Product · Feb 18, 2026 Note 03
All writingWhat a work order should record
Five lines — reported, dispatched, on site, repaired, invoiced — are enough to settle almost any dispute about a repair. Here is why each one matters.
Tomas Lindqvist
5 min read
A repair is a small story with five moments, and the argument about it — if there is one — is always about which of those moments happened when. A work order that records the five with times is worth more than a hundred text messages, because nobody has to remember anything.
Reported
Who told you, when, and in what words. The tenant's own sentence and their photo, kept exactly as sent. This is the line that proves you were told.
Dispatched
Who you sent, when, and with what instructions — the access notes, the key-safe code, the warning about the dog. This is the line that proves you acted.
On site
The contractor's own timestamp when they arrive. Haven takes it from their phone when they open the order, so it is not a number anyone typed.
Repaired
What was done, in the contractor's words, with a photo if there is one. The line that ends the fault.
Invoiced
The amount and the document, filed against the unit and categorised for year end. The line that ends the story on the statement.
Five lines. On the Harbor Street water heater in February the whole story ran from 08:14 to 11:12, and the tenant read it on their statement a fortnight later without asking a single question.