Vital Records Storage Question:

I would not recommend you keep your vital records on the same site you
occupy.  The purpose of storing your vital records off site is that in the
event that some kind of disaster occurs that you will have continuity of
operations after the event. You also have legislative responsibilities to
meet as well.

There are some excellent vaults out there that are rated highly for fire,
floods, explosions etc, but you would have to look at your budget.  Also,
depending on your second location, someone would have to commute to manage
these, if it is not a commercial firm.  So in that case your budget and
resources would have to be examined.  You have to look at the types of
disasters that could occur in your area, so that you judge the distance
which would be required from your location to the second location.  As an
example, are you in a frequent flood zone, tornado zone, under the flight
path of an airport, near a major freeway, near trains, etc.  This could
dictate how far away you need to be and what type of protection you require.

You would also have to look at the second location to see if it is conducive
for protecting your vital records and if not, what would have to be done to
bring it up to standard or code. As an example does the second location of
fire suppression, temperature/climate/dust controls/security etc.

I do like Alice's recommendation and that is to inquire with others in your
area or same industry and ask them what they are doing. You may wish to
consider doing a business case on this issue and present it with
recommendations to senior management.  If they want their vital records
protected, then they will have to fork out the dollars annually to do so.
Once they are gone there is not much they can do after.  Ask others on this
list how much it costs to restore damaged records!

Just a few thoughts of the top of my head.  Cheers.

John A. Gervais
Program Manager
Policy and Standards Section
Information Policy and Governance Division
Intergovernmental and International Affairs Directorate
Policy and Planning Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
25 Nicolas Street, 16th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0L5

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