I knew there was a reason we kept Hugh around all these years

Chris flynn

On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 10:27 AM, Hugh Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dale,
>
> I waited until Ginny, Larry and others replied to add my comments.
>
> In building vaults for law firms through the years, they have, in each and
> every case, opted to build a vault of a Four Hour Listing. The vaults
> described in NFPA 232 provide the standards on building a vault for a Class
> 350 or Media Rated Vault as vaults must be designed to protect the type of
> records stored within the vault.
>
> Law Firms typically chose a vault rating that would later be deemed as
> negligent. And that is what leads them to select the normal four hour rated
> vault. In the security industry, a door of less than four hours is
> typically referred to as a "File Room" door not a vault door.  If you check
> with the manufacturers of vault doors and file room doors they will tell
> you that very few file room doors are sold as those making a decision that
> something requires fire protection soon make the determination that
> building something less than four hours will typically be deemed as
> equivalent to building nothing at all.
>
> File Rooms are typically built using multiple layers of drywall. But
> drywall is not structural in a fire and vaults under NFPA 232 are required
> to be structural in a fire. So now you are back to building a vault and if
> you build a vault, there is little cost differential between a vault door
> and a two hour rated file room door. So now you are building a four hour
> vault.
>
> The interesting point is who is mandating you build a vault and the answer
> is most often "No One!"
>
> The courts do not tell you to build a vault, but they certainly hold you
> liable after the fact. For example in today's posting:
> > Rail agency must not delete emails
>
> This requirement to retain the records is a strict mandate to avoid
> destruction by any means. That is reinforced by the spoliation clauses we
> see coming out of Sarbanes-Oxley, Rule 26 and ESI and these track the
> liability back to the C-Level officers and now the Board of Directors.
>
> The Rule of Thumb of Vault Building is the higher up the management chain,
> the decision on the vault moves, the higher the rating. If your head of
> litigation is asked what level of protection the law firm should provide
> for its records, the answer will be "Whatever the best rating is!"
>
> If you ask Facilities they will confidently tell you a gypsum board room
> with a fire rated metal door is fine. If you can tell me you never will
> have a fire, then you don't need a vault at all. I have never witnessed
> facilities building a real vault. Since this is always their first vault
> they always make mistakes.
>
> If you are sure you will have a fire, then I recommend a four hour vault.
> If your records are protected within a four hour vault, you eliminate
> negligence although the courts do not relieve you of the liability to
> present the records, no matter how well intended your design.  A duty to
> present is just that.  But with a law firm, you will be held to the highest
> standard.
>
> Failure to protect, failure to create a Data Map and so on lead to
> disadvantageous court settlements because you cannot defend yourself.
>
> Hugh Smith
> FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
> [log in to unmask]
> (610) 756-4440    Fax (610) 756-4134
> WWW.FIRELOCK.COM
>
>
> On May 24, 2012, at 12:00 AM, RECMGMT-L automatic digest system wrote:
>
> > Subject: [RM] Legal Requirements for Vault Storage
> >
> > Hi - I'm a new subscriber at a mid-size law firm in Chicago.  We've
> outgrown our present will vault and are looking at retrofitting a new room
> to create a vault storage space here at the firm, vs. storing the documents
> in a vendor space in a vault- off-site.
> >
> > I can't seem to find any information on whether there are LEGAL
> specifications for the fire safety standards for building a vault space
> (such as:  4 hour doors, fireproof walls, dry sprinklers, etc.).  All I can
> find are RECOMMENDATIONS by the NFPA.
> >
> > My question is:  can anyone tell me if there are LEGAL requirements for
> vault fire safety standards?  We're in Illinois, if that makes any
> difference.
> >
> > Any thoughts?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Dale Boyer
>
>
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