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Start a Work Order on Site

Starting a work order tells TuffOps the technician has arrived and is now working. The status moves from pending to ongoing, the arrival time is recorded, and the device's GPS location is saved to the status history so the office can confirm where work began.

This guide describes the web-app experience. The TuffOps Driver mobile app uses the same status transition under the hood, but the on-screen flow is documented separately.

Before you start​

  • You're the technician assigned to this work order, or you have the work_orders.supervise permission. Other users can't start someone else's work order.
  • The work order is in pending status. From unassigned you can't start — a supervisor needs to assign you first. From any later status, the Start Work Order button doesn't appear.
  • Your phone or tablet has location services enabled and the browser has permission to read your location. If location is blocked, the work order still starts, but no GPS coordinates are saved to the status history.
  • You're physically at the site. The captured GPS reading should match the unit's address.

Steps​

  1. Open your day's job list

    Select Work Orders in the top navigation bar. Use the Due Date filter or the search field to find the job. Technicians see only their own work orders by default.

  2. Open the work order

    Select the Edit action for the work order in your list.

  3. Confirm the basics

    The Status card on the right shows the Pending badge. The unit, address, and customer are at the top of the page. The Items card lists what you're expected to install or use.

  4. Start the work

    Select the blue Start Work Order button in the Status card.

  5. Allow location access

    The button text changes to Getting location... with a spinner. Your browser prompts for location permission the first time. Select Allow.

    • GPS lookup times out after 10 seconds. If it can't get a fix in time, the work order still starts but no coordinates are saved.
    • If you select Block or your device has location off, same outcome — work order still starts, no coordinates.

  6. Wait for confirmation

    The page reloads. The Status card now shows the blue Ongoing badge with an Arrived: <timestamp> line below it.

What happens next​

  • Status is ongoing. site_arrived_at is filled with the current server time.
  • A new entry appears in the status history with the timestamp, your name, and the GPS coordinates if they were captured. Office users can open the History link on the Status card and select the location pin to view it on Google Maps.
  • A Work order is now ongoing alert fires for users watching the alert feed (typically supervisors).
  • The Status card now offers two next-step buttons:
    • Complete Work Order — when you're done with the job and ready for customer signoff.
    • Pause Work Order — when you need to pause for parts, weather, or another reason. Pause also captures GPS.
  • Other actions on the page (items, photos, notes, checklists) are now editable. Update them as you work.

Common situations​

SituationWhat to do
You arrived but the customer isn't ready yetWait to start. The arrival time should reflect when work actually begins, not when you parked.
Multiple work orders at the same addressStart each one when you actually begin its specific job. Each gets its own arrival timestamp and GPS reading.
Phone has poor GPS reception inside the buildingStart outside or near a window for a more accurate reading. The reading is captured once at start — it doesn't update later.
You started the wrong work orderA supervisor with work_orders.supervise can transition it back. From ongoing they can move it to paused or cancelled. There's no direct unstart — fix is to cancel and start the right one.
You need to pause mid-job for partsSelect Pause Work Order in the Status card. The status moves to paused and your GPS is captured again. When you're back, select Start Work Order again to return to ongoing.

Troubleshooting​

You don't see the Start Work Order button.

Check the Status badge. If it shows Unassigned, no technician has been assigned yet — ask the office to assign you. If it shows Ongoing or later, the work order has already been started by someone else; reload the page to confirm.

The button stays on Getting location... and never submits.

GPS is taking longer than the 10-second timeout, or the request is hanging. Reload the page. If location services are off, turn them on, or accept that the work order will start without coordinates. The work order still transitions on next attempt.

You get the error This status transition is not allowed.

Two people opened the work order and another user changed the status. Reload — the Status card shows the current state. If it's already ongoing, no action needed.

Status changed to Ongoing but no GPS pin in history.

You selected Block for the location permission, or your device couldn't get a GPS fix in 10 seconds. The work order is fine. To unblock for next time, change site permissions in your browser settings for this domain.

Status didn't change at all but the page looks the same.

The browser may have cached the page. Hard-refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R). If status really didn't update, check Status → History for the latest entry — if your action is there, it worked.