The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has extended the comment
period on NFPA 232: Standard for the Protection of Records to January 14.
If you would like to submit comments, the following overview of NFPA’s
process and the recent history of this specific standard will help you be
more effective.

The NFPA 232 technical committee began revising the 2000 edition of the
standard in 2002. The article “Records Under Fire” (The Information
Management Journal November/December 2002) provides an excellent summary
of the controversy  regarding varying levels of records protection as
experienced in the previous revision cycle, during which the revision was
appealed to NFPA’s Standards Council. The Standards Council reaffirmed the
2000 edition of the standard and reconstituted the technical committee in
2004.


NFPA 232: 2000 is currently in the period where proposals to change
existing text or add new text are being accepted.  Proposals must be
specific as to the section of the standard being addressed and the
specific text to be added or changed. Each proposal must be supported by a
substantiation statement.

If you wish to submit a formal proposal, you must use NFPA’s proposal
submission form. Everything you will need is available on the NFPA Web
site (www.nfpa.org):

• Purchase a copy of NFPA 232:2000 through the NFPA online bookstore
It is available in PDF or print form for $28.75.
• Download the proposal submittal form
(http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/docprop.pdf).
• Learn more about NFPA’s codes and standards process, is available
on their web site at www.nfpa.org. You’ll have to follow the links
for “Codes and Standards”; Code Development Process; Proposals (ROP) and
Comments (ROC).  You can also find an article there that summarizes the
NFPA process.

The technical committee will meet in February to discuss the proposals and
to accept, reject, or revise them.  These decisions are preliminary, since
the committee conducts a written ballot on the committee decisions. If
this process meets the NFPA requirements for balloting, the document
proceeds to the report on comment (ROC) stage.


After the proposal is successfully balloted, there is a 60-day period
during which individuals can comment on the committee’s decisions
regarding the proposed changes. Once again there is a specific form and
format for this stage.

ARMA involvement with NFPA 232
ARMA has maintained a membership in this committee for the past four
years.  We have sent a delegate to each of the technical committee
meetings during that time  and have submitted proposals that reinforce the
records management perspective while also offering alternatives that will
hopefully facilitate consensus among the committee members.

In addition, ARMA is forming an advisory task force within the Standards
Development Program to specifically address this standard. The task force
will review the proposals and assist in determining ARMA’s response to the
proposals and comments. If you are interested in serving on this advisory
task force, please contact Diane Carlisle, CRM, director of professional
resources, at [log in to unmask]

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
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