>I'll have to go back and check the contract. This isn't a typical RS
>vendor, we simply lease an old furniture warehouse so I would be surprised
>if there is any liability for environmental protection of the assets. None
>of the boxes in question have any visible signs of mold. We did have that
>issue with about 20 boxes and they were all sent to a vendor for
>remediation.
>
>Does anyone know of any RS vendors who take steps to wipe down, vacuum or
>blow off boxes before they receive them? I guess it comes down to the level
>of protection we want for these boxes as well as knowing whether or not the
>dormant mold spores, and other dust, will significantly reduce the lifespan
>of the records.
>

One good reason to use a commercial storage vendor over a general warehouse,
especially one that stores highly combustible materials like furniture and
in most of these cases, if they are a "Moving and Storage" firm, a ton of
unknown mixed cartons of goods.  If nothing else, most commercial records
storage firms will limit the contents to paper materials, sometimes
electronic media from people who don't care about the risks of storing it
unprotected.

One of the better publications to consider purchasing form ARMA is
"Guideline for Evaluating Offsite Records Storage Facilities"  (didn't
bother trying to post the ugly wrap around URL here).  One component of this
is a LENGTHY checklist of considerations that users can select form when
negotiating a contract, among those are environmental concerns and
protection from pests.  This one took 3 years to get approved and the Task
Force included people from the storage industry and practitioners from a
variety of industries.

You can build requirements into a contract/Terms and Conditions that protect
your assets from a variety of types of damage and also require annual (or
more frequent) inspections of the roof and other elements of the facility,
along with the requirement to notify you as soon as they are aware of
damage.  Of course, not much of anything trumps regular periodic inspections
of the facility and your assets to ensure requirements are being met or
exceeded.

As mentioned, there MAY be concern for the impacts on the lifespan of
records, but my greater concern would be the potential health hazards of the
staff when records are retrieved on request and the cartons/records are
introduced into an office environment. 

Larry
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