SLA duration types

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of SLA duration types

    ServiceNow provides two SLA duration types to define how long a task has before it breaches an SLA:user specified durationandrelative duration. These durations work in conjunction with SLA schedules, helping you accurately set breach timings according to business hours or specific criteria.

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    Key Features

    • User specified duration: This static duration lets you set a fixed length of time (in days, hours, minutes, and seconds) that an SLA runs before breach, optionally aligned with a business schedule. For example, setting 10 hours without a schedule means the SLA breaches exactly 10 hours after starting.
    • Relative duration: This dynamic duration is script-based and calculates breach times relative to the SLA start time or specific task fields such as Due Date. Examples include "Breach on Due Date," "End of next business day," or "Next business day by 4pm." The relative duration adapts to business schedules and task-specific timelines.
    • When selecting a relative duration, you can specify whether the calculation references the Task record or SLA record, enabling flexible and context-aware breach timings.
    • Relative durations do not support pause conditions, which is an important consideration when designing SLAs.
    • The system provides example breach time messages for user specified durations to help visualize how breach times are calculated, but not for relative durations.

    Practical Usage and Behavior

    • If an SLA schedule is defined (e.g., 8am-5pm weekdays), user specified durations calculate breaches based on working hours. For instance, a 16-hour SLA starting at 8am on Monday will breach at 4pm Tuesday, spanning two business days.
    • Relative duration like "Breach on Due Date" uses the task’s Due Date field. If this field is empty, in the past, or outside the schedule, the system adjusts the breach time accordingly—either just after the SLA start time or at the next available scheduled business time.
    • You can create SLAs based on target date/time fields in tasks using relative durations, allowing for more precise alignment with task deadlines.

    Why It Matters

    Choosing the appropriate SLA duration type ensures your SLAs reflect realistic business expectations and operational schedules. User specified durations provide straightforward fixed timing, while relative durations enable dynamic, business-aware breach calculations that align with task deadlines and business calendars.

    Understanding these options empowers you to configure SLAs that accurately measure and enforce service commitments, improving SLA compliance and customer satisfaction.

    You can select one of two SLA duration types to define the length of time within which a task must be completed before the SLA is breached.

    If an SLA schedule is defined, the duration works along with the schedule. In a user-specific duration, you can choose to specify the length of time that an SLA must run before it is marked as breached. Relative durations specify durations that are relative to the start time of the task SLA and are defined using a script.

    When you define an SLA, you can select either a user specified duration or a relative duration.
    User specified duration
    Specifies a static duration period, such as 8 hours, along with a business schedule. The Duration field is displayed, enabling you to specify the length of time in days, hours, minutes, and seconds that the SLA must run before it is marked as breached. The number of days specified in the Duration field is converted to 24- hour blocks.

    Each time that you set a duration, an example breach time information message is displayed at the top of the form. This information assists you in understanding how the breach date is calculated. For example, if the current date is January 1, 2015, the time is 10:30 am, and the duration is set to 10 hours and no schedule has been selected, the following information message is displayed: An SLA starting now will end breach on 2015-01-01 20:30 (Actual elapsed time: 10 Hours).

    Relative duration
    Specifies a duration relative to the start time of the task SLA and is defined using a script. For example, you can select a relative duration such as Breach on Due Date, End of next business day or Next business day by 4pm. The set of relative durations is defined in the core configuration using script-based duration calculations.
    Note:
    Pause conditions are not compatible with relative durations.
    You can use a relative duration within the Service Level Management application in the following ways:
    • Specify a relative duration.
    • Relative duration usage scenarios.
    Specify a relative duration
    To specify a relative duration, select an option such as Next business day by 4pm or End of next business day from the list of available relative durations in the Duration type field.
    When you select a relative duration such as Next business day by 4pm, the Relative duration works on field appears. You can specify the record that the relative duration should be calculated for. You can select to use Task record or SLA record and the record you select is available as current for the relative duration script.
    Note:
    If a relative duration is selected, the example breach date information message is not displayed.

    If your task record has a target date and time field, you can create an SLA with a relative duration based on that field.

    Relative duration usage scenarios
    If a schedule is selected in the SLA definition, the SLA duration works with the SLA schedule. For example, an SLA might have a user-specified duration of 16 hours with the schedule as 8-5 weekdays. If this SLA starts to run for a task at 8:00, it breaches at 16:00. The breach time is calculated from the schedule that defines working time as eight hours per day from Monday to Friday. So the 16-hours duration equates to two days later in the schedule.

    The Breach on Due Date sets the breach time of the SLA to the date and time from the Due Date field of the task that the SLA is attached to.

    If the Due Date field is empty or occurred in the past, the breach time of the task SLA is calculated to be one second ahead of the task SLA start time. If the date and time in the Due Date field is outside the schedule for the task SLA, the breach time is set to the next available scheduled time. For example, if the SLA definition specifies a task SLA schedule as 08:00-16:00 and the value in the Due Date field is Wednesday 11th Jan 2017 20:30, the breach time is set to Thursday 12th 2017 Jan 08:00.

    If your task record has a target date and time field, you can create an SLA with a relative duration based on that field.