INNOVATION September-October 2018

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF DOCUMENT RETENTION POLICIES

M ost engineering and geoscience professionals would benefit from a document retention policy to guide their document management. Document retention policies help professionals manage risks, comply with legal obligations, and achieve other practical aims such as reducing the cost of storing documents. The issues that must be considered when developing a document retention policy and setting retention periods are very context- dependent. Engineers and Geoscientists BC does not provide advice regarding retention periods, except that professionals must retain complete project documentation for a minimum of 10 years as required by section 14(b)(1) of the bylaws. However, additional considerations may warrant retaining documents for significantly longer than this timeframe. Professionals should seek advice from legal counsel regarding an appropriate retention period. WHAT IS A DOCUMENT RETENTION POLICY? A document retention policy establishes consistent document management practices for an organization or individual. At minimum, it defines how long an organization or individual will retain different categories of documents before destroying them. However, document retention policies may also include instruction on related topics such

as preferred methods for destroying documents.

WHY CREATE A DOCUMENT RETENTION POLICY? Establishing consistent document management practices helps organizations and individuals meet a variety of requirements and objectives. Generally, these requirements and objectives include

Your business goals depend on talent mobility. We provide strategies to help professionals get to where their talents are needed most. Innovate Beyond Borders. managing risks, complying with legal obligations, and meeting other practical needs; these can differ depending on the context. Therefore, when creating a document retention policy, an organization or individual must consider the document retention requirements and objectives that are relevant to their situation. Because these various retention requirements and objectives may be in tension with each other, creating a retention policy provides organizations and individuals with an opportunity to thoughtfully balance and prioritize those requirements and objectives. For example, the objective of reducing the cost of storing documents may make a shorter retention Visas | Work Permits | Permanent Residence

Find guidance at boughtonlaw.com/immigration period attractive, while the objective of being prepared to defend against negligence claims may make a longer retention period more attractive. Creating a retention policy can help organizations and individuals identify these sometimes- competing objectives and ensure that their retention choices reflect their priorities.

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