Work Order (PMS Job)
A Work Order — often just called a job — is the unit of maintenance work in a ship's Planned Maintenance System (PMS). It is generated automatically when a component reaches its scheduled interval (calendar or running hours), raised from a condition-based signal, or opened in response to a defect. It records what is to be done, the spares required, the hours spent and the completion.
Work orders tie the whole technical operation together: they link to the machinery (via SFI coding), draw down spares (triggering requisitions), and build the maintenance history that class surveyors and vetting inspectors review. A well-run PMS is, in practice, a well-managed flow of work orders — planned, executed, recorded and closed on time.
The work order is where maintenance actually happens and gets recorded — and that record is what proves to class, PSC and vetting inspectors that the ship is being properly maintained. Overdue work orders are a direct red flag. Keeping the work-order flow current is the day-to-day discipline behind a ship's technical reliability and compliance.
What generates a work order?
A scheduled interval (calendar or running hours), a condition-based signal, or a reported defect.
Why do inspectors look at work orders?
The completed work-order history evidences that planned maintenance is actually being carried out — a key check for class surveys, PSC and vetting.