Put an appointment on hold and resume it

Overview#

A hold pauses an appointment without closing it. You pick a reason, such as Waiting on parts, and optionally add a note. The appointment keeps its status (scheduled, dispatched, en route or working); the hold sits on top of it so everyone can see the work is paused and why. Holds show on the dispatch board, the jobs list and the technician's phone. When work can go on, anyone allowed resumes the appointment.

This article is about appointment holds. It is not the same as a credit hold, which blocks new jobs for a customer with unpaid bills (see "Troubleshooting" below).

Before you start#

• Office: you need dispatch rights to hold or resume from a job page (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Customer service). Anyone who can read jobs, including Viewers and Accounting, can see what is on hold.

• Field: a technician can hold or resume only appointments they are assigned to, from the TradesWork Field app.

• Only open appointments can be held. A Done or Canceled appointment can't be put on hold.

Steps#

Put an appointment on hold from the office#

1. Open the job: Schedule › Jobs & Appointments, then click the job number.

2. On the Appointments card, find the appointment and click Put on hold.

3. Choose a Reason:

   • Waiting on parts

   • Customer asked to pause

   • Can't get access

   • Waiting on approval

   • Weather

   • Other

4. Type a Note if it helps the next person. A note is required when the reason is Other.

5. Click Put on hold. The appointment now shows a badge like "On hold · Waiting on parts", and the note appears under it.

Put an appointment on hold from the field app#

1. In TradesWork Field, open the appointment.

2. Tap Pause / put on hold.

3. Pick a Reason, add a Note for the office (optional), then tap Put on hold.

4. If the phone has no signal, the app shows "Hold waiting to sync" and sends it when signal returns. Tapping again never creates a second hold.

See everything on hold#

1. Jobs list: open Schedule › Jobs & Appointments and click the On hold chip. Each row shows the job, summary, customer, technicians, the hold reason (hover for who held it and the note) and Since.

2. Dispatch board: open Dispatch › Dispatch Board and use the Hold tab in the job list. Held appointments also show in a warning color with a pause icon on the technician's row. A technician with a paused job shows the live status On hold.

3. Field app: technicians see their own paused appointments, from any date, in the On hold view on their Today screen.

Resume an appointment#

1. Open the job page.

2. On the held appointment, click Resume appointment. In the field app, tap Resume appointment on the appointment.

3. The hold badge disappears and the appointment goes back to its normal tab on the board.

Settings that change this#

There are no settings for holds. The reason list is fixed. Terminology (for example "appointment" versus "visit") follows Settings › Your Account › Appearance.

Tips#

• Use the note for facts the next person needs, such as the part number or when the customer will be home. Notes are not copied into the audit history, so it is fine to mention the customer.

• Check the On hold chip each morning. Holds don't expire; an old hold usually means a part arrived and nobody resumed the job.

• Holding does not change the time on the appointment. If the visit has to move to another day, reschedule it on the board as well.

• A technician who pauses a job and leaves should still finish or cancel the visit in the right way. A hold is a flag, not a substitute for closing out.

Troubleshooting#

• "This appointment is closed, so it can't be put on hold." The appointment is Done or Canceled. Schedule a new appointment on the job if more work is needed.

• "Say why the appointment is on hold." You picked Other without a note. Add a short note.

• There is no Put on hold link. Your role has no dispatch rights, or the appointment is closed.

• A technician says they paused a job but the office doesn't see it. The phone may still be offline ("Hold waiting to sync"). It sends when signal returns.

• Booking a new job fails with a credit hold message. That is a customer credit hold, not an appointment hold. An owner or someone with billing rights manages it from the customer and Settings › Accounting › Billing & Collections.

FAQ#

Does a hold change the appointment or job status? No. The appointment keeps its status and the job keeps its status. The hold is shown alongside.

Can an appointment have two holds at once? No. Holding something already on hold does nothing. Resume it first if you want a new reason.

Who can see the hold note? Everyone who can open the job, and the technicians assigned to it.

Does a hold stop the technician's clock? No. Timesheets come from job statuses and the clock. Pausing a job doesn't clock anyone out.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same: the dispatch board has a Hold tray, and held work shows with its reason.

• Different: in ServiceTitan "Hold" is an appointment status with its own reasons list you can edit. In TradesWork a hold is an overlay on the appointment, with a fixed reason list, so the status stays accurate (for example, still "Working").

• Where it lived: ServiceTitan's Hold status on the dispatch board and job page, and the hold reasons in settings.