Maintenance Triage

Instantly categorize, prioritize, route, and cost facility maintenance requests. This skill encodes domain expertise from commercial real estate operations, not generic AI guessing.

When to Use

• A tenant or occupant submits a maintenance request
• A building engineer reports an issue
• A facility manager needs to prioritize a backlog of requests
• Someone asks "what should we do about [building issue]?"
• Processing batch work orders from a CMMS export

Triage Process

For every maintenance request, produce ALL of the following:

1. Category Classification

Classify into exactly one of these 10 categories:

Category	Trigger Keywords/Patterns
Life Safety / Fire	fire, smoke, gas leak, sparking, electrical fire, carbon monoxide, explosion
Life Safety / Vertical Transport	elevator stuck WITH people, escalator entrapment
Indoor Air Quality / Health Hazard	mold, mould, asbestos, chemical spill, sewage backup, contamination
Plumbing / Water Intrusion	water leak, pipe burst, flooding, drain backup, water damage, toilet overflow
HVAC / Climate Control	HVAC, AC, heating, cooling, temperature, thermostat, air handler, chiller, boiler
Vertical Transport (Non-Emergency)	elevator malfunction (no entrapment), escalator not working, lift service needed
Electrical / Lighting	lights out, power outage, breaker tripped, outlet not working, ballast, flickering
Security / Access Control	door lock, key card, badge reader, broken door, security camera, gate, intercom
Building Envelope	roof leak, window damage, exterior wall, facade, waterproofing, caulking, sealant
General Maintenance	paint, carpet, cleaning, pest control, signage, furniture, landscaping, parking

If a request spans multiple categories, classify by the HIGHEST RISK element. "Water leaking near electrical panel" is Life Safety, not Plumbing.

2. Priority Assignment

Assign exactly one priority level:

CRITICAL (Immediate response required)

• Threat to human life or safety
• Active fire, gas leak, elevator entrapment, structural failure
• Sewage backup in occupied space
• Complete power loss to critical systems (data center, medical equipment)
• Response: Dispatch within 15 minutes. Call 911 if life safety.

HIGH (Same-day response required)

• Active water intrusion or leak
• Mold discovery in occupied space
• Safety lighting failure (parking, stairwells, exits)
• Security system failure at exterior access point
• HVAC failure in extreme weather (below 40F or above 90F)
• Broken exterior door that cannot be secured
• Response: Dispatch within 2 hours. Tenant notification required.

MEDIUM (Response within 1-2 business days)

• HVAC discomfort (not extreme conditions)
• Interior lighting failure
• Non-emergency elevator service
• Interior door/lock issues
• Plumbing issues without active water damage
• Response: Schedule within 24-48 hours. Acknowledge to tenant within 4 hours.

LOW (Scheduled maintenance, 3-5 business days)

• Cosmetic issues (paint, carpet stain, minor drywall damage)
• Landscape maintenance
• Non-urgent signage
• Interior pest sighting (not infestation)
• General cleaning requests
• Response: Add to maintenance queue. Acknowledge within 1 business day.

Priority Modifiers (can escalate priority one level):

• Request from executive suite or high-value tenant
• Issue in common area with high foot traffic
• Repeat request (same issue reported 3+ times)
• Compliance/code-related (ADA, fire code, health department)
• Approaching lease renewal for the requesting tenant

3. Vendor/Team Routing

Route based on category and your knowledge of typical building operations teams:

Category	Primary Route	Secondary/Escalation
Life Safety / Fire	911 + Fire watch + Property Manager	Building engineer, insurance carrier
Life Safety / Vertical Transport	Elevator contractor emergency line	Fire dept (if entrapment), building engineer
Indoor Air Quality	Environmental remediation vendor	Industrial hygienist, legal (if tenant claim)
Plumbing / Water Intrusion	Plumbing contractor	Water mitigation company (if spreading), insurance
HVAC / Climate Control	HVAC contractor or building engineer	Controls vendor (if BAS issue)
Vertical Transport	Elevator contractor (standard)	Building engineer for interim signage
Electrical / Lighting	Electrician or building engineer	Utility company (if building-wide)
Security / Access Control	Locksmith or access control vendor	Security company, property manager
Building Envelope	Roofing/glazing contractor	Building engineer for temporary protection
General Maintenance	Building engineer or handyman	General contractor for larger scope

Always include: "Notify property manager" for HIGH and CRITICAL. "Document with photos" for any visible damage.

4. Cost Estimation

Provide a realistic cost range based on commercial building service rates:

Category	Typical Range	Notes
Life Safety / Fire	Variable	Emergency response costs vary widely. Fire watch: $25-45/hr
Life Safety / Vertical Transport	$500-$2,000	Emergency elevator service call
Indoor Air Quality	$1,500-$8,000	Testing ($500-1,500) + remediation ($1,000-6,500)
Plumbing / Water Intrusion	$300-$3,000	Simple fix $300-800, water mitigation $1,500-3,000+
HVAC / Climate Control	$200-$1,500	Service call + parts. Compressor/unit replacement: $3,000-15,000
Vertical Transport	$300-$1,200	Standard service call under maintenance agreement
Electrical / Lighting	$75-$400	Lamp/ballast: $75-150. Panel work: $200-400+
Security / Access Control	$150-$800	Rekey: $150-300. Access control repair: $300-800
Building Envelope	$500-$5,000+	Inspection + repair. Full roof repair: $5,000-50,000+
General Maintenance	$100-$500	Standard handyman/engineer time

Note: These are 2026 commercial rates for the Southeast US. Adjust for your market. After-hours/emergency calls typically 1.5-2x standard rates.

5. Response Time (SLA-Aware)

State the expected response time based on priority:

• Critical: Immediate dispatch, < 15 minutes
• High: Within 2 hours (business hours), within 1 hour (after hours for life safety)
• Medium: Acknowledge within 4 hours, dispatch within 24-48 hours
• Low: Acknowledge within 1 business day, complete within 3-5 business days

If the user has provided specific SLA terms or a service agreement, defer to those over the defaults above.

Output Format

For each maintenance request, output in this structure:

## Triage Result

**Request:** [Original request text]
**Category:** [One of the 10 categories]
**Priority:** [CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW]
**Priority Rationale:** [One sentence explaining why this priority level]

**Route To:**
- Primary: [Who to call/dispatch first]
- Secondary: [Escalation path if primary unavailable]
- Notifications: [Who else needs to know]

**Estimated Cost:** [Range]
**Response Time:** [Expected timeframe]

**Recommended Actions:**
1. [Immediate step]
2. [Follow-up step]
3. [Documentation/compliance step]

**Work Order Notes:** [Draft notes for the work order, suitable for pasting into a CMMS]

Batch Processing

When given multiple requests at once (common when processing a CMMS export or email inbox), triage each one individually, then add a summary:

## Batch Summary

| # | Request | Priority | Category | Est. Cost |
|---|---------|----------|----------|-----------|
| 1 | [Short description] | CRITICAL | [Category] | $X-Y |
| 2 | [Short description] | HIGH | [Category] | $X-Y |
...

**Immediate Actions Required:** [List any CRITICAL/HIGH items that need same-day attention]
**Total Estimated Cost Range:** $X - $Y
**Vendor Calls Needed:** [Deduplicated list of vendors to contact]

Edge Cases

• Vague requests ("something is wrong in suite 300"): Classify as General Maintenance / Medium, but note in the work order that a site visit is needed to assess before dispatching a vendor. Do not guess.
• Tenant emotional language ("THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!!"): Triage based on the actual issue described, not the tenant's emotional state. Escalating everything tenants call "urgent" defeats the purpose of triage.
• After-hours requests: Note that after-hours dispatch rates are typically 1.5-2x standard. Only dispatch after hours for CRITICAL and HIGH items.
• Repeat requests: If context suggests this is a recurring issue, note it and recommend a root cause investigation rather than another spot fix.
• Requests that are actually capital projects: If the "maintenance request" is really a tenant improvement or capital expenditure (e.g., "we need to renovate the break room"), flag it as out of scope for maintenance triage and recommend routing to the property manager for project scoping.

What This Skill Does NOT Do

• Replace a licensed engineer's assessment for structural issues
• Provide legal advice on liability or compliance
• Override your building's specific emergency procedures
• Guarantee cost estimates (always get vendor quotes for work over $1,000)
• Replace CMMS software (this triages the input, your CMMS tracks the output)