Document retention is the key
Every week the media publishes at least one news story about construction defect lawsuits, pending construction defect legislation, or changes in current state laws.
The most weight in deciding a construction lawsuit is given to the credibility of the expert witnesses and documentation of the project. You can’t depend on just one of those elements. Expert witnesses rely heavily on the project documents to form the opinions they offer as testimony.
It then goes without saying that the details of every aspect of your project should be documented from start to finish. Equally important is retaining those documents for a sufficient period of time.
How long is long enough?
Too many companies employ no formal document retention plan. They either rely on “industry standards” (whatever that means) or have a that’s-how-we’ve-always-done-things attitude. Many construction firms only retain documents for seven years before destroying them.
A better way to operate is to adhere to your state’s applicable statute of repose and statute of limitations. Base your company’s document retention plan on the timeframes of these statutes. Obviously, if someone can still file a construction defect lawsuit against your company, you should hang onto the documents needed to defend the case. You can’t predict if you’ll have defect allegations made against you in the future, so better safe than sorry.
Where should documents be stored?
Retaining paper files in not necessary if secure storage space is an issue. Digital imaging and storage services can assist with maintaining documentation safely in the cloud and/or on a protected server.
If storage space is limited, the documents of most importance as evidence will be those pertaining to contract requirements, occurrences during the planning and construction phase(s), and documentation of changes made or problems that occurred from planning to completion.
We invite you to check out our other posts on construction defect issues and our webpage devoted to construction defects. Call us at 800-622-7370 if you have questions or would like a quote.
