I'm new to my assignment as a maintenance head for the govt. The previous guy was not at all organized and I'm having to take over new responsibilities.  I'm trying to build a database and I've been watching your videos which have helped greatly since I've never done this before.  I manage and am responsible for about 20 different buildings.  Inside those buildings I'm responsible for some maintenance of some things while contractors are responsible for the rest.  I need my database to do the following:  store building information (address, contractor labels, size, construction dates); vendor and contractor information; equipment data (make, model, serial, manufacturer, what building the equipment is in and who is responsible for its maintenance); and maintenance dates (how frequently the maintenance needs to occur, when it occurs on what equipment, who did the maintenance, and the next service date).  I also need forms to enter new equipment, log maintenance, and a way to track equipment coming and going like when I have to replace 10 lightbulbs that come from my shop, so I'll remember that I need to replace them.  Right now I'm just entering all the data I can but I have little to no idea how I should separate the data into tables.  I have asked for the money to purchase a database or for the tools to learn but there is no budget and no money, so I'm on my own.  Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I sincerely thank you.

---

Reply from Richard Rost:

My Work Order Seminar covers most of this.