---
sourceDocument: Brazil IT Service Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/it-service-management

 Release :

    - brazil

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Brazil IT Service Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itsm

bundleId :

    - itsm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Major incident assignment

# Major incident assignment {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Brazil  
Updated September 10, 2026  
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## Summary of Major incident assignment

This document explains how major incidents are automatically assigned to groups and individuals within ServiceNow during various stages such as proposal, promotion, and creation.
The assignment logic depends on the configuration of the Major Incident Management Group property and whether the On-Call Scheduling plugin is activated with defined shifts.
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## Assignment Logic for Major Incidents

* **At Proposal or Manual Candidate Selection:**
  * If the Assignment Group field is empty, the incident is assigned to the group defined in the Major Incident Management Group property.
  * If On-Call Scheduling is active and a user is on shift, the incident is assigned to that user; otherwise, the Assigned to field remains empty.
  * If the Assignment Group is already set, no changes are made to either the group or the assigned user.
* **At Manual Promotion to Major Incident:**
  * If the Assignment Group is empty, it is set based on the property value, and the Assigned to user is set as the user who promoted the incident.
  * If the Assignment Group is not empty, the incident is reassigned to the group based on the property, and the Assigned to user is overwritten by the promoter.
  * Notifications are sent to the original assignment group members and to the previously assigned user about the reassignment.
* **At Creation of Major Incident:**
  * If the Assignment Group is empty, it is set based on the property value, and the Assigned to user is set as the creator of the major incident.
  * If the Assignment Group is not empty, no changes occur to group or assigned user.

## Assignment Logic for Incident Communication Plans and Tasks

* **When Incident Communication Plans are created with a major incident as the source:**
  * If the Assignment Group is empty, it copies the Assignment Group and Assigned to values from the source major incident.
  * If the Assignment Group is not empty, the current values are retained without change.
* **When Incident Communication Tasks are created from communication plans sourced by major incidents:**
  * If the Assignment Group is empty, it copies the Assignment Group and Assigned to values from the communication plan.
  * If the Assignment Group is not empty, the current values are retained without change.

## Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

This assignment behavior ensures that major incidents are routed efficiently to the appropriate groups and individuals based on configuration and on-call schedules, facilitating timely resolution and clear accountability. Notifications keep relevant parties informed during reassignment events. Understanding these rules helps administrators tailor incident workflows and ensure correct ownership throughout the major incident lifecycle.  
A major incident is assigned to a group automatically at the time of proposal and
promotion based on the value of the property Major Incident Management Group (sys_id) to whom the Major Incident should be re-assigned on promotion to 'Major Incident'
(sn_major_inc_mgmt.major_incident_management_group). The assigned group
works on the major incident and resolves it.

The incident is assigned to an individual if the On-Call Scheduling plugin
(com.snc.on_call_rotation) is activated and a shift is defined for the group. The following table
illustrates the different conditions under which a major incident is assigned to a group and a
user.
{#major-incident-assignment__table_nhx_43h_hdb__entry__4}

| Action | Condition | Assignment group | Assigned to |
|-|-|-|-|
| Incident is proposed as a candidate manually or based on major incident trigger rules | Assignment Group is empty | Group based on the property value | * If on-call is activated, shift is defined and a user is available on-call then the incident is assigned to the on-call user * If on-call is not activated, the Assigned to field remains empty {#major-incident-assignment__ul_e31_wkh_hdb} |
| Incident is proposed as a candidate manually or based on major incident trigger rules | Assignment Group is not empty | No change - incident retains the current value of the assignment group | No change - incident remains with the current value in the Assigned to field |
| Incident is manually promoted to a major incident | Assignment Group is empty | Group based on the property value | The value for the Assigned to field is the user who promoted the incident to a major incident |
| Incident is manually promoted to a major incident | Assignment Group is not empty | * Incident reassigned to group based on the property value * Send a notification to the original Assignment Group members about the latest incident reassignment. {#major-incident-assignment__ul_kjt_zkh_hdb} | * Assigned to value is overwritten by the user who promoted the major incident candidate * Send a notification to the user to whom the major incident was previously assigned {#major-incident-assignment__ul_xtv_dlh_hdb} |
| Major incident is created | Assignment Group is empty | Group based on the property value | The value of the Assigned to field is the user who has created the major incident |
| Major incident is created | Assignment Group is not empty | No change - incident retains the current value of the assignment group | No change - incident remains with the current value in the Assigned to field |
[Table 1. Assignment of major incident]

{#major-incident-assignment__table_nhx_43h_hdb}  
{#major-incident-assignment__table_xmr_sdg_sdb__entry__4}

| Action | Condition | Assignment group | Assigned to |
|-|-|-|-|
| Incident communication plan is created with source as major incident | Assignment Group is empty | The value for the Assignment group field is copied from the source incident | The value of the Assigned to field is copied from the source incident |
| Incident communication plan is created with source as major incident | Assignment Group is not empty | No change - incident communication plan retains the current value of the assignment group | No change - incident communication plan retains the current value of the Assigned to field |
| Incident communication task is created from incident communication plan whose source is major incident | Assignment Group is empty | The value for the Assignment group field is copied from the incident communication plan | The value of the Assigned to field is copied from the incident communication plan |
| Incident communication task is created from incident communication plan whose source is major incident | Assignment Group is not empty | No change - incident communication plan retains the current value of the assignment group | No change - incident communication task retains the current value of the Assigned to field |
[Table 2. Assignment of incident communication plan and communication task]

{#major-incident-assignment__table_xmr_sdg_sdb}