The periods that drive retention
| Rule | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Claim on a simple contract | 6 years from when the cause of action accrued | Limitation Act 1980, section 5 |
| Claim on a deed (a specialty) | 12 years from when the cause of action accrued | Limitation Act 1980, section 8 |
| Defective Premises Act 1972, section 1 (dwellings), right of action arising after the Building Safety Act change | 15 years | Building Safety Act 2022, section 135 |
| The same, for a right of action that arose before the change | 30 years | Building Safety Act 2022, section 135 |
| Golden thread for a higher-risk building | Kept digitally by the client, principal designer and principal contractor during the work, then by the accountable persons | GOV.UK golden thread guidance |
These are the outside limits most firms plan around. A contract can also set its own record keeping requirements, so check it.
Minutes and recordings are different
Minutes are a summary of decisions and actions; they are the record a firm needs for as long as a claim could arise. A recording holds far more personal data: every voice, every aside. The UK GDPR's storage limitation principle says personal data should be kept no longer than is necessary for the purpose it was collected for.
A common pattern is:
- Keep the recording until the minutes are agreed and any correction settled.
- Keep the transcript as long as you might need to check what was said.
- Keep the minutes for the full limitation period, and on a higher-risk building pass what the golden thread needs to the people who keep it.
Whatever you choose, write it down in a retention policy and tell people in the meeting notice.
Setting it per project
In Note Metric a project can be set to keep its meetings for 1, 2, 6 or 12 years, or to keep them until you delete them. Once a day, meetings older than the period move to Recently Deleted on all your devices and are deleted 30 days later unless restored. The original audio is separate from the notes and minutes, so you can delete recordings and keep the written record.
Questions
Does the limitation period start at completion?
Not necessarily. It runs from when the cause of action accrued, which depends on the claim. That is why many firms keep project records for a fixed period after practical completion and add a margin.
What about health and safety records?
Some have their own retention rules. Check the specific regulations that apply to the record, and your insurer's requirements.
Should we keep everything forever to be safe?
No. Keeping personal data longer than needed is itself a data protection problem, and a larger archive costs more to search when you need it. Keep the minutes; review the recordings.
Sources
- Limitation Act 1980, section 5: six years for actions founded on simple contract
- Limitation Act 1980, section 8: twelve years for actions on a specialty
- Building Safety Act 2022, section 135: the 15 year and 30 year limitation periods for Defective Premises Act claims
- ICO, Principle (e): Storage limitation: keeping personal data no longer than necessary
- GOV.UK, Keeping information about a higher-risk building: the golden thread: the digital record duty holders must keep
Our summaries of these documents are not their wording: read the source before relying on it. This guide is general information, not legal advice for a particular case. Note Metric and AI Metric Ltd are not affiliated with or endorsed by any body named here.