>
> The City of Oceanside has maintained an off-site records and archives
> center since 1987. During that time we have moved once to a larger
> facility and in 1990 commissioned a needs assessment for a new records
> center in conjunction with the construction of a new police and fire
> admin building.


funny, but I actually REMEMBER when this happened!! =)


> Not surprisingly, the new facility did not come about, but the forecasts
> contained in the needs assessment for the records center were quite
> accurate. Herein is the problem, we have maintained the projected growth
> rate but our center is nearing capacity, and even with the
> implementation of the retention schedule project now underway our
> facility is in need of replacement.


hopefully, as the RSP gets into full swing, you'll end up with more
available space by being able to eliminate some portion of what's presently
in storage.


> In order to start down the long road of capital improvement projects we
> need to begin with a new needs assessment study.


ALWAYS a great place to start!


> I have been reviewing the NFPA 232 standard as well as ARMA TR-01-2002
> Records Center Operations for requirements and background but am seeking
> information on conducting and some idea of "ballpark" costs   for this
> type of assessment. I have conducted searches on Google, dog pile, and
> other search engines but these have not been terribly successful yet.


Consider adding the ARMA Guideline for Evaluating Offsite Storage Facilities
http://www.arma.org/bookstore/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=2220  to your tool
kit.

You're up against a difficult endeavor here, as you need to determine not
only your storage requirements, but lighting, fire protection, alarming,
environmental controls, shelving suitable for your seismic zone, whether a
vault will be included in your service offerings, ensuring offices and any
other normal work areas are appropriately separated from storage areas by a
minimum 1-hr firewall, properly rated electrical services, how to store any
power operated equipment (if it uses other than electrical power), etc.

You also need to ensure the sprinkler system is rated to meet the NFPA13
requirements for Type II commodities, and if you intend to store to heights
in excess of 12', that includes the use of in-rack sprinklers for your
storage shelving.  And if it's an existing facility that you are
re-purposing, make sure the sprinklers are laid out in the proper
arrangement (10' or shorter centers, proper dispersal pattern for the
sprinkler heads, correct flow rate from the standpipe/s, arranged to match
the aisles of where the shelving will sit, etc.)

The unfortunate part of this is I have a very limited time frame to
> provide some idea of cost. The powers that be have accelerated our
> budget planning this year and I need a reasonable placeholder. If
> someone has recently had such a study done I would greatly appreciate
> hearing from you. I realize these types of costs are determined by each
> individual circumstance but any ideas would be helpful at the moment.


My suggestion would be to contact a construction/retrofit firm and let them
know the footprint of the building you're considering, have a registered
fire protection engineer make an assessment of the needs to upgrade the
sprinkler systems to meet the commodity, evaluate the alarm and VESDA
systems (or estimate what they would cost to install), and a structural
engineer determine if the roof is sound and the floor will support the
planned weight. You'll need to get estimates for the cost of shelving,
including anchoring and bracing.  Also, for construction of offices and
appropriate lighting, HVAC, and wiring.  And don't forget to calculate the
actual cost of moving and re-aligning your inventory, especially if you
currently use an application that assigns a seat number to a box, which will
all have to be remapped.

Don't forget to leave space for boxes that are checked out, or files that
may need to be returned to existing boxes... you'll need a crosswalk from
"old to new" seat and box numbers.


> Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom (or numbers for that matter!)


I could be rude and suggest you speak to a local commercial service
provider, ask them for the numbers they used, and then double or triple
them, seeing as they won't be built to anything above local building codes
(which is why most seasoned and trained Professional Records Managers WILL
NOT store their organization's information assets with them).. but I won't
do that =)

Larry

Chair of the ARMA Standards Development Committee
Co-Project Manger for the Guideline for Evaluating Offsite Storage
Facilities
Principal Member of the NFPA 232 Technical Committee
Former Owner/Operator of a Zone 4, Seismic Category D Storage Facility
http://www.cement.org/masonry/seismic.pdf

-- 
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972

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