> On Jun 6, 2015, at 12:01 AM, RECMGMT-L automatic digest system <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> From: Gary Link <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> Subject: Re: Register of deeds: Bill would 'destroy the integrity' of records
> Date: June 5, 2015 at 11:49:45 AM EDT
> 
> 
> Hugh and I both live in Pennsylvania, land of the Prothonotary (as in, 
> Harry Truman's "What the hell is a Prothonotary?" Anyway, Hugh, what 
> Recorder of Deeds office have you ever been in where thee deeds are locked 
> in a vault?

Many, many in the Northeast.  The Deed Books are on roller shelving. I just finished a vault in Tewksbury and will be building one in a town 30 miles away in the next 30 days.  We have built vaults in Nantucket, Oak Bluff, Bourne, Franklin, Waltham and on and on.  They store the Birth and Death Records, Deed Books, sometimes Abstracts. 

Each Town maintains their own Deed Records in most states in the Northeast where the absolute history of the land records dates from the birth of the nation.  We have some in Texas where they date back to the beginning of the Republic and sometimes reference Spanish Land Grants.

We just finished one in Lyme CT that not only had Deed Books but Grant Books that date back to example set by the Domesday ( Doomsday) Book of William the Conqueror in England. 

> Deeds are in huge ledger books out on the stacks, and anyone 
> can go through them for as long as they want. That is, if they can figure 
> out the indexing system.

I know Pennsylvania has an entirely different system for their records. In 32 years we have not built a vault for a Town Hall in Pennsylvania. I know in New York that some vaults mark the changes in Deed Books with pencil as deeds changed and properties were split.  The Town Clerk would mark into the Deed Books the changes in pencil and it was against the law for a visitor to have a pencil with an eraser.  The judge for the Town of Aurora was telling me how he made that mistake in his early days as a lawyer. The Town Clerk saved him by making him open his briefcase and show her his coat pockets. He never made that mistake again.

> Gary Link
> "You've got a friend in PA" or whatever our state slogan is this year.

As Tod mentioned, some of the vaults we build are quite large. 

> The vault may be bigger than you think.  Way before I joined the RIM
> profession I did work that took me into land records offices as part of my
> duties.  I remember the entry way to the land records office in the county
> courthouse (here in Maryland) where I grew up, and still live in the same
> general area (one county over) had a vault door.  Yes, the whole suite was
> apparently protected.

I just finished a vault that was 34’ x 44’ and we have built them large enough that they had to be subdivided to avoid running afoul of the NFPA requirement that the vault not exceed 25,000 cubic feet of storage in a chamber.

As Larry described many vaults are not really vaults. And all vaults have a time rating. If the fire runs beyond those timeliest with no aggressive fire fighting the vaults will fail.

Building a vault requires locating it so fire fighters can reach it and begin the fight there.  The vault should have sprinklers above it.  And either a clean agent system or sprinklers or in many cases both to protect the interior.

Deed Books do well in fires as their thick covers and the inability of oxygen to reach the inside of the books slows the fire.

Records centers who store boxes on shelves with the orientation set so the paper cannot waterfall into the aisles do much better in a fire.  Again the lack of oxygen is the best asset and the paper held together by the box and the close stacking help provide more time for the fire fighters. The lack of water falling into the fire denies the fire fuel.

Larry’s experience as he researches the history of many of the records center fires has helped me in discussions with Fire Marshals through the years. That reminds me, have you all toured your records center with a Fire Marshal.  They are a great source of fire prevention. After all NFPA 232 makes each of you liable for inspecting all of your records storage to assure it complies with the Fire Code.

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
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(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM
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