Gene, I work for a A&E firm. Early this year we revamped (um... I mean created where none existed) our "Records Retention and Document Control" policies. This has very stringent guidelines for everything. No exceptions. We paid lawyers to QC it (they always trump IT guys, and everyone else too). Not to change the subject of this post, but if you are in this field, you run the risk of a lawsuit. The product you create is a construction document or contract. That old exchange server tape left on the shelf can cost big time. BIG TIME. That old PC under your desk as well.
The short story is that we retain only contract documents into infinity. Now, our project creation process includes the creation of empty folders. These are not to be renamed, moved or deleted. Sorry, I an not at liberty to share folder structure, but its not that complicated. Upon completion each project now goes through an archiving process. No engineering calcs will be kept into infinity. The lawyers hate these. If it's not a deliverable to the client, it gets deleted at "archive time". This includes emails (another can-of-worms). Your filing and naming conventions don't matter, as long as it is documented and *stringently followed*. The quarrels inside the firm on this can be a nightmare (been there, done that). I really don't mean to belittle your OP, but this needs to go to the ownership of the firm level. FYI - There was much "wailing and gnashing of teeth" when this was implemented <grin>. hth, Devin On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 6:06 PM, Gene Giannamore< [email protected]> wrote: > Anyone work at an Architectural, Engineering, or General Contractor firm? I > am looking for a filling system guideline. Right now we are having several > people all insisting that their way is the only way to file. It just makes > it very difficult to find things, especially when we cannot get everyone to > follow the naming conventions. Just wondering if anyone might be willing to > share, their filling guidelines. > > > > > > > > Gene Giannamore > > Abide International Inc. > > Technical Support > > 561 1st Street West > > Sonoma,Ca.95476 > > (707) 935-1577 Office > > (707) 935-9387 Fax > > (707) 766-4185 Cell > > [email protected] > > > > > > -- Devin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
