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SLA & Duration

SLA (Service Level Agreement) duration defines how many calendar days a step's assignee has to act before the step is considered overdue. SLA durations are set per step in the template and apply to every instance run from that template.

Setting step duration​

When adding or editing a step in the template builder:

  1. Open the SLA / Duration section of the step editor.
  2. Enter Duration (days) — the number of calendar days from when the step becomes active until it is due.
FieldDescription
Duration (days)Calendar days allowed. Minimum: 1. No maximum. Leave blank for no SLA on this step.
Count fromstep_start (when this step becomes active) — the only option. The clock starts when the previous step completes.

What "overdue" means in practice​

A step is marked Overdue when:

  • The step has a Duration configured, AND
  • The number of calendar days since the step became active has exceeded the duration, AND
  • The step has not been completed

Overdue steps display a red Overdue badge in the instance detail view and in the Workflows list. The assignee receives an overdue notification (if notification preferences allow).

Duration and the workflow due date​

The step-level duration is independent of the workflow-level due date set when the workflow is started. Both can be in effect simultaneously:

  • Step SLA — governs each individual step. A step is overdue if its own duration is exceeded.
  • Workflow due date — governs the entire workflow. A workflow is overdue if the top-level due date has passed without completion.

A workflow can have its top-level due date missed even if no individual step is technically overdue (if the total sequence of step SLAs adds up to more than the top-level due date allows). Design your step SLAs to sum to less than your typical workflow due date window.

Configuring SLAs for parallel steps​

For parallel step groups, each participant gets the same step duration. The group's SLA clock starts when the group activates (all parallel steps start simultaneously), and the group is overdue when the duration expires and the completion rule has not been met.

Template-level vs initiator-adjustable SLAs​

By default, the step durations in the template are applied as-is to each instance. The template's Initiator Permissions setting can allow initiators to change step durations when starting a workflow:

  • Allow initiator to change step durations: If enabled, the initiator sees a duration field for each step in the workflow start wizard and can adjust them for the specific context.
  • Disable: Durations are fixed at the template value and cannot be changed by the initiator.

Admins can always change step durations after workflow submission, regardless of initiator permissions.

Overdue notifications​

The system sends overdue notifications based on the notification preferences of the step's assignee. By default:

  • A notification is sent when the step becomes overdue
  • A follow-up may be sent daily while the step remains overdue (depending on digest settings)

Project Admins receive overdue summaries in their notification feed for all steps in their project.

Calculating appropriate SLA durations​

For new templates, consider:

FactorGuidance
Reviewer availabilityAllow 2–3 days buffer beyond the minimum review time
Sequential vs parallelParallel steps can have shorter SLAs since they run simultaneously
Contractual requirementsMany contracts specify response times (e.g. 14 days for RFI responses)
Document complexityComplex engineering documents may warrant longer review periods than simple letters
Time zonesIf reviewers are in different time zones, add a day for timezone delay

A common starting pattern for a 4-step sequential approval workflow targeting a 15 business-day cycle:

StepTypeDuration
Technical ReviewReview5 days
Peer ReviewReview3 days
Project Engineer ApprovalApprove4 days
Director Sign-offSign3 days

Total: 15 calendar days

What's next​