It covers both pre-european Maori and historic sites. It is not restricted to sites which meet the definition of sites protected under New Zealand heritage legislation. It includes sites which have been destroyed since they were first recorded. The scheme is based on paper records. Primary information is the location and nature of the site.
All sites have a central point grid reference.
The country is divided into a number of filing districts with boundaries based on NZMS 260 map sheets. Files for each of those district are kept at a single location for that district by a filekeeper appointed by the Association. Unique site numbers are allocated to sites by the filekeepers. A duplicate central file is kept in Wellington by the central filekeeper as a security against loss of the regional files. Filekeepers are often amateur archaeologists, but in the districts with more intense activity the role is often filled by a professional archaeologist.