A "records schedule" identifies records as either temporary or permanent. All records schedules must be approved by NARA. A records schedule provides mandatory instructions for the disposition of the records (including the transfer of permanent records and disposal of temporary records) when they are no longer needed by the agency. As part of the ongoing records life cycle, disposition should occur in the normal course of agency business. All Federal records must be scheduled (44 U.S.C. 3303) either by an agency schedule or a General Records Schedule (GRS).
The GRS provide mandatory disposal authorization for temporary administrative records common to several or all agencies of the Federal Government. They are issued by the Archivist of the United States under the authority of 44 U.S.C 3303a(d). The GRS include records relating to civilian personnel, fiscal accounting, procurement, communications, printing, and other common functions. A general introduction to the GRS and each of the General Records Schedules are available on the NARA Records Management web site.
