Every member of staff is the maintenance team's eyes and ears. When you spot a fault, you log a maintenance request (also called a work order or job ticket) with clear details. A serious fault can make a room out of order (OOO) until it is fixed.
Why it matters
Faults reported early are quick and cheap to fix. Ignored faults turn into complaints, rooms that cannot be sold or even injuries.
Key ideas
A good report
Give the location, the fault, the urgency and any effect on guests: 'Room 305, tap drips constantly, guest in room', not 'tap broken'.
Urgent or routine
Leaks, sparking sockets, a smell of gas or a guest stuck in a lift need an immediate call. A loose handle can go in the log.
Closing the loop
A request is finished only when the fault is fixed and recorded as complete. Follow up any open job.
Step by step
- 1
Make the area safe, for example with a warning sign.
- 2
Report the fault through your hotel's app, log, phone or radio.
- 3
Give the location, the fault, the urgency and any effect on guests.
- 4
Tell your supervisor if the room may need to go OOO.
- 5
Check later that the job was fixed and closed.
Do
- Report faults in public areas, not only in your own section.
- Add a photo if your system allows it, without guests' belongings in it.
- Note the reference number of your request.
Common mistakes
- Don't attempt electrical or gas repairs yourself.
- Don't assume someone else has already reported it.
- Don't let a guest use a room with a safety hazard.
The situation
While cleaning room 412, you notice a dripping tap and a scorched, cracked socket by the bed.
What a professional does
You don't touch the socket. You radio maintenance at once and tell your supervisor, so the room is not sold until it is checked. You log the tap as a routine request and leave a warning note on the socket.
Useful phrases
“Maintenance, it's Priya in housekeeping. Room 412 has a scorched socket. It's urgent.”
“I've reported it, and maintenance will call you with a time.”
Pro tip
If you would not sleep in the room with that fault, report it as urgent.
Quick check
What four details make a maintenance request useful?
Think about it, then show the answer
The location, what is wrong, how urgent it is and whether a guest is affected.