Triage

Triage starts with safety questions, like whether water is near an outlet, and with steps that stop the damage, like the shut-off valve.

Write your triage rules down in advance, so the answer at night is the same as during the day. The tenant maintenance request process shows where triage sits between the first reply and the work order.

Good triage is a short script, not a judgment call made at 2:00 AM ET. It asks whether anyone is in danger, whether water, gas or power is involved, whether the damage is spreading, and whether the tenant can stop it. The answers put the request into a level, and the level decides who is called and how fast.

An example

A tenant reports no hot water. The script asks whether there is any heat, whether the water heater is leaking, and whether there is a gas smell. If the heat works, the heater is not leaking and there is no gas smell, it is urgent: within 24 hours. A tenant who reports a gas smell is told to leave and call the gas utility or 911 from outside.

Questions every triage script asks

• Is anyone hurt or in danger right now
• Is there water, gas, smoke or sparks
• Is the damage spreading, and can the tenant stop it
• Can the tenant safely stay in the unit tonight

How Now Ours handles it

Ours asks the safety questions you set and logs the case in your software. You decide what counts as an emergency. Everything else waits for the morning, and the tenant is told when to expect a call. See what counts as a maintenance emergency.