Retention and disposal schedule
Most businesses keep everything forever, in several places, because nobody has ever been given permission to delete anything. That is expensive, it makes every future search slower, and it means holding personal information long after any reason to hold it has passed.
This engagement produces the schedule that makes disposal a routine operation rather than a decision nobody wants to make.
What you get
- An inventory of the document classes the business actually holds
- A retention period against each class, with the basis for it recorded
- A named role responsible for each class
- A disposal method per class, including what must be destroyed rather than archived
- A review trigger, and written instructions for applying the schedule
SNJ Legal does not provide legal advice and does not determine the retention period any law requires of you. Periods are recorded against the basis you or your own external adviser supply; this engagement builds the schedule and the operating structure around them.
Questions
Asked and answered
- Who decides the retention periods?
- You do, usually on advice. This engagement structures the schedule and records the basis for each period so it is auditable later; it does not supply the periods themselves.
- Does this cover personal information?
- It covers the document classes that hold it, and flags them as a distinct category with their own disposal method. What your privacy obligations require is a question for your own external adviser.
- What happens to what we already hold?
- The schedule includes a first-pass disposal list: what is already past its period. Acting on it is your decision and usually wants a second pair of eyes.
Fee
from$2,600fixed after scopingex GST
- Document class inventory
- Retention period, owner and disposal method per class
- First-pass disposal list and written instructions
Background
On this problem
28.07.2026
Retention
30.03.2027
Registers
22.06.2027
Retention
Also available
The other engagements
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One authoritative set of governance documents, versioned, with a register that stays current.
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One library, one current version, a log of every variation you have agreed to.
Employment document systems
Role-based document sets, issued consistently, with a record of what each person holds.