Storing old reports

[MMustola]

I have 13 years worth of old inspection reports that are taking up valuable space. I was thinking of scanning them and storing them electronically. Does anyone else do this? What file format would be best? It would has to be a format that was not dependent on a particular type of software. It would be nice to open them years later if I had to.

How long do other people keep the old reports and contract on file? Do you think keeping a scanned copy of the contract is as good as the original?

[Darren]

Mark,

My approach has been to keep the entire file for 2 years. After that, I go thru the folders and pull out the ageements & WDI and get rid of everything else.

Of course, I have all the reports & pictures already saved on CDs.

Darren

[Bill Kibbel]

Uh Darren,

"Retain copies of all home inspection reports prepared pursuant to ©2 above, for a period of five years upon completion of the report"

We toss everything paper that's over 5 years. I don't know how far back we have on cds.

[Darren]

Bill,

I do keep copies (on CD). The paperwork & hard copies take up so much room, thats why all I keep after 2 years is the folder (name, address & report #), agreement & WDI in storage boxes.

Darren

[Bill Kibbel]

Did you add the last line to your first post with an edit, or am I loosing my eyesight?

[kurt]

I finally threw out a bunch of old reports that date back to the early 80's. I now maintain everything on an array of hard disks; Maxtor OneTouch.

[charlieb]

I use a "Mirra" drive on my network. All data files (on any pc on the network) write to the Mirra drive and the PC's hard drive. For the sake of it I also write to disk quarterly.

The paper file contains booking info, emails and the signed agreement.

[homnspector]

I keep hard copies of the I.A. and back up reports to a secondary hard drive in the desktop. I e-mailed our licencing board about how long I needed to keep the reports. They told me that there was "no time limit" in AZ. B.S. IMO.

Scanning will take you forever and eat up massive amounts of memory. If you have them on your computer, convert them to .pdf and store them on disk (still time consuming).

[Darren]

Bill,

Yeah, that line was always there.....

My wife wants me to get my eyes checked too.

Darren

[Paul MacLean]

I think I can count on electronic storage systems to change, so I keep hard copies of everything for seven years. Everything older goes into the recycle bin.

I have been using a computer for six years, and the last few years reports are on a removable memory stick. I can get a year's reports on one stick. I don't claim to be a computer guru.