Users and roles

Users and roles control who can enter MaintenanceOps, what they can see, and what they can change. A good setup gives each person enough access to do their job without giving everyone full administrative control.

Use this setup order

Role first → responsibilities second → custom permissions last. This keeps access predictable and makes future changes easier to understand.

Choose the right role first

Role	Best fit	Main purpose
Requestor	Teachers, office staff, ministry staff, general employees	Submit work requests and follow their own requests
Technician	Maintenance staff doing the work	Work assigned jobs and update operational records
Manager	Supervisors and facilities leaders	Approve requests, assign work, and oversee technicians or locations
Super Admin	A small number of system owners	Full organization access, configuration, users, and administrative controls

Keep Super Admin access limited

Most people should not be Super Admins. Start with the role that matches normal responsibilities and add specific access only when the job requires it.

Add a user

1. Open Users.
2. Select + Add user.
3. Enter the person’s first name, last name, and email.
4. Choose the role that best matches their job.
5. Select Add user & send invite.
6. For technicians and managers, finish the setup by assigning building coverage or oversight responsibilities.

The role applies its default permissions immediately. The person receives an invitation to set a password and join your organization. If email delivery is disabled for your setup, MaintenanceOps provides a setup link you can share directly.

Role, permission, and responsibility are different

• Role — the person’s overall type of access and default permissions.
• Permission — a specific action the person is allowed to perform.
• Responsibility — the buildings or people the person is expected to cover.

For example, someone may have the Technician role, permission to edit work orders, and responsibility for only two buildings. Another technician could have the same role and permissions but cover the entire organization.

Why this distinction matters

When someone changes jobs, you may only need to change their building responsibility — not their role. Keeping these settings separate prevents unnecessary permission changes.

Fine-tune permissions only when necessary

Select Access on a user’s card to review permission toggles such as submitting work orders; viewing work for specific buildings; viewing or editing assets, parts, vendors, manufacturers, and PM schedules; deleting records; and managing users.

Changing a user’s role resets that person’s permissions to the defaults for the new role. Choose the role first, then make any individual adjustments afterward.

One important permission is Submit work orders. If it is turned off, that person no longer sees the option to create work.

Set technician building coverage

Select Buildings on a technician’s card and choose the sites or buildings they actually serve. If no buildings are selected, the technician can cover all locations.

Building coverage helps keep work views focused and supports cleaner routing in organizations with multiple properties or separate maintenance teams.

Set manager oversight

Select Oversees on a manager’s card and choose the appropriate technicians. If none are selected, the manager oversees all technicians.

Manager oversight affects team views and routing. Location responsibility is set separately on the Locations page, where managers can be assigned to specific sites and buildings.

What users see depends on access

A person’s role and permissions determine which areas appear in the sidebar and which actions are available inside records. That is why two people can sign in to the same organization and see different options.

Role-aware workflows also change the experience: requestors get simplified request tracking; managers can receive request approvals and see the technicians they oversee; location managers can receive requests for their assigned spaces; and Life Safety approval routing adapts to the management roles available.

When someone’s job changes

If responsibilities change, update the user’s role, permissions, building coverage, or oversight as needed.

When someone leaves, use Deactivate instead of deleting their account. Their past work-order history remains intact, but they can no longer actively use the organization.

If a manager is deactivated or moved to another role, MaintenanceOps can guide you through reassigning the technicians or locations they were responsible for so those responsibilities aren’t left without an owner.

Protect administrative access

The final active Super Admin cannot be deactivated or demoted. Keep at least one known, active administrative account so your organization cannot accidentally lose access to system administration.

A practical facilities-team setup

1. Give general staff the Requestor role.
2. Give maintenance employees the Technician role.
3. Use Manager for people who truly approve, assign, or supervise work.
4. Keep the number of Super Admins small.
5. Assign buildings and oversight only where responsibility is genuinely different.
6. Review custom permission changes occasionally so one-off exceptions don’t become permanent without a reason.

What to do next

For bulk user setup, see Importing your data. For manager responsibility by property, see The location tree. For organization-wide behavior after the team is set up, continue to Settings.