ISO 9001 doesn't specify a retention period.
In my experience organizations keep records for as long as a product is in service in the field - for cars and planes, that can be decades. Many cases are regulated - doctors have to keep patient records until they die. The patients, that is, not the doctors.
Some retain records for as long as they might face liability claims.
Design staff can often only access current or recent designs, and the old versions having been designated obsolete. Yet maintenance staff often need the obsolete stuff because they're maintaining old kit.
Here in the UK I suspect we wish we had kept maps of the tunnels the coal miners used, for they have a nasty habit of subsiding.
The ancients were brilliant at archiving: they wrote it in stone - but forgot to leave us the decryption keys. Similarly, whether information is archived electronically or on paper, it's important to check periodically that the archive can be read. (Electronic tapes and even CDs, I believe, can degrade over time.)
So the generic concepts of controlling documented information should be adapted for the organization's specific needs; there's no one size fits all, no universal control method.
Hope this helps
Pat
