For property managers
Emergency, urgent or routine: how to sort a maintenance request
Updated 4 Oct 2026 · AR Logic LLC
EMERGENCY · TODAY · THIS WEEK · WHENEVER
A maintenance request is an emergency when someone can be hurt today or the damage is growing by the hour: fire or smoke, a gas smell, a carbon monoxide alarm, sparking or exposed wiring, water reaching anything electrical, active flooding, or no heat in freezing weather. Send someone now, out of hours if need be. It is urgent when nobody is in danger this minute but the unit is degraded or something is running away: no heat in a mild week, no water, sewage in the living space, a door or lock that will not secure, a continuous leak. Same day or next business morning. It is routine when the problem is real but bounded and the tenant is inconvenienced, not endangered: the next scheduled visit. fixRAgent uses four words for the same split: EMERGENCY, TODAY, THIS WEEK, and WHENEVER for a photo that shows nothing that needs a visit.
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Managers: set it up for your buildings →The four words, and what each is owed
EMERGENCY — the emergency request
Someone can be hurt today (fire, a fuel-gas leak, carbon monoxide, shock or arcing, structural collapse, scalding or flooding), or something is escaping right now, uncontrolled, and either the unit cannot be lived in or a week’s delay would change the kind of repair. Respond now, out of hours if need be. If fire, a gas smell or an injury is happening right now, the tenant calls 911 first.
TODAY — the urgent request
The unit cannot be lived in properly but it is not getting worse by the hour (no heat in a mild week, no drinking water, sewage in the living space, a door, lock or window that will not secure), or there is a continuous leak with bounded damage, a hazard that could hurt someone only if something else fails, a slow leak, or a problem a week’s wait would make a bigger job. Same day or next business morning.
THIS WEEK — the routine request
Minor, cosmetic or routine: one fixture out, a drain running slow, a stain that will grow slowly. The tenant is inconvenienced, not endangered. The next scheduled visit.
WHENEVER — nothing is owed
The photo shows nothing broken, or no actionable fault, or something that is not a building problem. No dispatch is owed; a reply to the tenant is.
How to sort a request, in order
Could anyone be hurt by it right now — fire, smoke, gas, a carbon monoxide alarm, sparking, exposed wiring, a ceiling that is sagging? EMERGENCY. Fire, gas or an injury: the tenant leaves and calls 911 before anything else.
Is something escaping right now and out of control — water running, gas, refrigerant, a breaker that will not stay on — and is the unit unlivable or getting worse by the hour? EMERGENCY.
Can the tenant live in the unit tonight? If not (no heat, no water, sewage, cannot lock the door), and it is not getting worse by the hour: TODAY.
Is there a continuous leak with bounded damage, a hazard that is not yet hurting anyone, a slow leak, or a problem a week would make bigger? TODAY.
Minor, cosmetic, a slow inconvenience? THIS WEEK.
Nothing broken that needs a visit? WHENEVER — answer the tenant and close it.
When you cannot tell from what you have
- Take the lower answer when the doubt is about a leak (is it dripping, or running?) — and ask for one more photo. A request moved up later costs little; one called an emergency by default stays one.
- Take the higher answer when the doubt is about gas, carbon monoxide or exposed wiring. The cost of being wrong runs the other way.
- The tenant’s words decide the hazard even when the photo cannot show it: a reported gas smell is an emergency even if the photo shows an electric range.
- Several problems in one photo: the most urgent one decides.
Same problem, different word
No heat
TODAY in a mild week; EMERGENCY in freezing weather or when pipes are at risk. Heat rules are local: New York City, for example, sets minimum indoor temperatures from October 1 to May 31 [1]. In freezing weather, remind the tenant never to heat the home with a gas oven or stovetop [2].
Water
A slow drip a bucket can hold: THIS WEEK or TODAY. Water running from a pressurized line, through a ceiling, or near anything electrical: EMERGENCY. Wet materials dried within 24–48 hours usually do not grow mold, which is why even a contained leak should not wait long [3].
Electrical
A cracked outlet cover with no scorching: TODAY. Scorch marks, sparking, a breaker that will not stay on, or wiring a person could touch: EMERGENCY.
How fixRAgent gives a request its word
A tenant’s photo (and their words, if any) goes in; a Triage Profile comes out: what the asset is, whether a fault is visible, one of the four words, which trade to call, and a line to send the tenant. The model describes what it sees; the word itself is set in code from a fixed decision table, so the same facts always give the same word. The call stays yours: fixRAgent does not dispatch vendors or run work orders.
Set it up for your buildings at fixragent.com/pm-onboard, or use fixRAgent inside Claude or ChatGPT from fixragent.com/connect-ai.html.
Questions managers ask
What counts as an emergency maintenance request?
One where someone can be hurt today or the damage is growing by the hour: fire or smoke, a gas smell, a carbon monoxide alarm, sparking or exposed wiring, water reaching anything electrical, active flooding, or no heat in freezing weather. It is owed a response now, out of hours if need be. Fire, gas or an injury happening right now is a 911 call first.
What is the difference between an urgent and a routine maintenance request?
An urgent request is one where the unit is degraded or something is running away but no one is in danger this minute — no heat in a mild week, no water, sewage, a door that will not lock, a continuous leak. It is owed a same-day or next-business-morning response. A routine request is real but bounded — the tenant is inconvenienced, not endangered — and goes on the next scheduled visit.
How do fixRAgent’s four urgency words map to emergency, urgent and routine?
EMERGENCY is the emergency request. TODAY is the urgent request. THIS WEEK is the routine request. WHENEVER is a photo that shows nothing that needs a visit: no dispatch is owed.
Is no heat an emergency?
In freezing weather, or when pipes are at risk, yes. In a mild week it is urgent — same day — rather than an emergency. Heat rules are local, so check your city and state; New York City, for example, sets minimum indoor temperatures from October 1 to May 31 [1].
Can software decide how urgent a maintenance request is?
It can sort it, and you make the call. fixRAgent reads one photo of the problem and returns one of four urgency words with the reason, the trade to call and a line for the tenant. The word is set in code from a fixed decision table rather than chosen freely by the model, so the same facts give the same word.
Sources
Got the tenant’s photo?
Drop it here. The Triage Profile says what it is, how urgent it is, who to send, and what to tell the tenant.