A firm in Pennsylvania wants to clear out its files before moving to a new office.
A West Coast firm searches for more information about its founders’ work for its upcoming 75th anniversary celebration.
A member in Florida closes his office, but wants to preserve his best renderings for his children as a record of his work.
A Chicago firm tries to minimize its offsite storage costs while still meeting its legal obligations.
Each question had a very different answer, for very different reasons.
The AIA has resources to help you get started in developing your firm’s records management program. The most complete discussion is in the current edition of The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice in Section 10.5, “Retaining and Archiving Records,” which can also be viewed on AIA.org. In addition, the AIA’s web site has an online resource guide about records management for architectural firms, suggesting additional resources on specific topics such as organization systems, electronic records, and setting up a firm archives.
There are three primary reasons to keep project files: to protect your firm against liability, to accommodate returning clients, and to preserve your historical legacy.
Legal protection
From a legal standpoint, a primary reason to keep your records is to protect against risk of liability. Some state licensing regulations also may require that you keep project files for a certain number of years. In addition to complying with the applicable state regulations, you should keep project files for the number of years during which claims can be filed for damage on building projects. That length of time is specified by the state statutes of repose and statutes of limitation, which vary from state to state. If any of your work was done out of state, the other state’s laws should be taken into account. Your firm’s legal counsel can advise you on the state statues.
The Handbook section discusses which types of project records to keep, and how to develop a retention policy for your firm. There are other articles about record retention and recordkeeping for risk management in the resource guide.
Clients now, and in the future
Building rehabilitation represents a substantial share of construction activity. The percentage of billings from additions, rehabilitation, or modifications of existing buildings compared to new construction has been steadily growing for many years. Before the current economic downturn, the 2003 AIA Firm Survey found that rehabilitation and additions accounted for almost 40 percent of firm billings overall, and was even higher in certain market sectors. The latest AIA Firm Survey shows that 65 percent of firm billings in 2008 came from renovations, rehabilitations, and additions to existing structures, as well as historic preservation activities.
Given this trend, you may need your past project files for future jobs, either for returning clients or for future owners of the building. Will you be able to find the files you need after 10 or 15 years? Having a good records management program in your firm is particularly crucial in saving digital files. Many firms think they have their past CAD drawings because they’ve saved a set of disks, but they may no longer own the software or hardware to run them. Strategies for the long-term preservation of CAD and BIM files are still being developed and debated. See the resource guide for links to some recent initiatives.
Creating a legacy
Another reason to keep project files is simply to preserve a record of the work you’ve done over the years. A master list of jobs is essential to the history of a firm or an individual architect, and becomes more significant as the years pass and firms change and merge.
Other materials to keep for historic reasons include (at minimum): firm brochures, career outlines of principals, and project files of at least the most significant buildings with drawings, specs, and photographs. How else can the firm celebrate its anniversary a few decades from now?
The Handbook section discusses how to review which projects are significant for long-term retention on page 449. An essay on pages 447-449 of the Handbook section, along with other references that in the resource guide, will be useful to firms wishing to establish their own archives, or for firms or individual architects wishing to partner with an archive at another institution.
For architects wondering what to keep when they retire and the firm closes, donating the files to an archive is one possibility to consider. Those who choose to dispose of the bulk of their office records may still want to keep a few items as a family legacy-a job list, resumes, firm brochures, and project files for a few of the most important works. The AIA frequently receives calls from grandchildren of AIA members who are trying to find out what buildings their grandparents designed and other information about their practices.
An issue of design
Like any other design problem, designing your firm’s records management plan will be influenced by site, context, and program requirements-where you practice, the nature of your clients, and what you want to achieve with records management. Whatever your reasons for keeping files, it’s important to be clear about what you intend to save and to be consistent in how you save it, so that you can easily find it again. An effective records management program will get rid of clutter while safeguarding the records you may need in the future. It’s a prudent investment in good office practice.
This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The reader should consult with legal counsel to determine how laws, suggestions, and illustrations apply to specific situations.
