Scheduling Agency Records with NARA

In the federal government, an agency cannot lawfully destroy its records — or even decide on its own how long to keep them — without authority from the National Archives. Getting that authority is called records scheduling, and it is a mandatory part of every agency’s records program under the Federal Records Act.

What a records schedule is

A federal records schedule identifies an agency’s records and provides mandatory instructions for what to do with them when they are no longer needed for current business — how long to keep each record series and whether it is ultimately destroyed or transferred to NARA as permanent. An approved schedule is the disposition authority: the legal basis for keeping or destroying the records.

Two sources of authority

• The General Records Schedule (GRS): NARA’s government-wide schedules covering records common to most agencies (administrative, financial, HR, IT). Agencies apply the GRS directly.
• Agency-specific schedules: For records unique to an agency’s mission, the agency develops its own schedule and submits it to NARA for approval (historically via Standard Form 115, the Request for Records Disposition Authority).

How scheduling works

1. Inventory and appraise. The agency identifies its record series and works out their value and how long they’re needed.
2. Draft the schedule. Each series gets a proposed retention period and disposition (destroy or transfer as permanent).
3. Submit to NARA. The Archivist reviews and, once satisfied, approves the disposition authority.
4. Apply it. The agency implements the approved schedule — ideally automating retention so records are managed consistently.

Why it’s mandatory

Scheduling is what makes federal disposition defensible and lawful. Destroying federal records without an approved schedule is unauthorized destruction — a violation that can carry serious consequences. Scheduling also ensures permanent records are identified and preserved rather than lost.

Keeping schedules current

Agencies are expected to keep schedules up to date as functions, systems, and record types change, and to apply the current versions of the GRS. Increasingly, scheduling connects to the move toward electronic recordkeeping and NARA’s Universal ERM Requirements. See the federal records management hub for the broader framework.