How to Prioritize Maintenance Requests: A Severity Scoring System
Every property manager knows the feeling of opening an inbox at 8:00 AM to 24 unread maintenance requests. Some are urgent, most are not, and all of them look exactly the same in a list.
Without a system, you process them in the order they arrived. This is a mistake. Processing a "squeaky door" before a "leaking water heater" is how properties get damaged and tenants get frustrated.
To regain control, you need a severity scoring system.
The 1-5 Severity Scale
A simple 1 to 5 scale allows you to categorize every incoming request in seconds.
Severity 5: Emergency
Response Time: Immediate Life safety issues or major property damage risks. Examples: Gas smell, active flooding, electrical fire hazard, no heat in freezing temperatures.
Severity 4: Urgent
Response Time: Same Day Significant impact on habitability or potential for damage if not handled soon. Examples: No hot water, AC out in a heatwave, major appliance failure (fridge), broken lock.
Severity 3: Moderate
Response Time: 24-48 Hours Noticeable issues that affect daily life but aren't emergencies. Examples: Dishwasher not draining, minor leak under a sink, slow drain.
Severity 2: Minor
Response Time: Within a Week Inconvenient but functional issues. Examples: Running toilet, broken cabinet hinge, interior door sticking.
Severity 1: Low/Cosmetic
Response Time: Routine Maintenance Issues that have minimal impact and can wait for a scheduled maintenance day. Examples: Squeaky door, paint touch-up, minor wear and tear.
Why This Works
When you assign a number to a request, you stop seeing "emails" and start seeing "priorities."
- Focus on what matters: You can ignore the 1s and 2s until the 4s and 5s are dispatched. (See our guide on Emergency vs Routine Maintenance).
- Set expectations: When a tenant submits a Severity 2 request, you can immediately tell them, "We've logged this as routine maintenance and will have someone out within the week."
- Better vendor routing: Emergencies usually require your "gold standard" 24/7 vendors. Routine jobs can go to your more affordable, scheduled handymen. (See our Vendor Management Playbook).
Implementing the System
Start by adding a "Severity" column to your tracking spreadsheet or tagging emails as they come in.
It takes about 30 seconds per email to read and assign a score. If you're processing 20 requests a day, that's 10 minutes of "triage time" that saves you hours of "chaos time" later in the day.
OpsPilot Note: This manual scoring is exactly what OpsPilot automates. Our AI reads every incoming maintenance email and assigns a severity score (1-5) instantly, so your inbox is already prioritized before you even open it.