BIS/DGO(374)/2014 BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS (Administration Department ) 29 April 2014 OFFICE ORDER Subject: Manual for Record Room of BIS Offices It is considered necessary by the Competent Authority to establish a central repository to provide for medium as long terms storage of official records that needs to be retained for legal or other reasons. It is generally accepted that high density, low cost storage away from the record generating department/office are much more economical. 2. The Competent Authority has directed to setup a centralized record room for preservation of official records in the office premises at BIS HQ, NITS, all ROs /BOs and regional T&Cs. Accordingly, necessary guidelines for preservation of records and functioning of record room have been compiled in the form of “Manual for Record Room of BIS offices” (Vol. I). 3. Henceforth, all the department at HQs and all ROs/BOs are hereby directed to strictly follow and comply with the guidelines in the manual at Annexure-I. 4. This issues with the approval of DG, BIS. Sd/(A.K. Bansal) Director (Administration) Ref: Admn/05/01/2014 Circulated to: All departments at BIS HQ,ROs/BOs/NITS/T&Cs through BIS website Annex –I to BIS/DGO(374)/2014 BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS Manual for Record Rooms of BIS Offices (Volume-I) Date of Issue : 29th April 2014 BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS MANAK BHAVAN, 9, BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR MARG, NEW DELHI – 110002 Contents Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Title Preamble Records Classification and Retention Schedule 2.1 Classification of categories  Category A  Category B  Category C  Category D Method of sending records by each Deptt. Requirements of a Record Room 4.1 Cleanliness and order 4.2 Storage of Records 4.3 Security & Access 4.4 Staffing for Record Room 4.5 Duties of Staff in Record Room 4.6 Administrative Duties Action by Record Room on receipt of Records Proper maintenance/safe custody of Records 6.1 Air Conditioning 6.2 Fire fighting arrangements 6.3 Protection from inspects & pests 6.4 Maintenance of records Retreiving records on demand Destruction of records (Proformae) Annex I Annex II Annex III Annex IV Annex V Proforma for transferring of files to Record Room Record Room Accession Register File Movement Register Records Requisition proforma List of files due for destruction after completion of retention period Page Nos. 1 2 3 4 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1. Preamble 1.1 ‘Record Room’ needs to be set up for better management of records. It is expensive and difficult to manage the records in each record generating department. It is, therefore, necessary to establish a central repository to provide for medium as long-term storage of records that need to be retained for legal or other reasons. It is generally accepted that highdensity, low-cost storage away from the offices are much more economical. 1.2 The term ‘records’ includes all information materials produced in the course of official work. Most records are on paper, but other formats also exist (for example, audio or videotape, photographs, maps, electronic records). Records include a) any document, manuscript and file; b) any microfilm, CD/DVD, microfilm and facsimile copy of a document; c) any other material produced by a computer or by any other device. 1.3 It is necessary that no records should be transferred to the record room until an Appraisal has taken place and a Retention Schedule has been decided. The words “Appraisal” & “Retention Schedule” have the following meaning: Appraisal: The process of determining the value of records for further use, for whatever purpose, and the length of time for which that value will continue. Retention Schedule: The period after which the record is scheduled to be removed from a record room and destroyed or disposed off. 1.4 The record room is not simply a storage area but the documents held in the record room must be available for reference. The Record Room should be safe, secure, clean, efficient and economical. It should be capable of holding all classified records in all media and able to provide a dependable retrieval service. 1.5 Overall records care is very critical to the success of a record-keeping system. The care of both paper and non-paper records are covered by the procedures outlined in this manual. 2. Records Classification and Retention Schedule 2.1 The records shall be classified in the following four categories: Category ‘A’ - The retention period for records under Category-A shall be indefinite. The Category-A shall cover records related to policy decisions, papers concerning Acts, Rules and Regulations, important litigations, working of important committees etc. Category ‘B’ - The retention period for records under Category-B shall be 30 years. Category ‘C’ - The retention period for records under Category-C shall be 10 years. Category ‘D’ - The retention period for keeping the records under Category-D shall be 2 years. The files and records pertaining to miscellaneous nature shall be covered under this category. 2.2 The files shall be categorized in the levels i.e. Category ‘A’, Category ‘B’, Category ‘C’ or Category ‘D’ as per classification mentioned above. 2.3 Each department shall classify all type of files that are dealt with in their respective department. The retention schedule shall be framed by each department with the approval of their Activity Heads and put up to Record Room Managing Committee for their approval. Likewise, each DDGR, Chief (T&C) & H (NITS) classify their files and place the same to Record Room Managing Committee for approval. DDGR’s shall route their proposals through DDG (PP&C) who shall ensure that a common policy is adopted by all the Regions. 3. Method of sending records by each Deptt. 3.1 Before sending a file to the record room, the files shall have to be weeded and properly indexed. At the time of weeding all the drafts / duplicate/other papers in the files which are not required for future reference as to how and what decision was taken, shall be removed by the concerned department. The file note sheets and correspondence pages shall be re- numbered and shall be indicated in the index page in the file before forwarding the same to the Record Officer. 3.2 Every file to be transferred to the Record Room shall be numbered properly for easy retrieval of files. a) Abbreviation of the concerned department followed by the abbreviation of the subject handled by the department. b) It will be followed by the year of opening of file by the concerned department e.g. Admn./Canteen/2010. c) At the top of the cover of file, Category of the files shall be mentioned i.e. CategoryA/B/C/D. 3.3 Records should be transferred to the record room regularly. In general, department should make small transfers more frequently rather than large transfers less often. 4. Requirements of a Record Room The record room must be secure, clean, efficient and economical. 4.1 Cleanliness and Order 4.1.1 The record room must be clean. The records must be protected from damage, dirt, insects or rodents or infestation by moulds. To maintain cleanliness, no one should be allowed to eat or bring food into the record room: Smoking must be prohibited in the record room at all times, and there should be prominent notices to this effect. The record room should be cleaned, dusted and inspected on a regular basis. 4.1.2 The record room should be orderly. This means that the records kept in it must be in proper order on the shelves, so that any record can be found at any time with a minimum of delay. Records should be kept in proper containers or wrappings, clearly labelled with their reference numbers. Regular checks should be made to ensure records are returned to their appropriate locations and are not stored inappropriately. 4.1.3 The record room must be efficient. Every record held in the room should be retrievable quickly and easily. Records should also be disposed of according to a predetermined records retention schedule. 4.2 Storage of Records 4.2.1 Most records held within the record room will be in file format, steel racks shall be provided in the Record Room. However, it is likely that there will be a proportion of records that cannot fit into standard shelf spaces or standard chest of drawers or that demand special treatment. These include:- a) Engineering Drawings Engineering drawings, plans etc. are best kept in chest of drawers. If these are not available, cardboard tubes should be used. It would be acceptable to roll the maps, plans or drawings inside cardboard tubes, as this tends to protect them from accidental damage during use. b) Photographs Photographs generated from Public Relation Departments etc. should be kept in acidfree folders, individually, and kept in a controlled environment. They also need specialised indexing. c) Electronic Records Electronic records should be stored in areas free of dust and protected as much as possible from temperature and humidity. This link between records must be made wherever any documents in specialised format have been extracted from their original context and stored elsewhere. 4.3 Security & Access 4.3.1 The record room must be secure. It is also important that the facility is safe and secure. It should not be possible for unauthorized persons to gain access to the records in the record room. No person except record room staff shall be allowed to enter the record room. The entrance to the record room should have a prominent notice that no unauthorized persons are permitted. 4.3.2 Where possible, a separate area be set aside for records under Category A & B. This area should be separated from the rest of the storage area and access should be restricted to staff who have been specially authorized for this purpose. 4.3.3 The record room should be isolated from any dangers that might threaten the safety of the records, including fire, flood or natural disaster. 4.3.4 Staff should be trained in the use of fire extinguishers and should know what to do in an emergency. 4.3.5 Records brought into the record room should be stored in randomly selected locations. Usually, the racks on which records are stacked/the chest of drawers should not carry markings showing the files/category of files that give a direct indication of their contents. It is important to ensure the contents of racks are not easily identifiable, in order to ensure the secure storage of the records. 4.3.6 A place outside the record room should be available for referring to the records under the supervision of Record Room Officer. If duly authorized people come to the record room to consult records there, they must do so under supervised conditions, and they must conform to the rules in force. 4.4 Staffing for Record Room The Record Room should have staffing as below: a) Record Officer at the level of Section Officer (Part Time) b) Record Keeper at the level of LDC/UDC/Assistant (Part Time/full time) c) Attendant (Part Time) 4.5 Duties of Staff in Record Room a) Receipt of records from other departments. b) Checking of records with respect to categorization, indexing and file numbering. c) Preparation and Maintenance of subject-listing of records after arrangement in their respective series. d) Binding of files received from other departments. e) Arrangement of record on the shelves and issue reminders to the concerned department for getting the files back in the Record Room f) To issue and getting back of records from the concerned departments including maintenance of File Movement Register (Annex III) g) To arrange for proper dusting in the record room h) To arrange for repair of torn, old and brittle records 4.6 Administrative Duties a) The Record Officer shall make annual review of the records in the record room as per the record retention schedule. b) The Record Officer shall supervise and maintain Record Accession Register (Annex II), Record Movement Register (Annex III) c) The Record Officer shall compile the record retention schedules. d) The Record Officer shall provide the files for reference purposes preferably. e) The Record Officer shall provide the records under RTI Act for inspection purposes. Record Officer shall issue certified copies of the documents or records to the information seeker. f) Weeding out of the files in the record room shall be recommended by the Record Officer in consultation with the concerned department after expiry of the record retention period. A standing guard file shall be maintained by the Record Officer/Record keeper for keeping the policy, circulars and instructions pertaining to the Record Room. 5. Action by Record Room on receipt of Records 5.1 All records sent to the record room should be accompanied by a Transfer List (Annex I). 5.2 A proper binding of these files shall be done by Record Room Staff after verification and checking of the received records to avoid any tampering of the records at a later date. 5.3 Record should be allocated numbering serially, at the time when the first transfer of records is requested to be made by that office. No series should ever be repeated. The record room should keep a register of series numbers. This register will be one of the record room’s own permanent records. No index of series is necessary because allocated numbers are written on the relevant files and on any correspondence and forms. 5.4 The serial number should be written on each transfer list, disposal form and so on. It should be quoted on all correspondence with the records office, and files of such correspondence should be filed under the code number by the record room. 5.5 When an office has been allocated a serial number, this number should remain unchanged. If as a result of administrative reforms a particular records office is merged with another, the new records office should be given a new code number. The old one will remain in use to identify transactions that occurred and records that were created before the reorganisation. 5.6 On arrival, the record room staff should then check to see that the number of chest of drawers sent out is the same as the number returned. They then enter initial details of the transfer in the record room accession register. This ensures that there is a permanent record of the consignment. 6. Proper maintenance/safe custody of Records For proper maintenance and safe custody of records, it is necessary that a conducive environment is maintained all the time so that the records are not destroyed due to insects, pests, termites or other reasons because the records are valuable and have worth. The following points are considered to be necessary for a conducive environment:- 6.1 Air conditioning: 6.1.1 Storage of records in an air-conditioned environment is conducive to their longevity; therefore air-conditioning is essential for Record Room. In the existing buildings, which do not have central air-conditioning facilities, use of split air-conditioner/window split type Airconditioner is recommended. For effective air-conditioning, ventilation should be so planned as to permit minimum leakage of the conditioned atmosphere. 6.1.2 Humidity and temperature in the conditioned Records Room should be measured regularly. The ambient conditions for the storage of records are mentioned as under:- 6.2 i) Temperature : 22oC – 25oC ii) Relative Humidity : 45 + 55% Fire Fighting arrangements: 6.2.1 To protect records against any accidental fire, all electric wiring should be through conduit pipes and the main control switches of lights etc. installed in the storage area should be located outside the Records Room. As far as possible, the Records Room should be made fire resistant. In big Records room, the storage space should be divided into separate fire resistant compartments. 6.2.2 Additional automatic dampers should be installed in the centrally air-conditioned areas so that ducts could be immediately closed in case of fire, thereby preventing the spread of fire to other compartments. It is advisable to provide emergency exits, besides the main entry door to the Records Room should be fitted with a fire detection alarm system to detect any fire in the storage area. Use of naked light, heaters and smoking in the room should be prohibited. As a preventive measure against accidental fires, all light and power circuits should be switched off after office hours. Watch and ward staff provided for this area may use torches, if necessary. 6.2.3 For combating fires, adequate equipment of carbon dioxide (CO2) type should be provided at suitable places in the Records Room for easy accessibility. Besides, water pipes and hoses should be installed at convenient points to fight any major conflagration. 6.3 Protection from insects and pests: 6.3.1 It is important to have a humid free environment in the Records Rooms as the humidity allows insects and pests to enter the room and gradually destroy the records in due course of time. The following measures should be taken for protection of Records Room:- a) Naphthalene Balls in a perforated box should be kept in all the corners of the room/cupboards/racks. b) Pest control treatment should be done once in 6 months. c) Fumigation is another way to control the insects and pests and should be done at the frequency of 3-4 months. d) At the end of the week, DDTs/Baygon Spray should be sprayed on floors, walls & ceilings duly protecting all records/papers from direct contact with such sprays. 6.4 For proper maintenance of records, the following points should be taken care of:- 6.4.1 Staff should keep all the records on shelves, chest of drawers in accordance with a plan. 6.4.2 Staff should check the files/records periodically to ensure they are kept in good order. 7. Retrieving records on demand 7.1 When staff in the creating office request records, these should be retrieved in accordance with agreed procedures. Record room staff should track the movement of records issued to user departments and ensure that records are returned within 15 days of issue of these records. If, the records are not returned within the normal period, a reminder shall be sent to the user department. If records are not returned within 3 days of issue of 1st reminder, the Record Officer shall issue a 2nd reminder. Further, action shall be taken for custody of the records. 7.2 Records may be made available to authorized persons by concerned HoDs of Record Creating Deptt. only (Records Requisition Proforma, Annex IV). Record room staff is responsible for retrieving the correct record, controlling its issue and return, supervising its use in the reference/study area and ensuring its return to the correct location. 7.3 Ideally, records of category A & category B should be issued in photocopy form and not in the original, wherever feasible, to protect originals from loss. 7.4 The records shall be made accessible only on requisition to be furnished by the concerned department and later its acknowledgement of receipt to the concerned Record Officer. A file movement register shall be maintained by the Record Officer. 8. Destruction of Records a) No Public Records shall be destroyed without being recorded and reviewed. In the month of January every year, the Record Officer after checking the records retention Schedule records will prepare a list of files as per Annex V on which action has been completed. This work shall be accomplished in consultation with the record creating department. b) A list of all such public records which are proposed to be destroyed shall be prepared by the Record Officer and retained permanently for future reference. c) Records shall be destroyed either by burning or shredding in the presence of Record Officer. d) These files shall be weeded out after expiry of their retention period. The Record Officer shall weed out the files in consultation with the concerned department. e) If files are to be kept beyond their retention schedule, there shall be sufficient grounds warranting their further retention. In such case, Record Officer may send the proposal of keeping the file beyond retention schedule to Department indicative only on the request of the record creating department. Annex I {Reference: Clause 5.1} Proforma for transferring of files to Record Room Department/Section _______________________ Date __________ Sl. No. File No. Subject Classification 1 2 3 4 Year of destruction 5 Signature: ___________ _____________________ (Name of Officer/SO/PS) _______(HoD) (Record Officer) Annex II {Reference: Clause 4.6 (b)} Record Room Accession Register Date Received Record Room Serial Number Name of Depositing Deptt. File Action Category Number & (add date when Subject completed) Location Year of Destruction Remarks Annex III {Reference: Clause 4.5 (f), Clause 4.6 (b)} File Movement Register File No. ……………………………………… Subject………………………………………………………………………………………..… ……………………………………………………………………………………………….…. ………………………………………………………………………………………………..… Date of issue Issued to Name of requisitioning Officer Name of requisitioning Deptt. Date of return Annex IV {Reference: Clause 7.2} Record Requisition Proforma Date: ………………………. File No……………………… Category under Classification …………………..…………………..……………… Purpose of requisitioning ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… (Requisitioning Officer) Signature HOD (Signature) Record Officer (Signature) (For Record Room Purpose) Remarks HOD Record Officer Annex V {Reference: Clause 8 (a)} List of files due for destruction after completion of retention period Sl. No Name of Deptt. File No. of Record Room 1 2 3 Date of receipt in the Record Room 4 Subject Original File no. 5 6 Date of Comple-tion of Retentio n Period 7 Instruction of Reviewing Authority 8