How long do you keep copies of your obsolete documents, not records just documents?

[kmyers]

I was wondering how long everyone kept a copy of an old revised document if at all?

 

[AndyN]

Re: How long do you keep copies of you obsolete documents, not records just documents

Typically, I see people keeping one copy of most documents (and the details of any changes made) so that sufficient history exists to perform change reviews etc. Practically, if you have the 'original' release of a document and a good change history recorded some place, you only need that 1 document, plus the changes......

 

[SteelMaiden]

Re: How long do you keep copies of you obsolete documents, not records just documents

In most cases, I don't keep anything but the current rev plus of course my revision history. We do have some documents ("recipe" type stuff) that we keep a copy of every revision just in case we ever want to see exactly what was there and not a summary like our rev history data.

What do you think will work best for you? That is what you need to have, even if it is different than what someone else does.

 

[JaneB]

Re: How long do you keep copies of you obsolete documents, not records just documents

I was wondering how long everyone kept a copy of an old revised document if at all?

Not very often at all these days (though it really does depend on the particular context and what is needed in the particular organisation).

In one large organisation we used to keep previous versions of just about every policy, procedure & instruction ever written. I did find found that no one ever wanted to look at/compare old versions - with the single exception of the external auditor very occasionally 'to check'. But we still kept them, just in case they might be needed (because there was a possibility - even though remote - of potential for future litigation).

In many cases, only a single previous version (& I advise people to just park it somewhere electronically such as an 'Archives' folder & to spend very little time on such storage since the likelihood of their ever needing to retrieve it is so rare). In some cases - just the current one only!

 

[Miner]

Re: How long do you keep copies of you obsolete documents, not records just documents

I was wondering how long everyone kept a copy of an old revised document if at all?

It would depend on the type of document. If the documents are design documents, or related to product safety, I would keep them for the life of the product. If you are talking about QMS documents, I would agree with the previous posts.

 

[Randy]

Re: How long do you keep copies of your obsolete documents, not records just document

I was wondering how long everyone kept a copy of an old revised document if at all?

Hate to tell you this, but that old out of date document you want to keep a copy of is a record............It's a record of how you used to do something that is now being done according to another document....and you need to control it just as you would any other record.

 

[JaneB]

Re: How long do you keep copies of your obsolete documents, not records just document

that old out of date document you want to keep a copy of is a record............It's a record of how you used to do something that is now being done according to another document....and you need to control it just as you would any other record.

Yes, sure - not at issue. The question is for how long you need to do so. Which will vary.

 

[alex_bell]

Re: How long do you keep copies of your obsolete documents, not records just document

Given how cheap digital storage is these days we just keep previous revisions of documents on a network drive. Even small companies that perhaps can't afford much IT infrastructure can still afford a DVD burner and a couple of DVD's which will be enough for thousands of documents.

So to actually answer the question we keep documents indefinitley with the only reason for doing so is that it's easy.

 

[Phil Fields]

Re: How long do you keep copies of your obsolete documents, not records just document

Our obsolete document retention is defined in our Control of Records procedure matrix. We retain the 2 previous revisions unless it is device related, and then it would be for the device life.

Phil

 

[E Wall]

Re: How long do you keep copies of your obsolete documents, not records just document

As Randy stated the obsolete document is a record. So our documents do not get bogged down we only maintain a history of the last 3 changes in the current document (for specs and such) and all obsolete version become records. However; not all documents have a revision history in them. The lower level Forms and SOPs only indicate in bold what the last change was. Back-up documentation and database retains revision information along with obsolete version records.

To me, retention time needs to equate to relevance - What is the records value? What is the life of the product associated with the documented process/product? What risks and potential failures exist? Would it be relevant to refer to a specific date/time to see what document was being followed at that time?

We mandate ours for 10 yrs with the caveat that team review must be performed before final destruction disposition is authorized.

Eileen