Utility Work Order Stages: From Receipt to Archive
A clear guide to utility work order stages: site survey, excavation permit, execution, quality, certificate, drawing and extract, plus the return paths.
Quick answer
Utility work order stages are the path a utility-issued order follows from registration to archive: work order, site survey (Kashfia), excavation permits when needed, execution in Projects or Connections, the Replay stage for certain drill types, quality, achievement certificate, drawing, extracts and, finally, the archive. Each stage has its own data and exit condition, and an order goes back in three defined cases.
Key takeaways
- Nine stages end in the archive; two are conditional: excavation permits and the Replay stage.
- The site survey sets the route: does the site match, do the materials match, is a permit needed?
- The implementing agency on the order decides whether it runs through Projects or Connections.
- Three main return paths: survey or material mismatch, power disconnection, and a failed quality item.
- The close-out order is fixed: quality, certificate, drawing, extract. Approving the extract archives the order.
- Maintenance and emergency orders run on a separate track that leads to the achievement certificate.
In this article
Utility work order stages follow a clear sequence: the order is registered and surveyed, goes through an excavation permit if the job needs one, is executed as a Project or a Connection and inspected by quality, then is closed out with a certificate, drawing files and an extract before it is archived. This guide explains what each stage records, what lets an order move on, and when it goes back.
What is a work order in electricity network projects?
A work order is the instruction the electricity utility issues to a network contractor for a defined job: a network project, a service connection for a subscriber, or maintenance or emergency work. When the order is registered in ELX, its core data goes in: order number and work description, subscriber and location details, the contract it falls under, the implementing agency, the estimated value and the expected duration. Orders can also be imported in bulk from an Excel file.
In this guide, "the utility" means the body that issues the work order. For context, the Saudi Electricity Company launched a new corporate identity on 26 February 2026 and officially became Saudi Energy (SE), presenting the change as a wider role and responsibility for the company rather than a change in its core business.
No single team finishes a work order. It passes from the work-order team to the survey and permits teams, the execution crews, the quality inspectors and the certificate and drawing staff, and finally to the extracts team in finance. Splitting the journey into stages, each with an owner, mandatory data and an exit condition, lets everyone see where an order stands and who has it now.
What are the utility work order stages, in order?
Short answer: nine stages ending in the archive, two of them conditional (excavation permits and the Replay stage). This is the default path in ELX:
Work order
The order is registered with its core data and attachments, then relayed to the survey.
Site survey (Kashfia)
A field inspection that checks whether the site and materials match the order and whether an excavation permit is needed.
Excavation permits
Conditional: entered only when the survey says a permit is needed; the license details are tracked here.
Projects or Connections
Execution. The implementing agency decides which of the two the order follows.
Replay stage
Conditional: follows execution when a drill type flagged for the Replay screen is used.
Quality
Each evaluation item is marked identical (pass) or not identical (fail), with notes and files.
Achievement certificate
Prepared once quality passes, with executed quantities, prices and the total value.
Drawing
The order’s drawing files are uploaded with reference names.
Extracts
An order with an achievement certificate joins an extract, which stays pending until it is approved.
Archive
The order is archived when its extract is approved.
The close-out order does not change
From quality onwards the sequence is fixed: quality, achievement certificate, drawing, extracts. No certificate before quality passes, and no extract without a certificate. Stage labels can differ between companies because screen names are editable in ELX; this guide uses the default labels.
What is recorded at each stage?
The table shows what each stage captures, who owns it and what moves the order forward. It also helps when you split responsibilities between teams or review a stalled order for missing data.
| Stage | Owner | What is recorded | Next stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work order | Work-order team | Order, subscriber, location, contract, implementing agency, attachments, meters | Site survey |
| Site survey (Kashfia) | Survey team | Survey and material match, permit need, drill types and lengths, customer and source coordinates | Permits if needed, else execution |
| Excavation permits | Permits team | Request number and date, license number, start, duration, expiry, municipality | Projects or Connections |
| Projects / Connections | Execution teams | Dates, done and remaining work, completion %, excavations, items, meters, material and disconnection requests | Replay stage if flagged, else Quality |
| Replay stage | Assigned user | Replay date, notes, attachments | Quality |
| Quality | Quality inspectors | Each evaluation item identical or not, with notes and files | Certificate if all pass, else back to execution |
| Achievement certificate | Certificate staff | Contractor, materials balance, excavations, priced items, total value | Drawing |
| Drawing | Drawing staff | Drawing files with reference names, notes | Extracts |
| Extracts | Finance | Extract and PO numbers, fines, VAT, invoice total, accreditation date | Archive on approval |
In ELX, completion is capped at 95% during execution and reaches 100% only when every quality item passes, so no order looks finished before it has been inspected.
Before relaying from any stage, run through this list; ELX itself enforces most of it:
- Mandatory fields, notes and attachments for the stage are complete.
- Permits: request number and date, license number, start, duration, expiry and municipality are recorded.
- Connections: every meter has its meter number and manufacture year.
- Execution: no material request is still awaiting the storekeeper’s approval.
- Past the time limit, where justification is mandatory: a delay justification with files is entered.
- Evidence the next stage needs, such as site photos and survey files, is attached.
When does a work order need an excavation permit?
The site survey decides. During the field inspection the survey team records whether the job needs an excavation permit: if it does, the order enters the permits stage; if not, it goes straight to execution. Our guide to the Kashfia site survey covers that step in detail.
The permit itself is issued through Balady, not inside the contractor’s system. The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing (MOMAH) describes its new excavation permit request as a service for utility entities such as electricity, telecom and water companies. Their representatives in municipal infrastructure coordination offices use it for excavation within city limits once other entities have been consulted, and it is available only electronically, through the Balady portal and app.
Building connections have a separate service, the building-connection excavation permit. According to MOMAH, the request calls for the work order, proof of the building’s location, a Shape File of the excavation paths and a site safety and security plan, and it is reviewed within 24 hours at most. Because the work order itself is one of the requirements, its data needs to be right from the first stage.
Inside the contractor’s workflow in ELX, the permits stage tracks the license using the fields in the table above, and the same screen can generate a permit application letter from an editable template and email it to several recipients. For the Balady side of the process, see our Balady excavation permit guide.
When does a work order go back to an earlier stage?
Not every order moves in a straight line. There are three main return paths, each with a clear trigger and a defined way back.
Survey or material mismatch
If the site or the materials do not match the order, ELX fills a survey-matching or material-matching form from a template and emails it with the attachments to the relevant parties, and the order returns to the work-order stage. Once the work-order team confirms material matching, the order goes back to the survey.
Power disconnection request
When execution needs the power cut, the request is raised from the project screen with a date and attachments, and its form is emailed to the relevant parties. The project status becomes "disconnection", and the order returns to the work-order team flagged "returned from disconnection" until proof of disconnection is uploaded and confirmed; then it goes back to Projects or Connections.
A failed quality item
If any evaluation item is marked not identical, the order returns to Projects or Connections and the return is counted. The execution team replies with files and notes and resends the order to quality for a fresh evaluation.
A return is not an unexplained delay
In ELX each of these returns leaves a record: the mismatch on the survey, the "returned from disconnection" flag with the disconnection date and files, or the quality return count. Check them before judging a team on late orders, and see how time is counted in our guide to stage time limits and delay justifications.
See the full work order path in ELX
In a short session, we show how a work order moves from site survey to extract on the system’s own screens.
How do maintenance and emergency orders flow?
Maintenance and emergency orders follow a separate track that leads to the achievement certificate. The order records the reservation number, station, feeder, notice number and date, work type (maintenance or emergency), map location, work value and disbursement status.
Materials (with quantities and warehouses), implementation items and attachments are added to the order. Depending on settings, it is either distributed to users or goes straight to the achievement certificate.
Emergency work also has its own excavation rules. According to MOMAH, the emergency excavation permit covers sudden failures such as electrical or telephone cable faults, land subsidence and broken water, sewage or gas pipes. Excavation may begin after a preliminary approval, but the formal permit request must be filed within 24 hours of sending the notification; the project coordination office reviews it within 24 hours at most, and the final permit is issued once the fee is paid.
With deadlines that tight, record the notice number and date on the maintenance order from the start so the timing of the job is documented. More in our guide to maintenance and emergency work orders.
How do you follow every order’s stage in ELX?
ELX is a bilingual (Arabic/English) system built for electricity network contractors in Saudi Arabia. It is a cloud (SaaS) service that Matrix hosts and operates, so it runs in the browser with no servers needed on the contractor’s side. Every stage has its own screen, time limit and owner, and the relay flow in its work order management module moves each order from one stage to the next.
- Claim and relay: a user claims an order with "Open"; "Relay" saves the stage data and moves the order only after the relay permission and the stage’s mandatory fields, notes and attachments are checked.
- Automatic routing: permits only when needed, Projects or Connections by implementing agency, and the Replay stage only for a flagged drill type. See site survey and excavation permits and execution and quality.
- Direct or basket relay: each stage relays automatically or through a distribution basket, where a dispatcher assigns the order to a user. For survey, permits, projects, connections, quality, certificate and drawing assignments, the user gets a real-time in-app alert.
- Status lookup: search any order by number or name from the header to see its current stage, responsible user and status, with links to its full report, attachments, certificate and materials balance.
- Lifecycle report: one section for each stage the order has reached, from work order to drawing, with relay and receipt dates, as a PDF or print layout.
- Dashboard: pending orders per stage next to those past their time limit; clicking the late slice lists each order and who holds it. See reports and dashboards.
- Manual stage change: authorised users only, to any stage from work order to drawing, with a mandatory note and a logged history of old and new values.
- Close-out: the certificate total is stored for use in extracts, and the order is archived automatically when its extract is approved.
When an order enters a new stage, ELX sends a Telegram alert, and a WhatsApp alert when that channel is enabled, to users who can view that stage’s screen and have notifications switched on. Permits are tracked, not filed: ELX does not connect to Balady; it records the permit details once the permit has been issued.
Read our guide to choosing a work order management system, or request a demo to walk through a full work order in ELX.
Glossary: Arabic – English
The key terms in this guide, with the Arabic used on site and the default English label in ELX.
- Work order
- أمر العمل: the utility’s instruction, and the record every stage attaches to.
- Site survey (Kashfia)
- الكشفية: the field inspection that decides matching and permit need.
- Identical / Not identical
- مطابق / غير مطابق: the pass or fail result in the survey and in quality.
- Excavation permits
- التصاريح / رخص الحفر: the stage that tracks the excavation license.
- Implementing agency
- جهة التنفيذ: decides whether the order goes to Projects or Connections.
- Projects / Connections
- المشاريع / التوصيلات: the two execution tracks.
- Replay stage
- شاشة الإعادة: a conditional stage after execution, tied to flagged drill types.
- Achievement certificate
- شهادة الإنجاز: executed quantities and value, prepared after quality.
- Extract
- المستخلص: the payment claim grouping completed orders. See what a contractor extract is.
- Relay
- التحويل: moving the order to the next stage.
- Stage time limit (SLA)
- التزمين: the days allowed for a stage.
- Returned from disconnection
- معاد من فصل التيار: flag on an order sent back after a disconnection request.
- Work order status
- موقف طلب: the lookup that shows an order’s current stage and who is responsible for it.
Want to see ELX on your own projects?
Request a demo from our team on WhatsApp and see how work orders, extracts and warehouses run in one system.
Frequently asked questions
What are the stages of a utility work order?
A utility work order starts with registration, then the site survey (Kashfia), then excavation permits if the job needs a license, then execution in Projects or Connections depending on the implementing agency. The Replay stage follows where a flagged drill type is used, then quality, the achievement certificate, drawing and extracts. The order is archived when its extract is approved; maintenance and emergency orders follow a separate track that leads to the achievement certificate.
How can I see which stage a work order has reached?
In ELX, search for the order by number or name from the work order status lookup in the header. You see its current stage, responsible user and status, with links to the full report, attachments, achievement certificate and materials balance. The full report has a section for every stage the order has reached, from work order to drawing, with relay and receipt dates, and the dashboard shows late orders per stage.
What is the difference between Projects and Connections?
Both are execution stages; the implementing agency recorded on the work order decides which one an order follows. Both record dates, done and remaining work, completion percentage, excavations, implementation items and material requests. In Connections the team also records subscriber meters (subscription number, capacity, meter number and manufacture year), and the meter number and year are required before the order can be relayed.
Why would a work order go back from quality to execution?
It goes back when the quality inspector marks any evaluation item as not identical. The order returns to Projects or Connections and the return is counted; the execution team responds with files and notes and resends it to quality. The order only moves to the achievement certificate once every item passes, and at that point ELX raises completion from 95% to 100%.
When is a work order archived?
A work order is archived when the extract that contains it is approved. After quality, the achievement certificate and drawing, the order joins an extract with other orders under the same contract and work description, and the extract stays pending until an accreditation date is entered. In ELX the extract’s orders then move to the archive automatically and count as finished on the dashboard.