My main aim for writing this blog is to give businesses useful and relevant information from the document storage and management industry.

I know that document storage is a subject that can cause yawning and an immediate ‘switch off’ but how would you feel if you lost your whole archive of records either through natural disaster (fire, flood etc) or through malicious damage?.I guess that it would be pretty catastrophic and recovery of your lost records could take a long time. Did you know that 68% of businesses that suffer this kind of loss NEVER recover and cease trading? The protection of your vital records is our business – we can take all the hassle out of document management for you.

To kick off the blog I start at the beginning and answer the question:

How long do I have to keep my records?

The honest answer is that there are very few legislative rules that govern how long paper documents should be retained by a business. Some, such as those required by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, are strictly regulated and not being able to produce past records on demand is an offence. Good practice dictates that historical records need to be retained.

However the vast majority of all records can be retained as ELECTRONIC COPIES (scanned images). File formats for keeping electronic copies of documents can be PDF, TIFF or JPEG files.

Here are some examples of how long some common documents should be kept:

  • Accident Books – 6 years after LAST entry
  • Personnel Records – 7 years AFTER termination of employment
  • COSHH records – 40 years
  • Capital Expenditure Invoices – 10 years
  • Building Leases – 12 years after expiry
  • Sales invoices and Credit Notes – 6 years
  • Property Deeds – Retain indefinitely or until property sold

If you would like a FREE comprehensive guide to document retention please click here or contact us here for advice without obligation.

Remember we are here to help!

Mark Yates