ServiceNow approach for updating building-specific maintenance info

[ebarrette]

Good morning,

What is the ServiceNow way to handle this business requirement?

Business Operations must be able to update tenant information when viewing a selected structure/building to record building-specific important maintenance information including observations, special conditions, issues, and actions taken.

I was thinking of creating a custom field in the cmn_location table, but I was wondering if there was a better approach to do this.

Thanks in advance.

[Joshua Chen MTL]

Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) - ServiceNow or Product Documentation | ServiceNow

[Renat Akhmedov]

Hi @ebarrette,

In ServiceNow, location (cmn_location) is usually treated as a reference/CMDB-type record, and time-based or operational data is stored in related tables (often task or custom tables) linked back to the location.

I'll suggest:

1. Keep cmn_location for relatively static building attributes.
2. Create a related table for maintenance observations and actions, with a reference to cmn_location (and tenant if needed).
3. Expose these records as related lists on the building form.

Hope it helps,

Best regards,
Renat Akhmedov

[MaxMixali]

Activity Stream (Notes/Work Notes)

The most straightforward ServiceNow way is to leverage the Activity Stream on the building/structure record:

1. Work Notes - For internal maintenance team communications
2. Additional Comments/Notes - For general observations and documentation

Why this works:

• Native functionality with full audit trail
• Time-stamped entries showing who made updates
• Easy to search and filter
• No custom development required
• Supports rich text formatting
• Mobile-friendly

Enhanced Approach: Related List with Custom Table

For more structured tracking, create a custom Maintenance Log table as a related list:

Structure:

Table: u_building_maintenance_log (extends task or custom table)Fields:- Building (reference to building/structure table)- Log Type (choice: Observation, Special Condition, Issue, Action Taken)- Description (text/HTML)- Date/Time (auto-populated)- Logged By (reference to user)- Priority/Severity (if needed)- Status (Open, In Progress, Closed)- Attachments