DoD 5015.2-STD (5015.2)
The longstanding U.S. Department of Defense standard defining functional requirements for records management software. Once the de facto federal baseline; NARA revoked its endorsement in 2022 in favor of the Universal ERM Requirements.
DoD 5015.2-STD, the “Electronic Records Management Software Applications Design Criteria Standard,” defines the functional requirements that records management software must meet — how it declares, classifies, retains, and disposes of records, controls access, and produces audit trails. Products are formally tested and certified against it by the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC).
For years it was the de facto baseline for records management software across the U.S. government: the DoD is a huge buyer, and the National Archives long recognized 5015.2 certification as evidence that a system met federal recordkeeping requirements, leading civilian agencies to require it too.
Current status: In NARA Bulletin 2022-01, the National Archives revoked its endorsement of DoD 5015.02-STD — citing the standard’s pending revision and the launch of FERMI — and moved to its own Universal ERM Requirements as the federal reference. DoD 5015.2 still exists and many products remain certified against it (a recognized credential), but it is no longer NARA’s endorsed federal baseline. It is product-focused, complementing the principles-based ISO 15489 and the digital-environment requirements of ISO 16175.