In such a case, the storage provider undertakes the physical care of the record on behalf of the custodian. The custodian, however, retains full responsibility for the record and is accountable for meeting the five core responsibilities outlined in custody policy . A custodian may, for instance, outsource the storage of a record to a commercial storage provider. It is up to the custodian, however, to produce a record if lawfully requested or to account for the service provider s management of the storage process. Custodians must evaluate the competence of a potential storage provider before entering into any storage agreement.
Storage decisions are at the discretion of the custodian.
Custodians may decide to undertake their own storage management program or they may decide to contract out their storage needs. During 2000 the National Archives will work towards publishing a Records Storage Standard that will help Commonwealth custodians manage their storage needs and evaluate potential storage providers. In the meantime, we commend BG 240 to all agencies. BG 240 is a common use arrangement for record storage services managed by the Competitive Tendering and Contracting Branch of the Department of Finance and Administration. For more information, see Storage .