# Facilities & buildings quickstart

> Go from an empty organization to a working maintenance operation: sites, buildings, assets, a work order, and your first PM schedule.

Source: https://app.assetlab.ca/docs/start/facilities-quickstart

This guide walks a facilities team through first setup. Total time: about 30 minutes with sample data, longer if you import a full register. You need the **Administrator** role for the settings steps.

## 1. Create your locations

Navigate to **Locations** and build the physical hierarchy top-down:

1. Add a **site** - the campus, plant, or property.
2. Add **buildings** to the site.
3. Add **locations** (rooms, floors, zones) to each building.

You don't need every room on day one. Start with the buildings and add locations as work orders demand precision.

> [!tip] If your buildings have square footage, enter it now - gross floor area feeds cost-per-area reporting and FCI later.

## 2. Check the classification tree

Open **Systems**. AssetLab ships with a Uniformat-style tree of system classes and groups (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, …). Most building-focused teams keep the default - but if your organization thinks in departments rather than building systems, [pick your hierarchy model](/docs/asset-management/classifications) **before** creating assets. Reclassifying later is possible but tedious.

## 3. Add your first assets

Go to **Assets → New asset**. The minimum useful record:

- **Name** - how your team refers to it ("RTU-2 Gym Roof")
- **Location** - site, building, and (optionally) location
- **System** - class, group, and system
- **Asset type** - pick from the catalog or create one

Worth adding when you have it: installation year, expected useful life, replacement cost, manufacturer, model, and serial number. These drive lifecycle forecasting and the replacement planner.

Have a spreadsheet already? Skip manual entry and use the [import wizard](/docs/start/importing-data).

## 4. Raise your first work order

Go to **Work Orders → New**:

1. Pick the asset (or a location for non-asset work).
2. Give it a title, priority, and due date.
3. Assign it to a technician.

Work orders move through statuses to completion; completing one prompts for actual hours and costs, which land against the asset's cost history automatically. Details: [Work orders](/docs/cmms/work-orders).

## 5. Schedule preventive maintenance

Open **Maintenance** and create a PM schedule for something you service on a rhythm - a monthly generator run, a quarterly filter change:

1. Pick the asset(s) or location(s) the PM covers.
2. Set the frequency - time-based, or meter-based from recorded readings.
3. Optionally attach a [form template](/docs/cmms/forms-and-inspections) so each generated work order carries an inspection checklist.

From then on AssetLab generates the work orders - nobody has to remember the schedule.

## 6. Invite your team

Under **Settings → Users**, invite teammates and assign [roles](/docs/start/roles-and-access):

- Technicians → **Staff**
- Supervisors who approve and report → **Manager**
- Building occupants who only report problems → **Requester**

Requesters land in a simplified [portal](/docs/cmms/requester-portal) where they can submit and track work requests - nothing else.

## Where to go next

- [Condition assessments](/docs/asset-management/condition-assessments) - start capturing condition to unlock FCI.
- [Dashboards](/docs/asset-management/dashboards) - the executive view of everything above.
- [QR codes](/docs/asset-management/qr-codes) - print labels so technicians scan straight to the asset.
- [Connect your AI assistant](/docs/ai) - create records conversationally instead of clicking.