Plans for the future: is your archive ready for a repeat client, a lawsuit, or posterity? - practice

Residential Architect, May, 2003 by Cheryl Weber

elliOtt Elliott Norelius Architecture, founded in 1994, exemplifies the technological trajectory of many small firms. During the first eight years, architects Matt and Libby Elliott, Blue Hill, Me., focused on getting the business up and running while continuing to hand-draft their designs. Last year, though, they made the leap to computer-generated drawings. One reason for the change was to attract and keep the firm's electronically savvy younger members. Another was to deal with the daunting scene in the barn--a growing stack of drawings and hard-copy project files stored in Rubbermaid containers.

"We'll start archiving our drawings on CD-ROM now," says principal Bruce Norelius. "At some point around the five-year mark it reaches a critical mass where it's difficult to find an old drawing if we need to."

The importance of proper archiving became painfully clear after 9/11, when many of the architectural firms in lower Manhattan lost their files. There's also the possibility of natural catastrophes such as fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods wiping out a career's worth of records. "There's probably not enough thinking about this," says Jonathan Cohen, AIA, principal of Jonathan Cohen and Associates, Berkeley, Calif., and chair of the AIA committee on technology and architectural practice. "Reconstructing documents is expensive and requires a tremendous amount of labor, if it can be done at all."

the last word

Cohen recommends a methodical, three-part approach to archiving for posterity. The most basic issue to consider is whether the type of media you're using will be around in 20 years. While there are legal guidelines for maintaining records (see sidebar, page 29), ideally files should last as long as the building. According to Cohen, CD-ROMs are the electronic media of choice, since magnetic media loses its data in less than 10 years. And CDs let you store a lot of data in a small physical space. "Most architects have the capability of burning CD-ROMs, and we know they will last 50 years" Cohen says. Despite their virtues, of course, computers can never fully replace paper. Everyone is reluctant to part with their rolled prints, for one good reason: They last forever.

Another consideration is the type of files you're using. Ten to 20 years from now, will you have the software to open the files? Typically, if you stick with one application, you can open an older version on an upgraded one. Even so, rather than saving files only in their native CAD format, Cohen suggests also saving them as a generic file type, such as Adobe PDF, that can at least be printed.

The third issue to resolve is where to physically put the records for permanent safekeeping. CD-ROMs are so inexpensive to make that you should keep copies in more than one location, such as a bank vault, a fireproof off-site storage facility, the office, or your home. "Redundancy in all three of these categories is really important," Cohen says. An Excel spreadsheet or an Access database--backed up, of course--can be used to catalog the archives' contents and whereabouts.

The Internet is yet another modern-day--and cheap--archiving option. If you have a Web site, your service provider probably allows as much as 300 megabytes of storage space on one of its servers, and you can purchase additional space for a small fee. "Internet storage has the advantage of being accessible from anywhere" Cohen says. "Web hosting companies have very secure facilities, and they back up their servers every night, though I wouldn't rely on that as the only backup."

hanging files

The advent of digital technology and the Internet has brought architects a long way from the days of dusty drawings in the basement. Not only do these technologies provide long-term solutions for safe storage, they grant the gift of greater accessibility. Many firms use the Internet as a kind of purgatory for files, a secure stopover on the way to their final destination. And that introduces a new set of challenges--managing the files. "Our biggest frustration is just getting people to identify the files for archiving," says Jill Rothenberg, associate AIA, of Cambridge, Mass.-based ADD Inc. When a job closes out at the firm, the project manager separates the as-built CAD files from the rest of the project files, puts them in a file folder, and copies that folder to a network file server dedicated for archiving, where it remains easily accessible. "We take the whole archive folder--which contains all the project documents--and burn that to a CD, but we found that over time, when a project comes back to life its' only the CAD files people want," Rothenberg says. "Only in litigation do we need the entire contents of the folder."

In 1997, the Spector Group, with offices in Manhattan and on Long Island, N.Y., began storing its archival documents on CD-ROM, and in 2000 began keeping "soft backups" on the Web for a three-year period, via an FTP site. "For three years after a project is finished, we tend to stay heavily involved with the clients," says principal Marc Spector, AIA. "There are often minor changes in furniture layouts, lighting, and the interior design scheme." With the FTP site, which is server space purchased from an Internet provider, the plans can be pulled up and modified quickly. Last year, the 55-member firm rescued several hundred projects from potential oblivion. It scanned construction documents dating back to the late 1970s and transferred the files to CD-ROMs, which now reside in a fireproof safe.