Available On: Premium, Professional, Enterprise
📋 Overview
Vendors is now Providers & Network. Your external specialists now live in a unified home alongside a searchable directory of 8,800+ provider companies (4,300+ with location entries), full work order history, compliance tracking, and built-in chat — all in one place.
Note: Providers and Customers are reference records — they aren't user accounts in UpKeep.
🔧 Key Capabilities
My Providers tab: Your existing Vendor list, reimagined with a tile view that surfaces contact info and compliance status at a glance. Adding and removing providers is faster than before.
Providers Network: A searchable directory of ~8,800 provider companies.
Unified search: Search My Providers and the Providers Network together.
Provider Profile page: One place for everything on a given provider: full work order history, built-in Chat for availability/quotes/permits, Compliance review and approvals with automatic expiration emails, and profile essentials (contact info, skills, certifications).
Network opt-out controls: Providers can opt out of the public Network listing during CMMS creation, and self-registered providers manage this setting from their Provider Portal.
📝 How to Add a Provider
Providers can include external contractors, suppliers, and service specialists. Manufacturers can also be added as Providers — once added, they appear in the Manufacturer field when managing assets.
Navigate to the Providers tab.
Click Create Provider in the top right.
Fill out the provider's information (contact details, location, additional information).
Click Create Provider. The new provider appears in your My Providers tile view.
🔍 How to Search the Providers Network
Need a specialist you don't already work with? Search the Providers Network directly from the Providers tab.
Open the Providers tab.
Use the unified search bar at the top. Search by specialty, location, and desired radius.
Toggle to Providers Network to expand results beyond your own list.
Open a provider profile to review details and reach out when ready.
💡 Providers can opt out of the Network listing during creation, and self-registered providers manage this setting from their Portal.
👤 Using the Provider Profile Page
Each provider has a single profile that consolidates everything you need for that relationship:
Work Orders — Full activity history with this provider.
Chat — Built-in messaging to align on availability, quotes, permits, and more.
Compliance — Review, approve, or reject compliance requirements. Upcoming expiration emails fire automatically so nothing lapses quietly.
Profile essentials — Contact info, skills, and certifications always at hand.
🏷️ Special Case: Manufacturers as Providers
Manufacturers are added through the Provider system. Once added, they appear in the Manufacturer field across the app, linking directly to assets in your inventory for cleaner tracking and faster lookups during asset updates or maintenance.
✏️ How to Edit Providers
Select the desired Provider and click View Profile.
Click Edit.
Make your changes.
Click Save Changes.
💡 Need to make a bulk update? Use the import/export functions — see Learn How to Import Providers and Customers. Bulk updates work for manufacturer info too, which is helpful for large-scale operations.
💡 Best Practices
Onboard before on-site. Add new providers and approve compliance documents before their first work order so nothing blocks a job.
Use Chat for the paper trail. Keep availability, quote, and permit conversations on the provider profile so audits are a search, not a fire drill.
Search the Network first. Before manually creating a new provider, check the Providers Network — they may already be listed.
Assign providers to locations. This keeps lists relevant per site and avoids cross-assignment errors.
Watch the compliance dashboard. Automatic expiration emails help, but the profile view gives you at-a-glance status for the whole team.
🎯 Use Cases
Find a specialist quickly — Search the Providers Network for a certified electrician in a specific region without starting from scratch.
Compliance-first onboarding — Approve insurance and certification documents on the Provider Profile before issuing the first work order.
Audit trail for every relationship — Pull the full work order history, chat log, and compliance approvals from one profile during an audit.
Customer service work — Track external customers receiving service so invoices and reports stay accurate.
Manufacturer linking — Add manufacturers as Providers to populate the Manufacturer field on assets for cleaner reporting.
❓ FAQ
What happened to the Vendors tab?
Vendors has been renamed and expanded into Providers & Network. Your existing vendor list is now My Providers, with the same records you had before plus a new tile view, profile pages, chat, and compliance tooling.
Can a provider opt out of the public Network listing?
Yes. Providers can opt out during CMMS creation, and self-registered providers manage their listing setting from their Provider Portal.
Are Providers users in UpKeep?
No — Providers are reference records used across Work Orders, Purchase Orders, and reporting. They aren't seats in your UpKeep account.
How do compliance expiration alerts work?
Expiration emails fire automatically as documents approach their renewal dates, so certifications don't lapse mid-project.