Maintenance & Service Requests

Pastrata provides a centralized maintenance triage system that replaces fragmented phone calls and emails. Residents can report problems with photos, track progress in real time, and communicate with managers. Managers can dispatch trusted vendors, solicit quotes, and issue work orders with a complete audit trail. For how a vendor job moves from a council decision to a paid invoice, start with Vendor Projects: From Council Decision to Paid Vendor.

Required Roles & Capabilities

Access to these features depends on your building role and assigned capabilities:

Quickstart (Getting Started)

1. Click Requests in the navigation sidebar or tap + New Request.
2. Choose the issue location: Common Area (hallway, gym, parkade) or In-Suite.
3. Select the problem category (e.g. Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC, Landscaping, Security).
4. Describe the issue clearly and attach 1–3 photos or videos highlighting the problem.
5. Submit the ticket and receive notifications as managers triage, dispatch contractors, and resolve the issue.

Step-by-Step Guides

How to Submit a Maintenance Ticket with Photos

Report a physical defect, leak, or repair need to building management.

1. Go to Requests > New Request.
2. Select whether the issue is located inside your private unit or in a common area.
3. Choose an urgency level: Normal, Urgent, or Emergency.
4. Provide a clear description of what is happening, including when it started.
5. Click Attach Photos / Files and select photos showing the issue and its broader surroundings.
6. Click Submit Request. You will receive an email confirmation with your ticket number.

Pro-Tip: For active water leaks or electrical sparking, call your emergency concierge number immediately in addition to submitting a ticket.

How to Track Request Status and Message Building Staff

Communicate directly with managers and contractors within the ticket thread.

1. Navigate to Requests and click on your open ticket.
2. Review the status badge: Open, In Review, Vendor Dispatched, Work In Progress, or Resolved.
3. Scroll to the conversation feed to view messages from management.
4. Type a reply in the message box to provide contractor entry instructions or answer follow-up questions.

How to Edit a Request You Submitted

Fix a typo or a wrong detail in your request until management starts working on it. Once a manager claims it, dispatches a vendor, links a work order, or moves it past Open, the request can no longer be edited — add a message to the thread instead.

1. Navigate to Requests and open the ticket.
2. Select Edit request.
3. Correct the title, description, or category. On a maintenance request you can also change the location, specific location, issue type, and urgency level; on other requests, the urgent toggle.
4. Select Save changes. The thread shows that you updated the request, so management can see what they are working from.

How to Rate a Resolved Maintenance Request

Once management marks your maintenance request Resolved (or it is closed), tell them how it went. You can rate each request once and can’t change it afterwards; a rating of 2 stars or fewer alerts managers so they can follow up.

1. Navigate to Requests and open the resolved ticket.
2. Under How did we do?, choose 1 to 5 stars. On the mobile app, tap Leave feedback first.
3. Optionally add a comment about what went well or what could be better, then select Submit feedback.

How to Follow Up on Your Requests with eConcierge

Ask eConcierge about any request you submitted, maintenance or otherwise. Nothing is sent or changed until you confirm.

1. Ask "did management reply to my parking complaint?" or "what's the status of my requests?" to see your requests and where each one stands.
2. Ask eConcierge to add to a request, for example "add to my noise complaint that it happened again last night". It shows the message for you to confirm, then posts it to the request thread.
3. Say "my fob request is sorted, close it" to close a request you no longer need, or "give my elevator repair 5 stars" to rate a resolved one.

Pro-Tip: eConcierge can't attach photos or files. Open the request under Requests to add them.

How to Review Resident Satisfaction (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

See how residents rated resolved maintenance requests over a date range: average rating, the spread of 1–5 star ratings, response rate, recent low ratings, and a breakdown by category. Property managers and council also see ratings by assignee; concierge staff do not unless the building grants it.

1. Navigate to Management → Maintenance and open the Satisfaction tab.
2. Choose a start and end date (the last 90 days by default). Requests are counted by the date they were resolved.
3. Review the average rating, distribution, and response rate, then open any request under Recent low ratings to follow up in the inbox.

How to Triage Requests & Dispatch Vendors (Managers) (Property Managers)

Review incoming resident tickets, assign vendors, request quotes, and issue work orders.

1. Go to Management > Inbox or Requests.
2. Click on the new incoming ticket to review photos and description.
3. Assign the ticket to a verified vendor from your building’s vendor directory.
4. Select Request Quote if council approval is required for work exceeding statutory spending thresholds.
5. Once approved, update status to Vendor Dispatched and set the scheduled service date.
6. Upon job completion, verify contractor sign-off and mark the ticket Resolved.

Pro-Tip: On a Prime building in British Columbia, the request's context panel also lists Similar CRT decisions: links to Civil Resolution Tribunal decisions on comparable disputes. They are examples only, not binding and not legal advice. Residents do not see this list on their own requests, and it is hidden if the building has turned off Include CRT decisions in answers.

How to Triage the Inbox with eConcierge (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

If you can manage the building inbox (INBOX_MANAGE), eConcierge can work requests for you. Every change is shown for you to confirm first.

1. Ask "show me new requests nobody has picked up" to list the inbox by status, category, type, assignee or keywords.
2. Say "I'll take the lobby door complaint" to assign it to yourself, or name someone who can work requests to assign it to them.
3. Ask it to mark a request resolved or waiting on the resident, change its category, or flag it urgent.
4. Ask it to reply to the requester ("tell unit 305 we've sent the owner a warning letter"), or to leave an internal note only management can see.
5. It can also add or remove watchers, and add, rename or archive request categories.

Pro-Tip: Attachments, new outbound messages, excluded subjects, quarantined emails from unmatched senders, and the maintenance triage policy stay in the app; eConcierge links you to the right screen.

How to Run Work Orders, Equipment and Vendors with eConcierge (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

If you manage work orders (WORK_ORDER_MANAGE), vendors (VENDOR_MANAGE) or compliance (REGULATORY_GUIDANCE_MANAGE), eConcierge can keep these records for you. Every change is shown for you to confirm first, naming the work order, equipment, vendor or inspection it changes.

1. Say "open a work order for the clogged parkade drain, high priority", or "mark the boiler room leak repair complete, it came to $480".
2. Ask it to update the equipment register ("elevator 2 is out of service until the part arrives"), or to add a new piece of equipment.
3. Ask it to set up or change a preventive maintenance schedule, or to "create work orders for the maintenance coming due this month". The card lists every schedule it will create a work order for.
4. Ask it to record a statutory inspection ("the fire alarm inspection passed on October 3, certificate FA-2291"). It closes the compliance item and sets the next due date.
5. Ask it to add a vendor to the directory, update their details, or deactivate one you no longer use.

Pro-Tip: Deleting records, messaging a vendor on a work order, quote requests and awards, inviting a vendor to the portal, and deciding who pays for a repair stay in the app; eConcierge links you to the right screen. It can't upload photos, inspection reports or other documents.

How to Request Quotes for a Project (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Every new quote request belongs to a project, where its quotes are compared and awarded. Needs Manage projects (PROJECT_MANAGE) and Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE); concierge staff can record quotes but can’t start a quote request unless the building lets them manage projects.

1. Open the project and click Request quotes under Quotes. From Management > Maintenance > Quotes (New quote request) or a maintenance request (Request Quotes (RFQ)), the same form also creates the project.
2. Check the title and Scope of work: they start as the project’s, and vendors receive exactly what is here, never the estimate, funding or the project’s other files. Choose the trade and the date quotes are due. From a maintenance request, the trade starts as the request’s category when that is also a vendor trade.
3. Optionally add a site visit and its instructions. They are sent to vendors, so leave out access codes and residents’ details.
4. Tick the project files to send with it, and pick the vendors to invite.
5. Click Save draft. Nothing is sent yet: no vendor sees a draft. Review it, add or remove vendors, or click Edit details.
6. Click Send to … vendors and confirm. Every vendor on the list is invited at once, and the project moves to Sourcing.

Pro-Tip: The due date must be tomorrow or later, in the building’s time zone, when you send.

Pro-Tip: Once sent, a quote request’s details can’t be edited and it can’t be deleted, only cancelled. Changes go out as an addendum, and the due date can be extended (see Publish an Addendum or Extend the Due Date). Files sent with it stay with the project.

Pro-Tip: Every invite links to the vendor’s own page for the request, where they read it, download the files sent with it and can decline. They don’t need an account. A file that failed the malware scan is listed but can’t be downloaded.

Pro-Tip: Vendor emails come from your building, not from Pastrata: the sender reads “your building’s name via Pastrata” (for example, “Harbour View via Pastrata”), and the email shows your building’s name (and your management company’s logo, if it has one). Vendors answer by replying. If someone declines with the vendor’s emailed link and that withdraws a quote, the vendor is emailed so they can tell you if it wasn’t them.

Pro-Tip: To cancel, click Cancel request. Every vendor who was sent it and hasn’t declined is told it was cancelled, without your note. The project goes back to Draft, ready for a new quote request.

Pro-Tip: Cancelling a project cancels its open quote request the same way, and cancelling or deleting a project deletes a draft it still holds.

Pro-Tip: To let concierge staff start quote requests, go to Management > Settings > Manager permissions, open Operations and tick CO for Create and manage vendor projects. That ticks View vendor projects for them too, since starting a quote request needs both; it stays ticked while they can manage projects. Without it, concierge staff see a note on an empty Quotes screen that your property manager or council starts quote requests, and can still record quotes and declines on open ones.

How to Invite Vendors to a Quote Request (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Choose who is asked to quote, from your vendor directory or by adding a vendor that isn’t in it yet. Needs Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE), which comes with the vendor directory on the Prime plan; the vendor portal isn’t needed, because vendors answer by email.

1. Pick vendors while drafting a quote request (see Request Quotes for a Project), or open a draft or open quote request and click Invite more vendors. On a draft, vendors are only put on the list until it is sent.
2. Under Vendors to invite, tick the vendors you want. Each shows its trade, its coverage badge, how many jobs it completed for the building in the last year, and whether it is an Unverified vendor, has no email, asked not to receive quote requests, or is already invited.
3. A vendor is emailed unless you tick Record only: then Pastrata never emails it, and you contact it yourself by phone or in person. A vendor with no email, or one that asked not to receive quote requests, can only be record only.
4. To ask a vendor that isn’t in the directory, fill in Invite a vendor not in the directory (company name and email; contact name and phone are optional) and click Add vendor. If a vendor at that email is already in the directory, it is invited instead. If one shares the email’s company domain or has the same name, you see it and can invite it, or click Create a new vendor anyway.
5. Once the request is sent, each invited vendor shows Invited, Viewed, Quoted, Declined or Withdrawn, with Email sent or Not delivered. For an invite that wasn’t delivered, click Resend; for a record-only vendor that now has an email, Send by email.

Pro-Tip: A quote request can invite at most 20 vendors, and a building can add at most 20 new vendors this way in a day.

Pro-Tip: You can invite more vendors to an open quote request at any time, even after its due date. Nobody else’s due date changes.

Pro-Tip: New vendors are added to the directory as Unverified vendor. Residents don’t see them until someone who manages vendors verifies them.

Pro-Tip: Correcting a vendor’s email while resending changes it in the directory, so only someone who manages vendors can do it, except for a new vendor you added in that quote request and nobody has verified yet.

Pro-Tip: An inactive vendor at the same email can be reactivated and invited by someone who manages vendors.

How to Verify Vendors and Respect Opt-Outs (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Turn a vendor someone added while inviting it to quote into a trusted directory entry, and record a vendor’s request to stop receiving quote requests.

1. Go to Vendors and open a vendor marked Unverified vendor.
2. Check the business is real and its details are right, then click Verify vendor. This needs Manage vendors (VENDOR_MANAGE). Every member can then see the vendor in the directory. Verifying says nothing about insurance, which keeps its own coverage badge.
3. If a vendor asks not to receive quote requests (for example by replying to one, or by phone), click Record opt-out next to it on the quote request, or on its vendor page, and add a note. From then on it can only be invited record only, and Pastrata sends it no quote request email of any kind. A vendor can also ask for this itself when it declines a quote request.
4. If the vendor later asks to be contacted again, someone who manages vendors clicks Record that they asked again and adds a note. The note is kept in the vendor’s history.

Pro-Tip: Every quote request email says why the vendor received it and how to stop receiving them: by ticking Don’t send me quote requests when declining.

Pro-Tip: The coverage badge reads Coverage lapsed or missing when a vendor’s WorkSafeBC clearance or liability insurance has lapsed or isn’t on file. It is not the same as an unverified vendor.

How to Message Vendors on a Quote Request (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Answer bidders’ questions privately and read the quotes they email back. Needs Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE).

1. Go to Management > Maintenance > Quotes and open a quote request.
2. Under Vendor messages, choose a vendor in Conversation with to see your conversation with them. All vendors shows every conversation together, labelled by vendor, and is read only.
3. Write your message and click Send. Only the vendor you chose is emailed; the other bidders never see it, its content, or any figures in it.
4. A vendor’s email reply, and any quote they attach, appears in their conversation. Click an attachment to download it. A file that failed the malware scan is marked Blocked and can’t be downloaded; one still being scanned is marked Scan pending.
5. A reply sent from an address other than the vendor’s address on file, for example their estimator’s, is kept and marked Sent from …, not the address on file, so you can judge it before relying on it.
6. A reply that shows the vendor’s address but whose sender the email provider couldn’t confirm is kept and marked Sender not verified. Anyone with a forwarded copy of your email can make a reply look like it came from the vendor, so check with the vendor before relying on it.

Pro-Tip: Messages sent before private answers were introduced went to every invited vendor and are labelled that way.

Pro-Tip: Vendors with a portal account can also ask a question in the vendor portal. It lands in their conversation like an email reply, and only you and that vendor see it.

Pro-Tip: To tell every vendor the same thing, publish an addendum instead of messaging each one.

Pro-Tip: A quote request or work order that belongs to a confidential project is shown, with its messages, files and notifications, only to people who can also see that project.

Pro-Tip: A vendor who has been invited to quote, has quoted or has invoiced can’t be deleted from the directory. Deactivate it instead.

How to Publish an Addendum or Extend the Due Date (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Tell every vendor still in the running about a change or clarification, or give them more time. Needs Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE).

1. Open a sent quote request. Under Addenda, click Publish addendum.
2. Write the addendum in your own words. When it answers one vendor’s question, don’t paste the question or say who asked: every vendor receives it.
3. Tick any project files to send with it. Files you pick stay with the project, because vendors priced against them.
4. To give vendors more time in the same step, tick Also extend the due date to and pick a later date.
5. Check the preview, which says how many vendors are emailed and how many are record only (tell those yourself), then click Publish. Addenda are numbered (Addendum 1, 2, …) and can’t be changed once published: to correct one, publish another.
6. To give more time without an addendum, click Extend due date and pick a later date. Every vendor who hasn’t declined is emailed the new date, including those who already quoted.

Pro-Tip: An addendum goes to every invited vendor who hasn’t declined, each in their own conversation and emailed one at a time, so no vendor sees who else was invited. Vendors see addenda on their quote request page and in the vendor portal.

Pro-Tip: A vendor you invite after addenda went out receives all of them with the invite.

Pro-Tip: A due date can only move later, never to a date already past. To shorten it, cancel the quote request and send a new one.

Pro-Tip: Each quote records the latest addendum it covers. A quote you record defaults to the addenda published before it arrived; change it if the vendor’s quote says otherwise. The quote comparison flags a quote that predates the latest addendum.

How to Reminders, the Due-Date Summary and Who Is Told (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Pastrata reminds vendors before quotes are due and tells you on the due date where things stand. Needs Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE).

1. Two days before the due date, at 9 a.m. building time, each vendor invited by email who hasn’t quoted, declined or withdrawn gets one reminder email. Record-only vendors are never emailed: remind them yourself.
2. On the due date at 5 p.m. building time, the quote request’s contacts get a summary, in the app and by email: how many vendors quoted, declined and haven’t responded. It names no vendor and no amount.
3. From the summary, open the quote request to compare what came in, extend the due date, invite more vendors, or go ahead.

Pro-Tip: A quote request’s contacts are the person who created it and the project’s lead, as long as each can still manage quote requests and see it. If neither can, everyone who manages quote requests and can see it is told instead.

Pro-Tip: Contacts are told when a vendor sends or revises a quote in the vendor portal, replies to a quote request email, or declines. A quote, revision or decline you record yourself notifies no one.

Pro-Tip: Extending the due date sends the reminder and the summary again for the new date. A vendor invited after the reminder went out isn’t reminded.

Pro-Tip: The quote request’s history lists each reminder and summary sent.

Pro-Tip: These notifications are under Settings › Notifications › Projects.

How to Record Quotes Vendors Send by Email, on Paper or by Phone (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Put every quote on the quote request, however it arrived, with the document it came as. Needs Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE). Recording a quote notifies no one.

1. When a vendor emails their quote back, open the quote request and find their reply under Vendor messages. Click Record as quote: the vendor, the date it arrived and the source are filled in, and the attachment becomes the quote document. Pick the attachment if there are several.
2. For a quote that reached your own inbox, came on paper or by phone, click Record a quote above the quotes table and choose the vendor. A vendor not on the list can be added in the same step: it joins the quote request record-only, and a new vendor goes into the directory as unverified.
3. Type the Amount before tax and the Tax exactly as the vendor states them (or click Fill from document on a scanned-clean text PDF to pre-fill the figures, dates and scope from the PDF, then check and confirm them); Pastrata adds them up for the total and never calculates GST or PST. Add what’s included and excluded, the duration, earliest start, validity date and notes if the quote gives them.
4. Upload the quote document (PDF, image, Word or Excel, up to 25 MB), or choose There is no document for a phone quote. Set how it was received and when, then click Record quote.
5. If a vendor tells you they won’t quote, click Record decline next to them under Invited vendors and add the reason. When they said so in an email reply without an attachment, click Record as decline on that reply instead. A quote they had sent is withdrawn, and recording it notifies no one.
6. If the vendor sends a revised quote, click Record a revision on their row. Every revision is kept: click revisions on a quote to see each one as it was received, with its document and who entered it. To record that a vendor pulled out, click Record withdrawal.

Pro-Tip: Each quote shows how it arrived and who recorded it. Received after the due date marks a late quote, Expired a quote whose validity date has passed, and Scan pending a document not yet cleared by the malware scan. Late and expired quotes stay usable; vendors never see these labels.

Pro-Tip: A reply sent from an address other than the vendor’s on file warns you before you record it. A message can be recorded as a quote or a decline once, and it then shows Recorded as quote or Recorded as decline. An attachment that failed the malware scan can’t be recorded.

Pro-Tip: Vendors can decline themselves, from the link in their email or in the vendor portal. The quote request’s contacts are told in the app (see Reminders, the Due-Date Summary and Who Is Told). A vendor who declined can still quote while the request is open, and is then no longer counted as declined.

Pro-Tip: Quotes from before amounts were split show their total with Tax breakdown not recorded.

Pro-Tip: In the vendor portal, a vendor sees the quote you recorded labelled Recorded by building management. They can’t change it there, only submit a revised quote, which becomes the current one and leaves yours in the revisions.

How to Compare Quotes and Recommend One (Council & Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

See every quote on a project side by side, discuss them with council, and record which one you recommend. Seeing the comparison and commenting needs View vendor projects (PROJECT_VIEW), not Manage quote requests, so council members can compare without running the tender. Marking a preferred quote needs Create and manage vendor projects (PROJECT_MANAGE).

1. Open the project and scroll to Quote comparison. It appears once a quote request has gone out, and shows the open request (or the awarded one, or the latest). If the project was re-tendered, pick an earlier request from the list.
2. Each row is one quote, from the portal, an email or one you recorded: total, amount before tax, tax, days, earliest start, validity date, the vendor’s WorkSafeBC and insurance status, and its track record with the building. Underneath are what it includes and excludes, how it arrived, and its document.
3. Labels mark the Lowest total, a quote that has Expired, a vendor whose Compliance lapsed or missing, a quote Received after the due date, and a quote that Predates the latest addendum.
4. If you can manage the building’s finances, the Budget impact column shows what each quote would leave on the project’s budget lines, the reserve fund or the levy, or how much it would go over.
5. Add a comment under Council comments. Comments are for council and managers only: vendors never see them, they aren’t in the PDF, and they can’t be edited or deleted.
6. To recommend a quote, click Mark preferred on its row and give the reason. This awards nothing; the approval starts from it. You can change or clear it until the request is awarded or cancelled, and each change is kept in the request’s history.
7. Click Export PDF for the same table, with the preferred quote and its reason, to attach to a council agenda, a written resolution or the building’s records.

Pro-Tip: A withdrawn quote isn’t compared. If the vendor withdraws the preferred quote, the comparison says so.

Pro-Tip: A confidential project’s comparison can’t be exported, because the file would leave the app.

Pro-Tip: Anyone who can see the comparison can open each quote’s document. Earlier revisions of a quote stay with the people who manage quote requests.

Pro-Tip: In the mobile app, a work order shows the vendor’s quote. A quote attached to the work order opens on your phone, and Approve quote approves it and starts the work; quotes on a request for quote are awarded from the request on the web. The work order links back to the request it came from and to its project.

Pro-Tip: In the mobile app, the project shows the same comparison, one card per quote: open each quote’s document, read and add council comments, and mark a quote preferred. Tap a quote request to see its quotes, how many it has against your building’s minimum, and which vendors declined. The project’s funding and any owners’-vote advisory show there too. Awarding and the PDF are on the web.

How to Award a Vendor Project (Managers & Council) (Property Managers & Council)

Award a project to a vendor and get it approved by whoever your building’s approval tiers name: a manager, council officers, or council. Proposing, withdrawing and confirming an award needs Create and manage vendor projects (PROJECT_MANAGE) and Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE). Sending an award letter also needs permission to send agreements.

1. Open the project. To award a quote, click Award on its row in Quote comparison. Without a request for quote out, click Award directly under Decision, pick the vendor, enter the amount including tax and say why (emergency, sole source, or other). On the quotes screen, Award on the project opens the quote’s project.
2. The award dialog shows who must approve it for that amount. If the vendor’s WorkSafeBC clearance or liability insurance is lapsed or missing, tick the acknowledgment to go on. Add your recommendation (it starts from the preferred quote’s reason) and choose whether the other bidders are told.
3. Within a manager tier, the award goes ahead at once, unless your building’s dual-approval setting asks a second manager. Within an officer tier, the officers get an approval request with the comparison and your recommendation, which they approve or reject, also in the mobile app.
4. Within a council tier, choose how council decides: a written resolution (Pastrata drafts the wording, which you can edit, with a voting deadline; it passes only with every council member’s written consent), a motion on an upcoming council meeting you pick, or a decision that already passed, which another manager then confirms. Putting it to council’s vote needs Manage motions and votes (MEETING_MOTIONS), as sponsoring a resolution does; without it you can only cite a decision that already passed.
5. While the award waits, the project shows Awaiting approval with a link to what it waits for, and its request for quote can’t be closed or cancelled. Click Withdraw award with a reason to take it back; its resolution or motion is withdrawn too, unless council is already debating the motion in a meeting.
6. When it is approved, the vendor is told and gets the work order, the other bidders are told the work went to someone else (never who or for how much), and the amount is committed against the project’s funding. If the quote expired or the vendor’s compliance lapsed in the meantime, the award waits for you to click Confirm and award first.
7. If council rejects it, or the vendor withdraws or revises the quote while it waits, the award is closed with the reason and the project goes back to Sourcing. You can then award again.
8. Once awarded, click Send award letter to send a contract or letter for signature, from a template or a PDF. When it is signed, it is filed with the project and, unless the project is confidential, in Documents, and with the vendor’s contracts when the vendor’s email address on file signed it.

Pro-Tip: The award shows what authorized it: who approved it, the resolution, the meeting motion, or the decision it cited and who confirmed it. The resolution or motion links back to the project.

Pro-Tip: Commitments show on the award and count in Budget vs actual for people who can manage the building’s finances. They are released when the project is closed out or cancelled.

Pro-Tip: An invoice from the awarded vendor that keeps the project within the award, including its approved change orders, needs only invoice permission to approve.

Pro-Tip: A confidential project’s award attaches no comparison, and its resolution or motion is seen by the whole council.

How to Confirm a Vendor Finished the Work (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

When a vendor marks a work order complete, the work isn’t done in Pastrata until a manager confirms it. Confirming and sending back needs Manage work orders (WORK_ORDER_MANAGE).

1. You’re told when a vendor marks the work complete. The work order, and its project, show Awaiting confirmation.
2. Open the work order (or the project) and click Confirm completion. Check the completion date: it starts as the day the vendor marked the work complete and can’t be in the future.
3. Add an inspection note and photos if you walked the job. They stay with the building; the vendor doesn’t see them.
4. Click Confirm. The vendor is told the date, and the project moves to Completed. The date can’t be before the work started.
5. If the work isn’t finished, click Send back instead and say why. The vendor gets your reason on the work order’s thread, and the work order is in progress again.

Pro-Tip: If you can also manage invoices, the completion date becomes the certificate-of-completion date on the work order’s invoices that hold back the statutory holdback and don’t have one yet, paid ones included, which sets when the holdback can be released; the dialog lists them first. If you can’t, the invoices are left for someone who can, who clicks Schedule holdback on the work order.

Pro-Tip: Completing a work order yourself, or recording a passed inspection, confirms it at once. A passed inspection never dates holdback; use Schedule holdback.

Pro-Tip: Vendors give their planned start and how far along the work is in the vendor portal. The scheduled start, which a vendor’s on-time record is measured against, stays yours to set. Everyone who can see the project sees its progress, and managers can update the percent complete on the work order too.

Pro-Tip: To tell affected residents, click Notify residents on the project (needs Manage notices). It opens a maintenance notice with the project’s title that you can send to everyone, residents, owners or chosen units.

How to Change a Project’s Award with a Change Order (Managers & Council) (Property Managers & Council)

When the work turns out bigger or smaller than awarded, a change order raises or lowers the award and goes through the same approval as an award. Proposing, sending, declining and withdrawing a change order needs Create and manage vendor projects (PROJECT_MANAGE) and Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE).

1. Open the project and scroll to Change orders. It appears once the award has gone ahead, and shows the Original award, the Current total with every approved change order, and each change order as CO-1, CO-2 and so on.
2. Click Propose change order. Describe the change, enter the amount before tax and the tax (a negative amount for a credit), and attach the vendor’s quote or a document if you have one.
3. The dialog shows who must approve it. That is decided by the new total of the award, not the change order’s amount, so several small change orders can’t avoid council. Choose how council decides when it is a council tier, as for an award: a written resolution, a motion at an upcoming council meeting, or a decision that already passed.
4. Within a manager tier, it is approved at once, unless your building’s dual-approval setting asks a second manager. Otherwise it shows Awaiting approval with a link to what it waits for. Only one change order per project can wait for approval at a time.
5. A vendor can also propose a change order from the vendor portal. You’re told, and it shows Proposed. Click Send for approval to send it on, choosing how council decides, or Decline with a reason, which the vendor gets.
6. Click Withdraw with a reason to take back one that waits for approval; its resolution or motion is withdrawn too.

Pro-Tip: When a change order is approved, the award’s total, its commitments in Budget vs actual, the work order’s estimate, the register and the close-out summary all use the new total. The vendor is told on the work order’s thread.

Pro-Tip: An invoice that goes over the award shows Request change order to propose the difference. Approving the invoice without one still asks for a reason.

Pro-Tip: A vendor’s proposal is priced against the total at the time. If another change order is approved first, it can no longer be sent for approval; decline it and ask the vendor for a new one.

Pro-Tip: Cancelling or closing out the project declines open proposals and withdraws one that waits for approval.

Pro-Tip: A credit can’t bring the award below what the project’s approved and paid invoices already add up to.

Pro-Tip: The vendor sees its own proposals and the approved change orders in the vendor portal, never who approved them or how. Your reason for declining a vendor’s proposal goes to the vendor; an approver’s reason for rejecting one doesn’t, and neither do documents a manager attached.

Pro-Tip: In the mobile app, the project shows its change orders and current total. There you can also send a vendor’s proposal for approval (choosing how council decides for a council tier), decline it with a reason, or withdraw one waiting for approval. Proposing a change order is done on the web.

Pro-Tip: A change order waiting for a manager or officers is approved or rejected under Approvals, on the web or in the mobile app. The request links to the project. A rejection’s reason is kept with the change order, and the vendor doesn’t see it.

How to Talk to the Vendor on a Project (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Once a vendor has the project’s work order, everything you and that vendor said, from the request for quote to the finished job, is one conversation on the project page. Reading what was said while quoting needs Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE); reading the work order’s messages and replying needs Manage work orders (WORK_ORDER_MANAGE).

1. Open the project and scroll to Vendor thread. It appears once a vendor is on the project’s work order.
2. Messages from the request for quote come first, under Earlier: request for quote. They are only the awarded vendor’s own questions and the answers sent to them, never another bidder’s.
3. The work order’s messages follow. Write in the box at the bottom and click Send: the vendor gets it by email, and in the vendor portal if they use it.
4. The vendor answers by replying to the email or in the vendor portal, and the people who manage work orders are told.

Pro-Tip: A reply the vendor sends to an old quote-request email after the award still shows here, with the earlier messages.

Pro-Tip: When a vendor emails an invoice on the work order, people who can manage both vendor invoices and work orders see Record as invoice on that message (see Enter a Paper or Emailed Vendor Invoice). Once recorded, it shows Recorded as invoice, with the invoice number for people who can view or manage invoices.

Pro-Tip: A reply sent from an address other than the vendor’s on file, or one that can’t be verified as theirs, is kept and marked so you can judge it.

Pro-Tip: If the work order moves to another vendor, the new vendor doesn’t see messages you sent to the previous one.

How to Dispatch Vendors from the Mobile App (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Triage maintenance requests from your phone without switching to the web dashboard.

1. Open the Inbox tab and tap a maintenance request.
2. Tap the status label to change the request status. Maintenance requests also list the vendor statuses Vendor Dispatched, Work In Progress, and Awaiting Parts; picking one marks the request as waiting on the vendor. Choose Clear vendor status to return it to Open.
3. Tap Dispatch vendor to pick an active vendor, confirm the work order title and scope, set the priority, and add work notes or access instructions. The same compliance acknowledgment and warranty-coverage override apply as on the web. Once the work order is created, the request moves to Vendor Dispatched.
4. Alternatively, tap Create work order to open the full work order form, with the work order linked to the request.
5. Once a work order is linked, the request shows its title, status, priority, and vendor. Tap the card to open the work order.

How to Manage the Vendor Directory from the Mobile App (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Add a vendor or correct their details from your phone. Adding and editing needs Manage vendors (VENDOR_MANAGE); seeing a vendor’s contracts needs Manage vendor contracts and service agreements (VENDOR_CONTRACT_MANAGE).

1. Open Vendors. Tap + to add a vendor, or tap a vendor and then Edit Vendor to change one.
2. Enter the name and pick a category. Contact details, licence number, WorkSafeBC and CGL insurance details, and notes are optional. Tap Clear next to a date to remove it.
3. Tap Add Vendor or Save Changes. A field you empty is removed from the vendor record.
4. A vendor’s page lists their contracts with each one’s status, term, auto-renewal and cancellation deadline. Contracts are added and edited on the web.

How to Run the Front Desk from the Mobile App (Concierge)

Check in visitors at the door, report incidents with photos, and keep the shift log from your phone. This needs a building on the Prime plan with the concierge view enabled. You only see the sections your role allows.

1. Open More and tap Concierge. If your role is Concierge, the app opens here automatically.
2. The hub shows how many visitors are in the building, how many incidents are open, and how many packages are waiting for pickup.
3. Check in a visitor: tap Check in a visitor and pick the unit they're visiting. If the resident added a guest pass, it appears under Expected guests. Tap it to fill in the visitor's details and admit them against the pass. Otherwise enter the visitor's name and purpose and tap Check in.
4. Log a departure: open Visitors and tap Departed next to the visitor.
5. Report an incident: tap Report an incident, then choose a category and severity, add the location and what happened, and take or attach up to five photos. The report is saved before the photos upload. If a photo fails to upload, the app opens the saved incident so you can try that photo again.
6. Shift log: open Shift log to add a note (Note, Handoff, or Alert) and to see today's handoff summary of packages, visitors, incidents, and notes.

Pro-Tip: Property managers and council members can also mark an incident In progress, Resolved, or Closed from the incident on mobile, with an optional resolution note.

How to Report Incidents with Photos at the Front Desk (Concierge, Property Managers & Council)

Record security, safety, and damage incidents from the concierge view on the web, with photos as evidence. This needs a building on the Prime plan with the concierge view enabled.

1. Go to Concierge > Incidents.
2. Under Report Incident, choose a category and severity, add the location and a description, and click Add photos to attach up to ten photos.
3. Click Report Incident. The report is saved first, then the photos upload. If a photo fails to upload, the incident stays saved and opens with the photos that failed, so you can click Retry upload.
4. Click an incident in the list to see its photos. Click a photo to open it full size. A photo that cannot be shown appears as Unavailable.
5. To add more photos later, open the incident and click Add photos. An incident holds up to ten photos, and photos cannot be added once it is closed.

How to Add a Guest Pass (Residents)

Let the front desk know who you're expecting so they can let your guest in without calling you. This is available in buildings with a staffed front desk (the concierge view).

1. In the mobile app, open More and tap Guest passes.
2. If you hold more than one unit, choose the unit your guest is visiting. The list shows that unit's passes.
3. Tap Add a guest pass and enter your guest's name and, optionally, their phone number.
4. Choose the purpose of the visit and the first and last day the pass is valid.
5. Add any notes for the front desk (for example, "arriving after 6pm") and tap Create guest pass. Passes stop showing to the front desk after their last day.

Pro-Tip: You can also ask eConcierge, for example "My sister Maria is staying Friday evening to Sunday, let the front desk know". It shows the pass for you to confirm before anything is created. Recurring passes are set up in the app.

Pro-Tip: Ask eConcierge "Is there a package waiting for me?" to check your unit's deliveries.

How to Run the Front Desk with eConcierge (Concierge, Property Managers & Council)

Ask eConcierge to sign visitors in and out, log packages, record incidents and keep the shift log. Nothing is saved until you confirm, and it can only do what your role already allows.

1. Open eConcierge and say what happened, for example "Sign in Ana Ruiz from Coastal Elevators", "The plumber visiting 1203 just left, sign him out", "A UPS box came in for 402, tracking 1Z999AA10123456784", "Log a serious water incident in the P2 parkade near stall 41" or "Leave a handoff note that the east door fob reader is acting up".
2. eConcierge looks up the unit, guest pass, visitor, package or incident you mean and shows a confirmation card that names them, for example Sign out Sam Lee, unit 402 (arrived Oct 20, 2026, 10:15 a.m.).
3. Confirm to go ahead. The record is saved as you, exactly as if you had entered it in Concierge, and a logged package notifies the unit.

Pro-Tip: It can also revoke a guest pass, mark a package picked up, and move an incident to in progress, resolved or closed with a note. Changing an incident's status needs Resolve and close incidents as well as Report and view incidents.

Pro-Tip: Photos for packages and incidents are added in Concierge: eConcierge cannot upload them.

Pro-Tip: Ask "Who is still in the building?", "What packages are waiting?" or "What did the last shift leave in the log?" to read the front desk lists.

How to Track Building Equipment & Warranties (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Keep an inventory of elevators, boilers, HVAC units, roofs, and other equipment, and see at a glance which warranties are about to run out.

1. Go to Maintenance and open the Assets tab.
2. Click New Asset, enter a name and category, and fill in what you know: location, manufacturer, model and serial numbers, install date, warranty expiry and provider, estimated replacement cost, and the vendor who services it.
3. Use Custom Fields for anything else worth recording, such as refrigerant type or an inspection certificate number, and add the emergency shutdown procedure for critical equipment.
4. On the asset list, search by name, location, or serial number, or filter by category or warranty status. Each asset shows Warranty Active, Warranty Expiring Soon (90 days or fewer left), or Warranty Expired.
5. Open an asset to see its maintenance schedules and work order history. Click New Work Order to raise a work order already linked to that asset, or Edit to update its details.

Pro-Tip: Deleting an asset also deletes its maintenance schedules. Its work orders are kept but are no longer linked to it — the confirmation tells you exactly how many of each before you proceed.

How to Run a Vendor Project (Property Managers & Council)

Keep one page for each piece of vendor work, from the reason it exists to the end of the job. Viewing projects needs View vendor projects (PROJECT_VIEW); creating and changing them needs Create and manage vendor projects (PROJECT_MANAGE). Both are on by default for council and property managers, on the Prime plan with the vendor directory turned on. Owners, residents and vendors never see projects.

1. Go to Management › Projects. The Active, Closed, Cancelled and All tabs list each project with its status, lead and target date. A Confidential badge marks projects kept from outward reports.
2. Click New project to start one from scratch. To start from something that already exists, open it and click Start project: an asset (from its page under Maintenance › Assets), a written resolution that passed, a maintenance request, or an open quote request under Maintenance › Quotes. A maintenance request that already has a work order brings that work order into the project, which also needs Manage work orders (WORK_ORDER_MANAGE). You only see Start project on records you can open yourself. The project links back to where it came from; nothing on the source changes.
3. Give the project a title and scope of work, and optionally a category, a target completion date and an estimate. The estimate includes tax.
4. Choose a lead: one person who can manage projects, by default you. The lead is told when the project is assigned to them or cancelled by someone else. Leading a project does not make someone its approver.
5. Open the project to add drawings, photos and engineer’s reports under Attachments. Attachments are internal: nothing is sent to a vendor.
6. Edit the title, target date and lead at any time before the project is closed. Scope, category and estimate can be changed until the work is awarded.
7. To bring in a work order that was dispatched before the project existed, open it under Maintenance › Work Orders and click Promote to project. The work order and its quote request join the project, and the project starts where the work order stands: Awarded once a vendor is on it, In progress or Completed if the work has started or finished. Promoting needs Manage work orders (WORK_ORDER_MANAGE), and Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE) when the work order has a quote request, which comes along. Existing work orders and quote requests are never turned into projects on their own.
8. Under Quotes on the project page, Attach quote request adds an open quote request that has no work order yet, and the project moves to Sourcing. A project has one draft or open quote request at a time; Request quotes starts a new one on the project. Detach removes an attached one until a quote on it is accepted; one requested from the project stays with it and can only be cancelled. From a quote request’s own page, Attach to project does the same. Quotes need Manage quote requests (VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE).
9. When the award proceeds (see Award a Vendor Project), the vendor’s work order becomes the project’s work order and the project moves to Awarded. From then on the project follows its work order: In progress when the work starts, Completed when it is completed, and back to In progress if a completed work order is reopened. Its Work order section links to the work order, Vendor thread holds the conversation with the vendor (see Talk to the Vendor on a Project), and Invoices lists what the vendor has billed against it (you need View invoices, INVOICE_VIEW).
10. A project whose work went ahead without an award approval recorded in Pastrata, such as a promoted work order, shows Award approval not recorded. Click Record the award under Decision to send that approval to whoever the building’s tiers name.
11. To stop the work, click Cancel project and give a reason. Any open quote request is cancelled and its vendors told, and a draft one is deleted, so cancelling a project with either needs Manage quote requests too. If the project has a work order that isn’t completed, you can also tick Also cancel the work order; the vendor is then told on the work order’s message thread, without your reason. A cancelled project can be reopened as a draft later, with its history kept. Delete is only for a draft that never had a quote request or work order.
12. Under Funding and budget impact, click Edit funding to say how the work will be paid for. Pick the fiscal year it will be paid in (by default the year of the target date), then one or more sources: a line of that year’s budget (a draft budget is fine and is marked as one), the operating budget not yet coded to a line, the contingency reserve fund, or a special levy that is proposed or approved. With more than one source, give each an amount; the amounts must add up to the estimate. Once the funding is split, change the estimate in the same place. You can recode the funding at any time until the project is closed.
13. The panel shows the fiscal year and its dates, and for each budget line the amount budgeted, spent, committed and remaining, and what would be left after this project. The figures match Budget vs. actual for that line. Seeing them, and the budgeted amounts in Edit funding, needs Manage PAD, payment plans (FINANCIAL_MANAGE); anyone else who can view the project sees how it is funded but no figures.
14. When the estimate would take a budget line over its budget, part of it comes from the reserve fund, or a levy funding it hasn’t been voted on yet, the panel shows the owners’-vote advisory from your jurisdiction’s budget guidance, with the citation. It is guidance only: it never stops you saving, awarding or paying.
15. When the work is completed, the project’s Close-out section lists anything still in the way: invoices not yet paid or voided, and paid invoices holding statutory holdback with no release date because the certificate of completion isn’t recorded. Once nothing is, click Close out, optionally rate the vendor from 1 to 5 stars with a note, and confirm. Closing out needs View invoices (INVOICE_VIEW) as well as Create and manage vendor projects, and is final: the project can’t be reopened or changed afterwards.
16. Closing out marks the project’s action items done and writes a close-out summary: scope, vendor, estimate, awarded and final cost, funding, dates, invoices, documents and the rating. The summary stays on the project and, unless the project is confidential, is filed in Documents for everyone who can see the whole library. The action item and the next council meeting’s Old business link to it. The vendor’s rating appears on their Performance card in the vendor directory.
17. Click Register on the projects page for every project with its status, lead, funding, estimate, vendor, and the awarded, invoiced, paid and remaining amounts, for active projects or all of them. Export CSV and Export PDF download it. Each amount shows only to people who can see that record (the vendor with Manage work orders, the award with Manage quote requests, invoiced and paid with View invoices), and exports leave out confidential projects. The council binder lists active projects that aren’t confidential.
18. Every change, with who made it and when, is listed under History on the project.
19. In the mobile app, open More > Management > Projects to follow your projects: each one shows its status, lead, target date, estimate, scope, linked action items, quote requests, work order, invoices and what stands in the way of closing out. Tap an action item or invoice to open it, for example to approve the invoice. Creating and changing projects is done on the web.
20. To start a project from a council action item, open the item under Management › Meetings › Action items and click Convert to project. Under Action items on the project page, Link action item adds another open item about the same work, and Unlink sends one back to open. Linked items follow the project’s status; the item it was converted from can’t be unlinked, but cancelling the project releases it. Converting, linking and unlinking also need Create, assign and close action items (ACTION_ITEM_MANAGE), because they change the item’s status, and you only ever see items you could open yourself.

Pro-Tip: Each maintenance request and each action item can have one project; an asset or a written resolution can start several.

Pro-Tip: Work orders, quote requests and invoices show which project they belong to, but only to people who can view projects. Vendors never see that their work is part of a project.

Pro-Tip: If you re-import the year’s budget, a project coded to one of its lines moves to the new line with the same category and subcategory. If a line is deleted with nothing like it left, the project shows Budget line removed, please recode.

How to Manage Contractor Compliance & Verify Insurance (Managers) (Property Managers & Council)

Protect the strata corporation against statutory liability by tracking WorkSafeBC clearance and Commercial General Liability (CGL) coverage.

1. Navigate to Vendors and select a trade contractor from your building roster.
2. Review the contractor compliance standing badge: Compliant, Expiring Soon, or Unverified / Lapsed.
3. Verify the contractor’s active WorkSafeBC account number and confirmed clearance letter expiration date.
4. Confirm active Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy details with at least $5,000,000 coverage naming the strata corporation as an additional insured.
5. When dispatching work orders to an unverified or expired contractor, review the soft-gate compliance warning and record strata council risk acknowledgment before proceeding.
6. Contractors can self-serve renewals directly by submitting updated clearance documents through the dedicated Vendor Portal.

Pro-Tip: Under BC Workers Compensation Act s. 258, property owners can be held jointly liable for unpaid WorkSafeBC premiums if a contractor lacks a valid clearance letter.

How to Process Invoices with Builders Lien Statutory Holdbacks (Property Managers & Council)

Retain the statutory 10% holdback on qualifying trade improvements and release funds following the 55-day lien period.

1. Navigate to the vendor invoice for qualifying construction or repair work exceeding $10,000.
2. Enable the 10% Builders Lien Statutory Holdback toggle to split gross billing into net payable and retained holdback.
3. Record the official Certificate of Completion Date issued under the BC Builders Lien Act.
4. Track the automated 55-day statutory countdown timer until the lien expiry date is reached.
5. Once the holdback status advances to Eligible for Release and a title search confirms no claims of lien have been filed, click Release Holdback to authorize final disbursement.

Pro-Tip: Holdback funds must be retained until the statutory 55-day period expires to protect owners from subcontractor and supplier lien claims.

Key Concepts & Building Policies

Common Property vs. Strata Lot Responsibility

Under strata bylaws and provincial legislation, repairs to common property (building exterior, roof, central heating, shared pipes) are paid by the strata corporation. Repairs inside the boundaries of a private strata lot are typically the owner’s financial responsibility unless caused by failure of common property.

Projects

A project is the record of one piece of vendor work: where it came from (a council action item, an asset, a passed written resolution, a maintenance request, or nothing), its scope, estimate, target date, lead, attachments and a full history. Its status moves through Draft, Sourcing, Awaiting approval, Awarded, In progress, Completed and Closed as the work goes through quotes, approval and the job itself; a manager can cancel it with a reason at any point before it is closed and reopen it later. A project is internal to council and the property manager. Owners see completed spending only in the financial overview.

Architectural Modification Requests

Owners planning interior renovations (hardwood flooring, EV chargers, heat pumps, plumbing alterations) must submit an Architectural Change Request through the Requests tab for council review and approval prior to beginning work. Managers review each request from the inbox on the web or in the mobile app: start the review, ask the owner for more information, then approve it, approve it with conditions (the conditions, an optional work window and any quiet-hours restriction), or deny it with a reason the owner can see. Once a request is approved or denied, the decision is final.

WorkSafeBC Clearance & Liability Protection (BC Workers Compensation Act s. 258)

Strata corporations are legally considered employers or owners under provincial workers compensation legislation. If an independent trade contractor or subcontractor suffers an injury or fails to remit assessment premiums while working on common property, WorkSafeBC can hold the strata corporation jointly liable for outstanding dues. Pastrata enforces real-time tracking of active clearance letters and Commercial General Liability policies to shield owners from assessment liability.

BC Builders Lien Act 10% Statutory Holdback (s. 4 & s. 20)

Under Section 4 of the British Columbia Builders Lien Act, any person paying under a contract or subcontract for work, services, or materials on real property must retain a holdback equal to 10% of the greater of the value of the work actually done or the amount of any payment made. For projects over $10,000, holdback funds must be held in a dedicated account and may only be released after the 55-day statutory lien countdown expires following the issuance of a Certificate of Completion, provided no claims of lien have been registered against strata titles.

Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting

Can other residents see my maintenance ticket?

In-suite requests are strictly private between you, building management, and the assigned contractor. Common area issues may be visible in the building maintenance feed to prevent duplicate tickets.

How do vendors get access to the building?

Managers can issue temporary digital vendor passes or notify the concierge desk of scheduled service times.

Who can see building assets?

Only managers with permission to manage work orders can see or change the asset inventory. Residents do not see the Assets tab.

Can I dispatch a contractor whose WorkSafeBC or insurance is expired?

Yes, Pastrata provides a soft-gate workflow. When assigning an unverified or expired vendor to a work order, managers must review the statutory compliance warning and check an explicit acknowledgment that council accepts liability risks before dispatch can proceed.

When is a 10% Builders Lien holdback mandatory?

Holdback retention is required under BC law for contracts and subcontracts where the contract value exceeds the statutory threshold (typically $10,000). The holdback period runs for 55 days from the date of the certificate of completion.

Related Guides

• Vendor Projects: From Council Decision to Paid Vendor
• Property Managers Hub
• Tenants & Residents Hub