Skill-Based Technician Assignment: Accuracy Over Proximity

Your AI dispatcher just rejected the closest available technician for an emergency HVAC call. Sounds counterintuitive, right?

Here’s the thing—proximity doesn’t override certification. Sending an unlicensed tech to handle refrigerant work isn’t just inefficient. It violates EPA regulations and creates liability exposure that could cost your business thousands.

As your team grows, tracking dozens of certifications manually becomes a cognitive nightmare for dispatchers. That mental load leads to mistakes. And those mistakes create compliance violations, safety risks, and quality problems that damage your reputation.

This article walks you through exactly how FieldCamp’s AI dispatcher uses the ServiceTitan 3-rule skill matching system, skill-tag mapping, and effective skills calculation to ensure only qualified technicians are assigned to jobs requiring specific certifications or expertise.

Let’s begin.

What is the ServiceTitan 3-Rule Skill Matching System?

At the foundation of skills-based technician assignment sits a simple but powerful logic system. FieldCamp implements the ServiceTitan 3-rule skill matching system, which governs how skills work as hard constraints in AI dispatching.

The Three Rules Explained

Rule 1: Job without skills → Any technician can do it

If a job has no skill requirements defined, any available technician is eligible for assignment. Think basic tasks like general inspections or simple deliveries that don’t require specific certifications.

Rule 2: Technician without skills → Can only do jobs without requirements

Technicians who haven’t been assigned any skills in the system get automatically limited to basic work. They’re excluded from any job that specifies required skills.

Rule 3: Technician must have ALL skills listed for the job

This is where it gets strict. Rule 3 requires technicians to possess ALL listed skills—partial matches are automatically rejected. No exceptions.

Why Hard Constraints Matter More Than Proximity?

Skills function as hard constraints in AI dispatching—non-negotiable filters that cannot be violated regardless of how close a technician is or how available their schedule looks. Unlike soft constraints (like preferred technician or time windows), skill requirements are absolute.

For a deeper understanding of how AI dispatching balances these hard and soft constraints, check out our guide to How AI Dispatching Thinks.

Let’s understand this with a real-world example: Gas water heater installation

Let’s say you have a gas water heater installation requiring [“Licensed_Plumber”, “Gas_Line_Certified”]:

Technician	Skills	Eligible?
Tech 1	Licensed_Plumber, Gas_Line_Certified, Backflow	✅ Yes (has all required)
Tech 2	Licensed_Plumber, Drain_Cleaning	❌ No (missing Gas_Line_Certified)

Result: Only Tech 1 is eligible, even if Tech 2 is closer or has more availability.

Based on FieldCamp analysis of 500+ field service operations, approximately 15–20% of jobs require specific certifications that only 30–50% of technicians hold. This makes skills-based filtering critical for maintaining compliance and service quality across your field service optimization strategy.

Required Skills vs. Tags: When to Use Each?

Understanding the difference between required skills and tags is essential for configuring your system correctly without over-fragmenting your technician pool.

What are Required Skills?

Required skills are mandatory certifications or qualifications that a technician must possess to be assigned to a specific job. These function as hard constraints in AI dispatching—meaning the system will never assign a technician who lacks even one required skill.

Use required skills for:

• State-mandated licenses (Licensed_Plumber, Licensed_Electrician)
• Federal certifications (EPA_608)
• Industry certifications (Commercial_Cert, Solar_Certified)
• Core competency areas (HVAC_Install, High_Voltage)

What are Tags?

Skill tags handle one-off job requirements that don’t warrant creating full skill credentials but still affect technician assignment. Tags like “LADDER,” “HIGH_VOLTAGE,” or “CONFINED_SPACE” automatically map to skill requirements through the system’s SkillTagMapping.

Use tags for:

• Physical requirements (LADDER, HEAVY_LIFTING)
• Site conditions (ROOFTOP_ACCESS, CONFINED_SPACE)
• Safety certifications for specific situations (HIGH_VOLTAGE)
• Rare job characteristics that don’t justify full skill credentials

The Right Approach: Broad Skills + Specific Tags

Here’s a ServiceTitan best practice worth remembering: Keep core skills BROAD in requiredSkills, use tags for situational requirements.

Example: Rooftop HVAC Unit Repair

Approach	Configuration	Result
❌ Wrong	Create new skill “Rooftop_HVAC_Repair”	Narrows pool unnecessarily
✅ Right	requiredSkills: [“HVAC”] + tags: [“LADDER”, “ROOFTOP_ACCESS”]	Keeps HVAC pool broad, adds situational filters

The right approach maintains more eligible technicians while still enforcing safety requirements.

Comparison: Required Skills vs. Tags

Attribute	Required Skills	Tags
Purpose	Core certifications and licenses	One-off situational requirements
Constraint Type	Hard (must have ALL)	Hard (after mapping to skills)
Example Use Cases	Required certifications, state licenses, core competencies	LADDER, HIGH_VOLTAGE, CONFINED_SPACE
Configuration Location	Job type defaults, per-job override	Per-job only, maps via SkillTagMapping
Best Practice	Keep BROAD (e.g., “HVAC” not “HVAC_Residential_Install”)	Use for rare, non-recurring requirements

How Effective Skills are Calculated?

The AI dispatcher doesn’t evaluate requiredSkills and tags separately—it combines them into a single “effective skills” set that determines actual job eligibility.

How Does SkillTagMapping Work?

SkillTagMapping translates job tags into skill requirements. When a job includes a tag, the system automatically maps it to the corresponding skill:

• “LADDER” tag → “Ladder” skill
• “HIGH_VOLTAGE” tag → “Electrical_Advanced” skill
• “CONFINED_SPACE” tag → “Confined_Space_Certified” skill

The 5-Step Effective Skills Calculation

Here’s exactly what happens behind the scenes:

1. Job arrives with requiredSkills: [“HVAC”] and tags: [“LADDER”]
2. SkillTagMapping translates “LADDER” tag → “Ladder” skill
3. Effective skills calculated: [“HVAC”, “Ladder”]
4. Technician pool filtered:
   • Tech A: [“HVAC”, “Ladder”, “EPA_608”] → ✅ Passes filter
   • Tech B: [“HVAC”, “EPA_608”] → ❌ Filtered out (missing Ladder)
   • Tech C: [“Ladder”, “EPA_608”] → ❌ Filtered out (missing HVAC)
5. Only Tech A proceeds to route optimization, time window evaluation, etc.

Practical Example in Action

Job Configuration:

requiredSkills: [“HVAC”]

tags: [“LADDER”, “HIGH_VOLTAGE”]

SkillTagMapping Translation:

• “LADDER” → “Ladder” skill
• “HIGH_VOLTAGE” → “Electrical_Advanced” skill

Effective Skills: [“HVAC”, “Ladder”, “Electrical_Advanced”]

Technician Evaluation:

Technician	Skills	Result
Tech A	HVAC, Ladder, Electrical_Advanced, Refrigeration	✅ Qualifies
Tech B	HVAC, Ladder	❌ Rejected (missing Electrical_Advanced)
Tech C	HVAC, Electrical_Advanced	❌ Rejected (missing Ladder)

Result: Only Tech A is assigned, despite Tech B and C having some of the required skills.

For more on how constraint programming enforces these requirements, see our guide to How AI Dispatcher Algorithms Work.

Industry-Specific Skill Matrices

Different industries have different certification and licensing requirements. Skills must be configured to match actual legal and safety requirements, not just company preferences.

HVAC Skill Matrix

Skill	Required For	Typical % of Team	Legal/Safety Requirement
HVAC_Repair	All HVAC service calls	100%	State license required
EPA_608_Certified	Any refrigerant handling	80–90%	Federal EPA requirement
Electrical	AC installations, electrical connections	40–60%	State electrical license
Gas_Furnace	Gas furnace work	50–70%	Gas line certification
Commercial_Cert	Commercial HVAC systems	20–30%	Often required by contract
Sheet_Metal	Ductwork installation/repair	30–40%	Specialty skill

Plumbing Skill Matrix

Skill	Required For	Typical % of Team	Legal/Safety Requirement
Licensed_Plumber	All plumbing work	100%	State license required
Gas_Line_Certified	Gas water heaters, gas lines	40–60%	State gas certification
Backflow_Certified	Backflow prevention work	30–50%	State/local requirement
Sewer_Camera	Camera inspections	20–40%	Equipment training
Hydro_Jetting	High-pressure drain cleaning	20–30%	Equipment training

Electrical Skill Matrix

Skill	Required For	Typical % of Team	Legal/Safety Requirement
Licensed_Electrician	All electrical work	100%	State license required
High_Voltage	Panel upgrades, 220V+ work	50–70%	Advanced certification
Solar_Certified	Solar panel installations	20–40%	NABCEP or state cert
Low_Voltage	Security, network, AV systems	30–50%	Specialty certification
Roof_Work	Rooftop electrical work	40–60%	Safety training

For more on how skill capacity affects route planning, see our guide to Capacitated Vehicle Routing.

The Over-Specification Problem

Here’s a critical insight: Every additional required skill cuts your eligible technician pool. This is the #1 reason jobs go unassigned in well-configured systems.

The Math of Skill Requirements

Let’s walk through the numbers:

Your HVAC team has 10 technicians. Eight have federal refrigerant certification (80%). Six have electrical licenses (60%). Only four have both (40%). Add commercial certification requirements—three techs qualify (30%)—and you’re down to two qualified techs (20%).

A job requiring all three skills can only go to 2 out of 10 technicians.

The tradeoff is real: Specificity improves quality and compliance but reduces scheduling flexibility.

Over-Specification in Action

Over-specified job:

requiredSkills: [“HVAC_Install”, “EPA_608”, “Electrical”, “Sheet_Metal”, “Commercial_Cert”]

• Team of 10 HVAC techs → only 1 qualifies
• Result: Job sits unassigned for days, customer waits

Better specification:

requiredSkills: [“HVAC_Install”, “EPA_608”]

tags: [“COMMERCIAL_BUILDING”]

• Team of 10 HVAC techs → 4 qualify
• Result: Job gets scheduled same day

The Schedulability Impact

Based on FieldCamp customer data from 2023–2024, reducing required skills from 4+ to 2–3 core skills (with tags for edge cases) increases schedulability by 35–50% without compromising quality.

Best practice: Use broad core skills + tags for edge cases. Reserve granular skill requirements for jobs where legal compliance or safety absolutely demands it.

This approach directly supports better job scheduling outcomes across your entire operation.

How FieldCamp Enforces Skill Matching?

FieldCamp uses the ServiceTitan 3-rule system as the foundation for skills-based assignment, with skills evaluated BEFORE any other assignment factors.

The Skills-First Architecture

Skills are evaluated in the “Rapid Feasibility Check” phase—the first 50–100 milliseconds of job processing—before route optimization begins. Here’s how it works:

1. Job arrives with requiredSkills: [“HVAC”] and tags: [“LADDER”]
2. SkillTagMapping translates “LADDER” tag → “Ladder” skill
3. Effective skills calculated: [“HVAC”, “Ladder”]
4. Technician pool filtered:
   • Tech A: [“HVAC”, “Ladder”, “EPA_608”] → ✅ Passes filter
   • Tech B: [“HVAC”, “EPA_608”] → ❌ Filtered out (missing Ladder)
   • Tech C: [“Ladder”, “EPA_608”] → ❌ Filtered out (missing HVAC)
5. Only Tech A proceeds to route optimization, time window evaluation, etc.

What Makes FieldCamp Different

FieldCamp evaluates skills in the first 50–100 milliseconds—before route optimization begins. This eliminates 40–60% of impossible matches immediately, preventing compliance violations from ever appearing as scheduling options.

Dispatching Method	How Skills Are Handled
Manual dispatching	Dispatcher must remember (or look up) each tech’s certifications—mistakes happen under time pressure
Basic scheduling software	May allow assignment first, then flag conflicts—requiring manual correction
FieldCamp	Impossible assignments never appear as options—the system enforces skills as absolute constraints through constraint programming

The 3-rule system is built into the core solver, not added as a post-processing check. SkillTagMapping allows flexible configuration without creating skill proliferation.

Measurable Results

Based on customer surveys conducted in Q4 2024:

• Zero compliance violations related to technician skill mismatches after implementing AI dispatching
• Before FieldCamp: 2–5 incidents per quarter where unlicensed/uncertified techs were accidentally assigned to regulated work
• After FieldCamp: 0 incidents—the system makes it impossible
• Time savings: Dispatchers save 15–20 minutes per day not having to cross-reference certification spreadsheets

For a complete understanding of managing jobs and visits within this system, explore the Job Management guide.

Common Skill Configuration Mistakes

Avoiding these pitfalls will help you maintain schedulability while ensuring compliance.

Mistake #1: Creating Too Many Granular Skills

Problem: Company creates 8 different HVAC skills: HVAC_Residential_Repair, HVAC_Residential_Install, HVAC_Commercial_Repair, HVAC_Commercial_Install, etc.

Result: Technician pool is fragmented—jobs requiring “HVAC_Commercial_Install” only match 2 techs instead of 8.

Fix: Use requiredSkills: [“HVAC_Install”] + tags: [“COMMERCIAL”] to keep pool broad.

Mistake #2: Not Using Tags for Rare Requirements

Problem: Creating full skill credentials for one-off requirements like “Rooftop_Access” or “Confined_Space_Entry.”

Result: Skill database becomes bloated and hard to maintain.

Fix: Use tags for rare, non-recurring requirements that don’t justify full skill credentials.

Mistake #3: Requiring Skills That Aren’t Actually Necessary

Problem: Adding skills “just in case” or because they seem related to the job type.

Result: Unnecessarily restricted technician pool.

Fix: Only require skills that are legally mandated or genuinely necessary for job completion.

Mistake #4: Not Configuring SkillTagMapping

Problem: Tags are added to jobs but never mapped to skills.

Result: Tags are ignored during technician filtering.

Fix: Ensure all tags used in your system have corresponding SkillTagMapping entries.

The #1 Unassigned Visit Reason

According to FieldCamp’s 2024 scheduling analysis, “No technician has all required skills” is the most common skill-related scheduling failure, accounting for 40–50% of unassigned visits in systems with over-specified skill requirements.

Proper team management configuration prevents this from becoming a bottleneck in your operation.

Real-World Skill Matching Scenarios

These examples demonstrate how skills-based assignment works across HVAC, plumbing, and electrical industries.

HVAC Scenario: Commercial AC Installation

Job: Commercial AC installation at office building

Required Skills: [“HVAC_Install”, “EPA_608”, “Commercial_Cert”]

Team Evaluation:

Technician	Skills	Eligible?
Mike	HVAC_Install, EPA_608, Commercial_Cert, Electrical	✅ Assigned
Sarah	HVAC_Install, EPA_608, Electrical	❌ Rejected (missing Commercial_Cert)
Tom	HVAC_Repair, EPA_608	❌ Rejected (missing HVAC_Install and Commercial_Cert)

Outcome: Mike gets the job; Sarah and Tom are excluded despite being qualified HVAC techs.

Why it matters: Commercial contracts often require Commercial_Cert—sending Sarah would violate contract terms and potentially void warranty coverage.

Plumbing Scenario: Gas Water Heater Replacement

Job: Gas water heater replacement

Required Skills: [“Licensed_Plumber”, “Gas_Line_Certified”]

Team Evaluation:

Technician	Skills	Eligible?
Alice	Licensed_Plumber, Gas_Line_Certified, Backflow	✅ Assigned
Bob	Licensed_Plumber, Drain_Cleaning, Sewer_Camera	❌ Rejected (missing Gas_Line_Certified)

Outcome: Only Alice qualifies; Bob is excluded.

Why it matters: Gas line work without proper certification is illegal in most states—sending Bob creates significant liability exposure.

Electrical Scenario: Solar Panel Installation

Job: Solar panel installation

Required Skills: [“Licensed_Electrician”, “Solar_Certified”, “Roof_Work”]

Team Evaluation:

Technician	Skills	Eligible?
Carlos	Licensed_Electrician, Solar_Certified, Roof_Work	✅ Assigned
Diana	Licensed_Electrician, Solar_Certified	❌ Rejected (missing Roof_Work)
Eric	Licensed_Electrician, High_Voltage	❌ Rejected (missing Solar_Certified and Roof_Work)

Outcome: Only Carlos qualifies out of 3 licensed electricians.

Why it matters: Roof work without safety training creates OSHA liability and puts technicians at risk.

These scenarios highlight why choosing the best service technician job scheduling software matters for compliance-critical operations.

What Comes Next After Skills-Based Assignment?

Skills-based assignment ensures the AI dispatcher never assigns unqualified technicians—even when they’re closest. The ServiceTitan 3-rule system enforces this as a hard constraint: technicians must possess ALL required skills, not just proximity or availability.

Here’s what you should remember:

• Configure broad core skills (Licensed_Plumber, HVAC_Install)
• Use tags for situational requirements (LADDER, HIGH_VOLTAGE)
• Monitor your “No technician has all required skills” unassigned rate—if it exceeds 15%, you’re over-specifying

Skills are the first filter in technician assignment, but they’re not the only one. Once the AI identifies qualified technicians, it evaluates zone assignments to minimize drive time and respect territory boundaries through work order management optimization.