Retention Period
The length of time a records series must be kept before disposition, set by legal, fiscal, and operational requirements and measured from a defined trigger event.
A retention period is how long a records series must be kept before it is eligible for disposition. It is the core output of appraisal and the heart of every line in a retention schedule.
A retention period has two parts that matter equally: the length (e.g., 7 years) and the trigger — the event from which it is measured (e.g., “7 years after the end of the fiscal year,” or “after case closure”). The same length yields different destruction dates depending on the trigger and cutoff. Periods are grounded in legal/regulatory, fiscal, and operational requirements, with the highest applicable requirement usually controlling. Keeping records exactly as long as the retention period requires — no more, no less — is what balances compliance against cost and risk.