File 4: Records Stored in Agency Office Space
(version 1.0 issued August 25, 2008)
1. When do I use this Toolkit File?
Use the contents of this file if you plan to hold records:
- In a records staging or holding area within your agency office space; AND
- The capacity of that area for holding records is LESS than 25,000 cubic feet.
However:
- If the records staging or holding area in your office space can hold a volume of records GREATER than 25,000 cubic feet, then the area must be approved as an agency records center. See File 2 of this Toolkit for details.
2. What is considered a records staging or holding area?
For purposes of the NARA regulations, a records staging or holding area is an area designated within the agency's office space that is used for the temporary storage of records. The term does not include off-site storage (e.g., a storage unit outside the office building). Records staging or holding areas may be established by an agency for maintaining records no longer needed in office space but whose volume or retention periods are insufficient to warrant transfer to a record center before final disposition.
3. Does NARA have to approve my records staging or storage area?
You must comply with the storage standards found in 36 CFR 1228.228 through 1228.232 available at http://www.archives.gov/about/regulations/part-1228/k.html#fac and in File 5 of this Toolkit, but you do not have to provide any documentation to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
4. Questions?
Contact Rick Blondo by e-mail at rick.blondo@nara.gov, by phone on (301) 837-1844, or by fax on (301) 837-3657.
