page using the delete icon in the Linked Checklists table.

Finding Checklists Across Properties

The main Checklists page (in your navigation) has a search tool for fixture checklists. Filter by status (Incomplete or Complete), property, trade, and date range, then click Find Checklists. Results can be downloaded as a CSV using the download icon at the top of the results table.

Using Checklists with Work Orders

Checklists and work orders are designed to work together. Understanding when to attach a checklist to a work order versus sending it directly to a vendor will help you get better tracking, cleaner records, and less manual follow-up.

How Checklists Connect to Work Orders

When you create a new work order, Sytewise checks for any fixture checklists that match the work order's vendor and property/trade. If eligible checklists exist, they appear at the bottom of the WO creation form and you can select them to include. After the work order is saved, the vendor email that goes out automatically includes direct links to every checklist attached to that WO. The vendor opens one email and has everything they need: the scope of work and the task checklists to complete.

You can also attach checklists to an existing work order. On the work order detail page, the Linked Checklists section shows what's currently attached and provides a dropdown to add more. Only checklists that match the work order's vendor and property/trade will appear in that list.

Tip: A checklist linked to a work order shows up in the WO email automatically. You don't need to send it separately. The vendor gets the checklist link right alongside the work order details.

When to Attach a Checklist to a Work Order

If the work described in the checklist is tied to a purchase order or vendor invoice, attaching the checklist to the work order is the right call. The work order creates the paper trail: who was assigned, when the work was due, what fixtures were involved, and what the vendor was expected to complete. The checklist becomes part of that record, not a standalone item floating outside of it.

Tip: When the work needs to be tracked against a PO or vendor payment, always attach the checklist to the work order. It keeps the accountability in one place and gives you a complete picture of what was scoped versus what was actually completed.

When to Send a Checklist Directly to a Vendor

Sometimes you need to get instructions to someone without generating a work order. If the task is for internal staff, or the vendor relationship doesn't involve a formal PO, or you just need to send a one-off checklist quickly, you can assign a checklist directly to a vendor from the fixture detail page. Sytewise sends the checklist notification email right away with a direct link, no work order required.

Tip: Use direct send when the task doesn't need a work order behind it. A vendor checklist for an informal inspection, a staff task list for routine rounds, or any instruction that doesn't generate an invoice is a good candidate for direct send.

Vendor Reassignment Carries Through Automatically

If you reassign a work order to a different vendor, Sytewise automatically updates the vendor on every checklist linked to that work order, as long as those checklists haven't been completed yet. You don't need to go into each checklist and update the vendor manually.

Tip: If a vendor change happens mid-job, reassign the work order and the open checklists follow automatically. Completed checklists are left as-is since that work was already done by the original vendor.

Deleting a Work Order Releases Its Checklists

When a work order is deleted, Sytewise detaches all linked checklists from it. The checklists themselves are not deleted. They go back to being unlinked fixture checklists, available to attach to a different work order if the work is being re-issued under a new PO or to a new vendor.

Tip: If a work order needs to be cancelled and reissued instead of being reassigned, delete the original WO and the checklists will free up automatically. Then create the new work order and attach them fresh. No need to recreate the checklists from scratch.

Removing a Single Checklist from a Work Order

You don't have to remove the whole work order to unlink a checklist. On the work order detail page, the Linked Checklists table has a delete icon next to each checklist. Clicking it removes the link between that checklist and the work order, setting the checklist free to be attached elsewhere. The checklist itself, and all progress on it, is preserved.

Summary: Attached vs. Direct

Situation

Best Approach

Work tied to a PO or vendor invoice

Attach to work order

Multiple fixtures, one vendor, one job

Attach to work order

Informal task, no PO involved

Send directly from fixture

Instructions to internal staff, no WO

Send directly from fixture

Quick one-off inspection checklist

Send directly from fixture

Adding Parts to Fixtures and Why It's Worth Doing Right

A fixture in Sytewise is more than a name on a list. It's a container for the actual equipment that makes a space work: the controllers, panels, processors, cameras, access points, HVAC units, or whatever physical components live inside that fixture's scope. Parts are how you get that equipment into the record, and tracking parts is how the record becomes genuinely useful over time.

This article covers every way to add parts to a fixture, how to use the library system to make repetitive builds fast, and why the investment in building out accurate part records pays off every time something breaks, gets replaced, or needs to be reported on.

Why Track Parts at All

Before getting into the how, it's worth saying a word about the why, because this is the step many teams skip and later wish they hadn't.

When a fixture has documented parts, every work order that touches that fixture tells a more complete story. The technician arriving on-site sees exactly what's installed, where each component is located, the part number, manufacturer, model, and installation date. No guesswork, no calling around to figure out what brand of controller is in the rack.

Status tracking at the part level is where things get even more useful. Each part carries a green or red status. Green means operational. Red means it's a problem. When parts go red, the fixture's overall status reflects it, which feeds into survey reports, work order triggers, and dashboard counts. Over time, the history of which parts went red and when becomes a maintenance record. That record tells you which components fail most often, which fixtures need the most attention, and whether a pattern of failure suggests a systemic issue rather than random bad luck.

For AV integrators, the parts record is essentially the as-built documentation for the installation, structured in a way that survives vendor transitions, staff turnover, and the general amnesia that tends to accumulate over years of managing a complex system.

Finding the Parts Section on a Fixture

Open any fixture from the property detail page or from the Fixtures list. The fixture detail page shows a map or floor plan on the left and a column of cards on the right. The Parts in Fixture card is where all part management lives.

The card has a small toolbar at the top with buttons for Save, Clone, Library, and New Part, plus quick-action buttons for Check All and All Green. The part list loads below. Each part appears as a row with its part number, position, description, and a status indicator.

Adding a Part by Hand

Click New Part to open the part entry modal. The modal has two tabs: New Part and Add From Library. New Part is the one you want for entering a component from scratch.

Required Fields

Part No (Serial No) is required and must be unique within the fixture. This is the identifier you'll use to track this specific component. Use the actual part number, serial number, or a structured internal identifier, whatever makes sense for your workflow. Just make it meaningful because it's what you'll be searching and reporting on.

Description is required and is the plain-language name for this part. "Left Audio Processor," "Rack Controller Unit 2," "East HVAC Compressor." Keep it descriptive enough that someone unfamiliar with the installation understands what they're looking at.

Optional Fields That Are Worth Filling In

Position is a short field (up to 12 characters) for noting where this part lives within the fixture. "Rack 1," "Left Wall," "Bay 3," or coordinates if you're working with a structured grid. Position makes the parts list readable at a glance and helps anyone walking into the space orient themselves quickly.

Manufacturer and Model Number round out the identification of the part. These fields are what connect a part record to a real-world product, which matters when you need to reorder, file a warranty claim, or find a compatible replacement.

Installed Date defaults to today but should reflect the actual installation date if you're backfilling records. This is the starting point for warranty tracking and age-based maintenance planning.

Warranty Expire Date and Warranty Description are there if you want to track coverage. A fixture with expiring warranties worth thousands of dollars is worth flagging before those dates pass.

Table Details is a flexible free-text field that displays as a structured table on the part record. Format it as one item per line with comma-separated label and value pairs. Use it for firmware versions, configuration details, IP addresses, calibration values, or any structured technical data that doesn't have a dedicated field. It's flexible by design and useful for capturing the specifics that matter for your particular type of equipment.

Click Save and the part is added to the fixture. Its status is set to green (operational) by default and a creation entry is written to the part history log.

Cloning a Part

When you have multiple identical or nearly identical components in the same fixture, cloning is significantly faster than entering each one by hand.

Select the part you want to clone by checking its checkbox in the parts list. With exactly one part selected, the Clone button in the toolbar becomes active. Click it.

The clone modal asks for two things: a new Position (optional) and a new Part No (required). Every other field, description, manufacturer, model, all the technical specifications, copies exactly from the original. The installation date is set to today and the status is set to green.

This is the right tool when you're documenting a row of identical display panels, a bank of matching controllers, or any configuration where the components share the same specs but need individual identifiers. Clone the first, give each copy a unique part number and position, and you've built out the full inventory in a fraction of the time it would take to enter each record separately.

Adding Parts from the Library

The Library is where the real portfolio-scale efficiency lives.

What the Library Is

A library item is a saved snapshot of a part record, stored at the account level and available to any fixture across any property in your portfolio. It captures every field: part number, description, manufacturer, model, position, all technical specifications, and any structured detail data. You create a library item once and apply it to as many fixtures as you need, each time generating a fresh part record with the stored specifications and whatever installation date you set for that specific deployment.

This is the feature that transforms the difference between managing five identical fixtures and managing five hundred of them. The specs are defined once. Every fixture that uses that component type gets its part records from the same source.

Saving a Part to the Library

Before you can use the library, you need to save something to it. In any fixture, select one or more parts by checking their checkboxes. Click the Library button in the toolbar. The modal asks for a Library Title, up to 24 characters. Give it a name that will make sense when you're searching for it from a completely different fixture six months from now. "Samsung SB-1 Controller v2.3" is more useful than "Controller."

Click Save and the part is stored in the library with its complete field data serialized and ready to redeploy.

Applying a Library Item to a Fixture

On any fixture, click New Part and switch to the Add From Library tab. A list of all saved library items in your account appears as radio buttons. Select the one you want, set the Parts Install Date for this specific installation, and click Add From Library.

A new part record is created with all the stored specifications from the library item and the installation date you specified. The part is independent from the library item from that point forward. Changes to the library item don't affect parts already deployed from it, and changes to the deployed part don't affect the library item or other fixtures that used it.

Where the Library Shines

Consider a portfolio of retail locations, each with the same model of HVAC unit, or a chain of venues all running the same AV platform. The first time you document that equipment at one location, you build the parts records carefully: correct part numbers, model numbers, firmware versions, all technical details accurate and complete. You save those parts to the library.

At every subsequent location, you open the fixture, click New Part, switch to Add From Library, select the part, set the install date, and move on. The record is as complete and accurate as the first one without any additional data entry. Multiply that across dozens or hundreds of locations and the time savings are substantial. More importantly, the consistency is perfect. Every location's records describe the same equipment in the same way, which makes cross-portfolio reporting and maintenance planning dramatically cleaner.

The library also serves as an institutional knowledge base. If a particular component type has specific technical details that a new team member wouldn't know off the top of their head, those details live in the library item and deploy with every new installation automatically.

Managing Part Status

Part status is the real-time health indicator for each component. Green means operational. Red means it needs attention.

You change part status directly in the parts list on the fixture page. Each part has a colored status indicator (green circle for operational, red for problem). Toggle the checkbox next to any part to flip its status. You can change multiple parts at once and then click Save to write all the changes to the database in a single operation.

Two quick-action buttons at the top of the parts section make bulk updates easier:

All Green sets every part in the fixture to operational status at once. Useful after a service call where everything was repaired or replaced.

Check All selects all parts, which is the first step if you want to perform any bulk action on the whole set.

When parts go red, the fixture's overall status score recalculates automatically. A fixture with three working parts out of five shows a different health status than one where all five are green. Those status calculations feed into property reports, survey summaries, and the dashboard fixture counts, which means part-level accuracy translates directly into portfolio-level visibility.

Part History

Every part carries a log of changes. In the edit modal for any part, a Show Part Log link at the bottom expands a table showing every recorded event for that part: when it was created, when its status changed, when its part number was updated, and who made each change. Each entry includes the date and the admin user responsible.

This history is also available as a dedicated print view from the part detail page, showing the 100 most recent log entries alongside the part's full specifications.

The history is what turns a part record into a maintenance document. A part that has gone red three times in eighteen months is telling you something. A part that's been green since installation day is telling you something different. You can't have that conversation without the log.

Reference Articles

If your account has the Reference module enabled, parts can be linked to reference articles stored in the system. Reference articles are technical documents, installation guides, configuration references, or any documentation relevant to a specific component type. They link at the model number level and appear on the part detail page and in the fixture print report.

For AV integrators managing complex equipment, linking reference articles to part records means the technical documentation travels with the equipment record rather than sitting in a folder somewhere that only one person knows about.

A Note on the Display Grid Module

If your account uses the Display Grid module for managing LED display systems and media walls, the part form includes additional fields for controller and cabinet components: firmware versions, FPGA and Valens revisions, resolution, grid location coordinates, IP addresses, and LED batch codes. These fields support a structured hierarchy where cabinet panels are linked to their parent controller, and the whole configuration can be built using the grid builder tool or imported from CSV files exported from the display manufacturer's software.

The library system is particularly valuable for Display installations because the technical specifications for a given display configuration are extensive and consistent across deployments. Save the controller and cabinet specs to the library once and every subsequent installation of the same display system starts with a complete, accurate part record.Creating and Managing Fixtures

A fixture is the unit of work in Sytewise. Properties hold trades, trades hold fixtures, and fixtures are where the actual equipment lives: the lights, the HVAC units, the AV systems, the access points, the cameras, or whatever physical asset you're tracking and maintaining. Getting fixtures built accurately is what makes work orders, surveys, checklists, and reports meaningful. This article covers every way to create a fixture, how to delete one, and what to think about before you do.

Finding the New Fixture Form

Fixtures are created from the property detail page. Open the property, navigate to the trade where the fixture belongs, and look for the New Fixture button in the fixtures section. The modal that opens has two tabs: New Fixture for building one from scratch and Add From Library for deploying a saved template. There is also a separate Import option for bulk creation from a CSV file, and a Clone option for copying an existing fixture within the same property.

Creating a Fixture by Hand

The New Fixture tab has four fields.

Fixture Name is required and should be short and specific. The form even suggests the format: "Pole Light 1" or similar. This name appears in the fixture list, in work orders, in surveys, and in reports. A name that makes sense in isolation, without needing the surrounding context to interpret it, is worth the extra thought up front.

Description is also required and gives you room to add more detail. Where the name is a label, the description is a sentence. "Northwest corner LED pole light on Circuit 4" tells the next technician something useful.

Type is a dropdown populated from the fixture types configured in your account. Fixture types represent categories or classifications for your equipment, such as height classes for outdoor lighting or equipment categories for AV systems. If the type you need isn't in the list, it needs to be added by an account administrator before you can use it.

Vendor is pre-filled with the default vendor for this property/trade combination. If a different vendor is responsible for this specific fixture, search by name and select the right one.

Click Save and you land on the fixture detail page. From there you can add parts, position the fixture on the map or floor plan, add images, and assign it to a group. The fixture starts with zero parts, a blank status, and its position set to the property's center coordinates. Repositioning it right away is a good habit before the list gets long.

Positioning a Fixture

Every fixture needs a position on the property map so it can be identified visually alongside its neighbors.

GPS-based based trades use Google Maps. The fixture marker starts at the property's center point and can be dragged to the correct location. Click and hold the marker on the map and move it to where the fixture actually lives. The coordinates update automatically when you drop it.

Floor plan based trades use an uploaded image of the building or site layout instead of a map. The fixture marker appears on that image and is dragged into position the same way. This mode is common for interior spaces where GPS coordinates don't distinguish one room from another.

Which mode a trade uses is set at the trade level on the property. All fixtures within a trade share the same positioning system.

Creating a Fixture from the Library

If a fixture you need to add is the same as or very similar to one you've already built and documented elsewhere, the library saves you from rebuilding it from scratch.

Click New Fixture and switch to the Add From Library tab. A list of saved fixture library items appears as radio buttons. Each item represents a complete fixture snapshot including all its parts, specifications, and technical detail. Select the one that matches what you're installing, set the Parts Install Date (which becomes the installation date recorded on every part created from the template), and click Add From Library.

The system creates the fixture and all its parts in one operation. Every part field from the library item, part number, description, manufacturer, model number, firmware versions, and all technical detail fields, is copied to the new fixture. The install date you entered is applied to each part record.

The Include Groups checkbox is worth knowing about. If the library item was part of a group when it was saved, checking this box recreates that group association on the new fixture. Leave it unchecked if you want the fixture to start ungrouped and organize it later.

After creation you land on the fixture detail page with a fully built part inventory already in place. The main thing to do immediately is position the fixture on the map, since it will be sitting at the property center point until you move it.

Saving a Fixture to the Library

To save a fixture to the library, go to the fixture detail page and click the Library button in the parts section. Enter a library title up to 24 characters and click Save. Everything is captured: the fixture definition, every part record with its full specifications, wiring diagrams, and group associations. That snapshot becomes available immediately on the Add From Library tab for any fixture on any property in your account.

The library title is what you'll be selecting from a list later, so make it descriptive. "Standard 20ft LED Pole w/ Driver" or "Samsung 3x4 ION Wall v2.1" will serve you better than something generic.

Cloning a Fixture

Cloning creates an exact copy of an existing fixture within the same property. It's the right tool when you have multiple identical or nearly identical fixtures at the same location and don't want to enter the same specifications repeatedly.

Select the fixture you want to clone from the property fixture list (the checkbox next to the fixture row), then click Clone. A small modal asks for the new fixture name. That's it. Everything else, description, type, vendor, all parts with their full specifications, and group memberships, copies from the original.

Cloned parts are initially marked with "CLONE" in the part number, signaling that they need to be updated with the actual serial or part numbers for the specific units being documented. The fixture drops at the property center point, so reposition it on the map as soon as it's created.

Clone is different from the library in one important way: cloning works within a single property in the moment, while the library persists configurations for use across properties and over time. For adding the second of two identical fixtures on the same site, clone is faster. For deploying the same fixture configuration across twenty properties, the library is the right tool.

Importing Fixtures from a CSV File

When you have a large number of fixtures to add to a property at once, the import tool lets you upload them all from a spreadsheet.

The import modal accepts a CSV file with one fixture per row. The columns, in order, are:

Fixture Title (required, minimum three characters)

Fixture Description (defaults to the fixture title if left empty)

Total Parts in Fixture (required, between 1 and 50)

Part Number (defaults to the fixture title if left empty)

Part Description (defaults to the part number if left empty)

Part Position (optional)

Part Manufacturer (optional)

Part Model Number (optional)

Fixture Height in Feet (required, as a whole number)

A sample CSV file is available to download directly from the import modal so you can see the exact format before building your file. The import also has a checkbox for "First row is a header row, so ignore it" in case your spreadsheet includes column headers.

After you upload the file, Sytewise shows you a summary table of what it parsed. Any rows with errors are highlighted so you can correct them before committing. If everything looks good, click Finish Import to create all the fixtures at once. All imported fixtures start at the property center point and will need to be repositioned.

The import is best suited for properties with a large number of uniform fixtures where the basic data (name, type, part number) is already organized in a spreadsheet. It creates one part per fixture based on the single row of part data provided. For fixtures with multiple parts or complex specifications, adding parts individually after import gives you more control.

Fixture Groups

Fixtures can be organized into groups within a property. Groups are useful for representing physical clusters of equipment: a bank of lights on a single circuit, the displays on one wall of a venue, or the HVAC units serving a specific zone.

To add fixtures to a group, select them using the checkboxes in the fixture list and open the group modal. You can either create a new group name or add the selected fixtures to an existing group. A fixture can only be in one group at a time.

Group names are stored in lowercase with spaces and dashes converted to underscores. Keep them short and descriptive since they appear as labels on the property map.

Deleting a Fixture

Deleting a fixture is done from the fixture list on the property detail page. Select the fixtures you want to remove using their checkboxes and click the delete action. Sytewise uses soft deletion, meaning the fixture record is marked inactive rather than permanently erased. The fixture disappears from the active list but its history, logs, and associated records remain in the database.

A few things to know before deleting:

Parts are not deleted. The parts inside a deleted fixture become orphaned in the database. They don't disappear, but they're no longer accessible through the fixture's detail page. If the part records contain important documentation or history, consider whether the fixture should actually be deleted or simply left inactive.

Work orders and checklists are not automatically cleaned up. Any open work orders or checklists that referenced the fixture remain in the system but lose their connection to an active fixture record. Close out or reassign those items before deleting the fixture if clean records matter.

Group memberships are cleaned up. When a fixture is deleted, its group association is also marked inactive, so it won't leave behind a ghost entry in the group.

There is no built-in undelete. The soft-delete approach means recovery is technically possible at the database level, but there is no UI to restore a deleted fixture. Delete if you are confident that you're done with the fixture, such as being replaced or abandoned.

The practical guidance: if a fixture is being replaced, update its parts to reflect the new equipment rather than deleting it. The fixture record and its history are more valuable than a clean list. Delete when a fixture genuinely no longer exists at the property, not just because it was serviced or upgraded.Surveys and Surveyors

A survey is a property status report for all fixtures in a particular trade.

What is a Survey?

A survey is a property status report for all fixtures in a particular trade. Surveys are created by admin users. Surveyors receive email notification that a new survey is ready for them to complete. Surveyors complete Surveys via the Surveyor Portal.

TO CREATE A SURVEY

Go to the Property/Trade that you want to have surveyed.

Find the +Survey button with +Contract and +WOs top right under the trade tabs.

Choose a due date, surveyor and add any optional special instructions.

The survey will be issued and an email sent to the Surveyor.

Who is a Surveyor?

A Surveyor is an individual with permission to use the survey portal. Any Surveyor can be issued a Survey by an Admin user. With an issued Survey, Surveyors have access to any active property/trade in your account.

To Create a Surveyor

Go to Surveyors

Open the “Create A New Surveyor” section.

Fill out every field in the form unless labeled optional

The login password must be unique to the Sytewise system for all surveyors and vendors. If you enter a username that is already taken you will be asked to enter another.

Make sure to write down the password you enter. Passwords are not retrievable but they are resettable.

Surveyor Special Permissions

Select Surveyors are given “Create” permission

Create Permission grants that surveyor the ability to add a survey from the Survey Portal.

A Survey can be created for any property and trade in the account as long as there is at least one fixture in that trade.

A surveyor can create a survey in the survey portal by searching for a property, selecting a trade and completing the form.

Select Surveyors are given “Edit” permission

Edit permission grants that surveyor the ability to make changes to any of the fixtures or parts in the Property/Trade of an open survey.

For fixtures

They can change the name or description.

They can also flag any fixture “This fixture DOES NOT EXIST!”

This does not delete the fixture but does add a pinned note to the fixture. “This fixture DOES NOT EXIST” attributed to the Surveyor.

This note also appears in the completed survey.

With "Edit" permission a surveyor can impose direct edits on the information in a fixture or part.Completing A Survey

A surveyor logs into the Survey Portal with the username and password the Admin created for them. The home page once logged in will show a list of incomplete Surveys. Click “Completed” shows a list of all completed surveys by date.

Clicking a completed survey will show the special instructions and when it was completed.

Incomplete Surveys show a map and a list of all fixtures in that trade. If fixtures are in groups the same groupings are available here too. The “Nearby” button lists all fixtures closest to the device with the nearest at the top.

This only works if the fixtures are on a GPS map, not a floorpan map. It will also not work if you don’t allow location service in your browser.

Expanding any fixture with the + button will reveal parts in that fixture.

It is here that the Surveyor indicates any outages by clicking the green slide switch to red. Enter an optional note. Optionally add up to 10 images.

Do this for any fixture with outages. Your entries are saved but not committed to the master database until the survey is finished. Quitting the browser or leaving the survey for more than half an hour will loose all entries and they will have to start again. If the Surveyor has Edit permission they can edit fixture or part details in the Survey.Surveyor Created Surveys

For a Surveyor to create a Survey they must have permission granted by an admin to create surveys.

If the surveyor has permission to create surveys here is how to create them.

Log into the survey portal

From the home page click “Create A New Survey”

From any page click the “crosshairs” icon in the footer nav.

In the property text search box enter any part of the property title or address, as long as you enter at least 3 characters.

Choose a property from the list of found properties.=

Only trades with fixtures will appear below the properties.

Choose a trade.

Choose a due date

Enter any special instructions

Choose to have an email sent to yourself (the surveyor)

An email informing of the new survey will be sent to

Any admin who has favorited the property.

If none, all super admins will receive an email.

Surveys and Surveyors: Your Eyes in the Field

Not every property visit results in a work order. Sometimes you need someone to go look at things, document what they find, and bring that information back before any decisions are made about what to fix, replace, or leave alone. That's exactly what the survey system is built for.

Surveys are how Sytewise puts a trained set of eyes on a property or system and captures what those eyes see in a structured, documented, photographed record. The person doing that work is a surveyor, and they occupy their own distinct role in the system, separate from vendors and separate from admin users, with their own portal, their own permissions, and their own workflow.

What a Surveyor Is and Isn't

A surveyor in Sytewise is not a vendor. They don't receive work orders, they don't invoice for completed jobs, and they don't track costs. A surveyor is an observer and auditor. They go to a property, walk through the fixtures and systems in scope, document the condition of what they find, and submit a report that the admin team uses to make decisions.

That distinction matters because it changes how you use them. Vendors execute work. Surveyors assess it. Both are essential, and in many workflows they work in sequence: the surveyor goes first to determine what's actually happening out in the field, the admin reviews the findings and creates a work order for whatever needs to be done, and the vendor does the work. The surveyor's report becomes the factual basis for the scope of work rather than an assumption made from the office.

Surveyors can be third-party inspection companies, internal facilities staff assigned to walk properties, AV technicians auditing an installed system before a service contract is signed, or any other person or organization whose job is to observe and report rather than repair and bill.

Setting Up a Surveyor

Surveyors are managed from the Surveyors page in the left navigation. Each surveyor record is a company-level entry with a login account attached to it for accessing the survey portal.

Creating a Surveyor

The required fields for a new surveyor are company name, phone number, email address, a unique username, and a password. The username and password become the surveyor's portal login credentials. Usernames must be at least five characters and unique across all portal users in your account. Passwords must be at least eight characters.

Optional fields include a physical address, a description, and a QuickBooks ID if your account uses accounting integration. A profile image can be uploaded after the record is created.

If you're adding a large number of surveyors at once, the Import Surveyors section on the Surveyors page accepts a CSV file. Required columns are company name, email, phone, username, and password. Address and description are optional. A sample file is available to download directly from the import section to show the expected format.

Surveyor Permissions

This is where surveyors get interesting. Two permission flags control what a surveyor can do beyond the baseline of completing assigned surveys.

Can Edit allows the surveyor to modify fixture and part details while completing a survey. When this is enabled, the surveyor isn't just observing and noting problems — they can update the actual fixture and part records in the system as they go. This is the right flag for a trusted technician who is simultaneously auditing a system and correcting the data to match what's actually installed. An AV integrator doing a commissioning walkthrough, for example, might need to update firmware versions, correct model numbers, or adjust part status as they verify each component. Can Edit makes that possible without requiring admin access.

Can Create allows the surveyor to initiate surveys themselves instead of waiting for an admin to assign one. When this flag is enabled, the surveyor logs into their portal and can start a new survey for any property and trade they're associated with. This is the right flag for surveyors who operate with a high degree of autonomy, doing regular rounds without needing an admin to kick off each visit. The survey they create is flagged in the system as surveyor-created, so the admin team knows it originated in the field rather than from the office.

Both flags are off by default. Turn them on intentionally, based on the level of trust and responsibility you're extending to that surveyor.

A Flag option on the surveyor record adds a red indicator for administrative attention. Use it however makes sense for your workflow: to mark a surveyor whose insurance is pending, one whose work quality needs a second look, or simply to surface a record that needs follow-up.

Assigning an Admin Contact

Each surveyor can be linked to one admin user in your account via the Assign Admin Contact field on the surveyor detail page. This creates a clear internal point of contact for each surveyor relationship, useful for larger teams where different account managers handle different surveying relationships.

Creating a Survey

Surveys are created from the property detail page. Navigate to the property, find the trade you want to survey, and click New Survey. The creation form is straightforward.

Due Date is required and must be a future date. This is the deadline by which the surveyor needs to complete and submit their findings.

Surveyor is selected via an autocomplete search. Type part of the surveyor's company name and select from the results. Only active surveyors appear.

Special Instructions is an optional text field for anything the surveyor needs to know before arriving: access codes, contacts to call on-site, specific systems to prioritize, areas that are off-limits, or the particular questions you need answered. Whatever context helps the surveyor do their job well belongs here.

The property and trade are set by where you initiated the survey from and aren't selected in the form itself.

After creation you land on the survey detail page. The survey exists but no email has been sent yet. Take a moment to review the details, then click Send Survey when you're ready to notify the surveyor.

The Survey Email and Surveyor Portal

When you click Send Survey, Sytewise sends an email to the surveyor's address on file. The email includes the survey ID, the property name and address, the due date, any special instructions you added, and a login button linking directly to the survey portal.

The surveyor portal lives at a separate URL from the admin system. The surveyor logs in with the username and password set up on their record and sees a dashboard of surveys assigned to them, organized by completion status.

When a surveyor opens an assigned survey and begins working on it, the survey is marked In Progress. This matters because Sytewise prevents two surveyors from simultaneously working on surveys for the same property and trade combination. If a survey is in progress, any other surveys for that property/trade show an alert to the admin that the property is currently being worked. The surveyor can release the in-progress lock if they need to step away and return later, and an admin can see the in-progress status from the survey detail page.

What a Surveyor Does During a Survey

The survey submission process is where the field work becomes structured data.

The surveyor works through the fixtures at the property, selecting each one from the fixture inventory. For each fixture, they select the specific part they're documenting and record what they found.

For each part they can record:

Status: On (working) or Off (not working). This directly updates the part's status in Sytewise and feeds into the fixture's overall health score.

Notes: Free-text observations about that part's condition. These notes are stored with a source of "survey" so they're clearly distinguished from admin-entered notes, and they appear in the fixture's note history permanently.

Images: Photos uploaded directly from the surveyor's device, attached to the fixture record. Images are stored in Cloudinary and appear in the survey results, the fixture detail page, and the fixture print report. A photo of a burned-out component, a cracked housing, a missing part, or an improperly installed fixture is worth considerably more than a note that tries to describe it.

If the surveyor has Can Edit permission, they can also update fixture and part details during the survey: correcting descriptions, adjusting model numbers, or updating any field that should reflect what's actually present at the location rather than what was originally entered in the system.

A surveyor can document as many fixtures and parts as needed within a single survey. When they're done, they submit the survey and it's marked complete. Submitted surveys are read-only from the surveyor's side.

When a Surveyor Creates Their Own Survey

If the surveyor has Can Create permission, they can initiate surveys from the portal without waiting for an admin assignment. They select the property and trade, set a due date, add any notes relevant to what they're going to look at, and begin. Surveys created this way are marked in the admin system with a note indicating they were created by the surveyor rather than assigned from the admin side, so you always know the origin.

Reading Survey Results

A completed survey tells you a lot. The survey detail page organizes the findings into clear sections.

Submitted Fixtures shows every fixture the surveyor documented, with each part they reported on listed underneath it. Each part row shows the status badge (On or Off), the part number, position, and description, the notes the surveyor entered, and any images uploaded.

Fixture Updates captures any fixture-level notes added during the survey, with timestamps and the surveyor's name attached.

Part Updates shows any part-level changes made during the survey, relevant when the surveyor has Can Edit permission and updated records while they worked.

Email Log at the bottom shows the delivery record for every email sent in connection with this survey, including success or failure status. If a surveyor claims they never received the notification, this is where you verify.

The survey print view generates a clean, professional document with all of this information formatted for sharing or archiving. It includes the property and surveyor header, due and completion dates, all findings with images, and the complete email log.

Surveys in the Work Order Chain

Surveys and work orders aren't the same thing, but they work together in a chain that produces better outcomes than either one alone.

The survey is the assessment. It answers the question: what is actually going on out there? A surveyor walking through a portfolio of properties and documenting which fixtures have parts marked Off, which systems have components missing or degraded, and which locations have conditions that need attention gives the admin team a factual inventory of what needs to be done.

The work order is the authorization. Once the survey results are in and reviewed, the admin team knows exactly what to scope. The work order references the trade, the vendor, and the specific fixtures that need attention. The surveyor's notes and photos inform the instructions. The vendor arrives knowing what they're walking into because the assessment came first.

This sequence is particularly valuable for large portfolios where assumptions about property conditions tend to be optimistic, for new client onboarding where you're documenting starting conditions before any maintenance work begins, and for post-service verification where a second surveyor visit confirms that the work was actually done and done correctly.

Survey results do not automatically create work orders. That decision belongs to the admin team, who reviews the findings and determines which issues warrant vendor dispatch. That review step is intentional. Not every Off part on a surveyor's report needs a work order immediately. Some are known issues already in the queue. Some are cosmetic. Some need more information before a scope can be written. The human review between survey result and work order creation is where that judgment lives.

Recurring Surveys as Part of an Annual Workflow

Surveys are most powerful when they're scheduled, not reactive. A quarterly survey of a property's HVAC fixtures, an annual audit of an AV system before a contract renewal, a monthly walkthrough of high-traffic common areas, these are the recurring assessments that build a real operational record over time.

The Reminders system handles this. Create a reminder attached to a survey with Replicate this Survey checked, set the recurrence to whatever frequency makes sense for that property and trade, and Sytewise will prompt you to create a new survey on schedule. Each new survey gets the same surveyor, the same instructions, and the same scope as the original. You confirm, send it, and the workflow continues without anyone having to remember to set it up.

Over time, the pattern of survey results across recurring visits becomes a genuine maintenance history. Which fixtures reliably pass every survey. Which ones consistently show parts going Off between visits. Which properties have improving conditions and which ones are trending the other direction. That history is the basis for smarter maintenance decisions, better vendor conversations, and more honest conversations with clients about what it actually takes to keep their systems running.Tips and Best Practices

Here are some words of experience on the best way to add and use data in Sytewise.

Adding Properties

Adding properties is a pretty simple and straight forward process.  Here's a couple of things to think about to make your life easier as you work on the property in the future.Naming Fixtures and Parts



Here are some thoughts on Fixture Names and why a Naming Convention is a good idea.

What’s in a Name?

Which HVAC Unit needs a new compressor? Maintenance Systems need to keep track of hundreds of Fixtures and their parts, some of which are identical except for their serial number and location.  To make sure your staff can easily find and repair the right equipment, build that information into the name of your fixture.

Naming your Fixtures

The type of fixtures you manage or maintain and the way that you work with them can make a difference on how you choose to name them.  Facility Maintenance organizations that work with static location items may choose to include a Property Name or Location in the Fixture Name.  Companies that maintain equipment that is mobile may default to a Service Tag or Item Number.  Each Company’s naming strategy will be different and the same company may use a different strategy for different fixture types.  Here are some features you may want to include:

Fixture Type Data: HVAC, Hot Water Heater, Lighting Fixtures,

Manufacturer Data: Make, Model, Serial Number

Location Data: Address, Tenant Suite, Property, Ownership

Instance Data: Pole 6, RTU4, Fire Panel 3, etc..

Describing your Fixtures

Fixture descriptions can offer a lot of detail to the viewer and even short descriptions can be very helpful.  A minimum of details would include the type of fixture and any thing that would help identify it such as its age, capacity or function.

An HVAC unit may be described as “ 2010 RTU6, 25 Ton, Gas Pack, 3Phase “

Naming fixtures doesn’t need to be Hard

The goal of naming your fixtures is to make them easy to find and identify for your employees, vendors, and inspectors.  If you are consistent, even a simple naming convention will add lots of value to your work management system.  Here are some ideas to guide you as you come up with a naming structure.

Straight forward: Maintenance technicians should be able to draw meaning from asset names. Don’t name a HVAC Unit as “NUMBER 6.” HVAC,RTU, or COND is simpler and is more valuable to your employee. JCPENNEY RTU 6 is easily understood.

Consistent: Keeping your naming convention consistent will improve the data your system can provide you.  Make sure to be consistent in length and case. Add leading zeros to your numbers if you think a Fixture type may have more than 10, 100, or 1000. If you have 100 fixtures of the same type, the first fixture should include the numbers 001.

Unique: Each asset name should be unique to prevent confusion.

Short as Possible: Don’t include information easily found elsewhere

Allow for Expansion: Make sure you leave room for the addition of new fixtures of the same type.  Names that include numbers should allow for future expansion

Letters over Numbers: Letters can be much easier to interpret for employees and include information that numbers alone just can’t.

Grouping Fixtures

Grouping Fixtures is a powerful tool to allow you to look at subsets of fixtures on a property quickly and easily.  Looking at lights and want to see just your Pole Lights? Make a group.  Looking at HVAC units and want to see just the HVAC units on top of the Walgreens? Make a group.  Groups help categorize and locate your fixtures quickly and efficiently.  Also, Groups that are created by the administrator are available to Vendors and Surveyors to locate specific fixtures on the Work Order Map.

What are the best ways to Group Fixtures?

Fixture Type

Fixture Location

Fixture Ownership

Fixture Maintenance Vendor

Height off Ground

Fixture Type

Grouping all fixtures by type is a great way to keep track of how many of a specific item you have on a property.  Pole Lights, HVAC units by type and tonnage, even landscaping material can be grouped by species if it helps your technicians plan for maintenance.  It also can make it easy for technicians to survey a specific type of item.

Fixture Location

Fixture Location is a great way to look at a small group of fixtures when you have a large number at a single property.  Say you have four to five hundred light fixtures on a property.  Looking at a list of all of them to find your pole lights would be daunting.  Group all of your Pole lights together and you can easily display just those fixtures and find your specific fixture quickly.  Fixture Location is a great way to name your groups also.  Show me all the HVAC units on top of the Kroger Grocery Store.  That list shortened from 75 in the whole center to the 8 units that are on the Kroger roof.

Fixture Ownership

Fixture Ownership is a great way to group fixtures if you happen to have more than one ownership entity for a property location and the division of maintenance is based on parcels or areas of the property.  If a property is divided into Phases and each phases has different ownership or maintenance entities, this is a great way to group fixtures and easily export those that belong to or maintained by one group over the other.

Fixture Maintenance Vendor

Not all Fixtures of a certain type are maintained by the same vendor.  Grouping Fixtures by the Maintenance Contractor that services them makes it easy to keep track of the units associated with the vendor in question.

Fixtures By Height

The height of Fixtures is baked into how Fixtures are entered into our system.  It is a great way to know what type of vendor you should send to maintain a specific Fixtures, and what type of equipment they will need to reach it if it is a good distance off the ground.

Any other Category that Makes sense to You

There are any number of ways of categorizing Fixtures that will make sense to you with your Fixtures on your Properties.  If you ever need to see a Group of Fixtures as a subset of the whole, then save it as a Group.  Any individual Fixture can be a part of several groups.  Making Groups is simple and they are easy to recall when you need them.

How To Group Fixtures

Grouping fixtures is an easy.  Use the following steps to create a Group:

Select the Fixture or Fixtures you want to Group using the Square Check Box to the right of the Fixture Name.

Click the +Group button at the top of the Fixture List.

Enter the Name your new Group and click on the Create New Group button

Your new Group is done and already includes any fixtures you selected when making the Group.  You only need to select one fixture to create a Group.  You can add any other Fixtures you create to existing Groups.

If you Clone a Fixture that is part of a Group, The Clone will also be added to the same group, automatically.  It is good practice if you are creating a Fixture that you are going to Clone and add to a Group, go ahead and use your first Fixture to Create the Group.  Any Clones will already be a part of the group automatically.

Descriptions can save you Time and Money

Searching for a specific type of fixture across your portfolio used to take a lot of time and guesswork.  Sytewise can help you recall these fixtures in minutes without the guesswork.  The descriptions you give your fixtures will be a large part of sifting through all of your fixtures to get to the gold nuggets at the end of the rainbow.