Service categories

A service category describes a kind of work. PropLink uses categories to:

• Filter the vendor list when you raise a work order.
• Enforce documentation requirements (only Gas Safe registered vendors can take a gas work order).
• Drive reporting (spend by category, completion rate by category).
• Power compliance reminders.

Default categories

PropLink ships with a set of common categories your firm can use as-is or extend:

• Plumbing — water supply, drainage, leaks, taps, sanitary ware.
• Electrical — wiring, lighting, periodic inspection, EICR.
• Heating and gas — boilers, gas safety, gas certificates.
• Roofing — roofs, gutters, chimneys, waterproofing.
• Fire safety — fire risk assessments, fire alarms, extinguishers.
• Lifts — lift maintenance, statutory inspections.
• Cleaning — communal areas, end-of-tenancy, deep cleans.
• Gardening — landscaping, grass cutting, hedge trimming.
• Pest control — rodent, insect, bird control.
• Locksmiths — door locks, security upgrades.
• General repairs — small handyman work that does not fit a specialised category.
• Decoration — internal and external painting.
• Building work — major works, refurbishments, alterations.

Add a custom category

If your portfolio needs more:

1. Open Settings → Vendor service categories → Add category.
2. Name the category.
3. Optionally tick required certifications (e.g. Gas Safe).
4. Optionally tick required insurance types.
5. Save.

The category becomes available immediately on every vendor and on every work order.

How categories drive vendor matching

When you raise a work order:

1. You pick the service category the work falls under.
2. PropLink filters the vendor list to only those with that category.
3. PropLink further filters out any vendor whose required certification or insurance has expired.
4. Preferred vendors appear at the top.

If no vendor matches, you can override and pick anyone, but PropLink warns you and records the override on the audit log.

Categories and bills

When a bill is coded against a work order, the work order's category is inherited. This means spend reports can be aggregated by category without anyone explicitly tagging each bill.

If a bill is not tied to a work order, you can pick the category manually when coding the bill.

Reporting by category

The Vendor performance report (under Reporting → Vendors) breaks every metric down by category:

• Spend by category by site.
• Completion rate by category.
• Average time to completion by category.
• Top vendors by category.

Useful for procurement decisions (do we have enough plumbers on the panel?) and for identifying which categories are blowing the budget.