What Happens to Sensitive Records During an Office Move?

Boxes are being packed, cabinets are being emptied and old files are being discarded. Someone still needs to control what happens to sensitive information.

Originally published August 2011. Updated October 2026 to reflect current records-management practices.

An office move or renovation can uncover years of accumulated records.

File cabinets are emptied. Storage rooms are cleaned out. Departments decide what they want to take with them. Boxes may be sent to storage while other material is designated for destruction.

That creates a simple owner-side question:

“Who is responsible for deciding what happens to all of this?”

The answer should be established before people start cleaning out the space.

Decide What Stays, What Moves and What Goes

Records should be handled according to the organization’s retention, privacy and information-security requirements.

Before the move, the appropriate internal teams should determine which records:

• Remain active and move to the new location
• Go to approved records storage
• Can be securely destroyed
• Require special handling because of legal, regulatory or business requirements

That decision should come from the people responsible for the records. It should not be left to the mover, demolition contractor or someone cleaning out a file room.

Control the Chain of Custody

Sensitive material can pass through several hands during a relocation.

If records are being moved or sent off-site, determine who packs them, who transports them, where they are going and who is authorized to receive them.

The same discipline applies to material being destroyed.

Locked collection containers and qualified destruction services can help keep sensitive records controlled until destruction occurs. Where appropriate, obtain documentation confirming that the material was destroyed.

Electronic media also needs to be addressed. Old computers, drives and other devices may contain information even when the equipment is no longer being used.

Coordinate their disposition with the organization’s IT and information-security requirements rather than treating them as ordinary surplus equipment.

Don’t Wait Until Move Week

Records disposition can take longer than expected, particularly when departments have accumulated years of material and nobody is certain what can be destroyed.

Start the review early enough for legal, records management, IT, information security or other responsible groups to make those decisions.

Then include the resulting activities in the move plan.

Who owns the records review?

Who provides secure containers?

Who coordinates storage or destruction?

Who confirms completion?

Those responsibilities should be clear before the office begins emptying out.

Leadership Takeaway: An office move can expose years of accumulated sensitive information. Decide what moves, what is stored and what can be destroyed before the cleanout begins, and assign responsibility for controlling it through final disposition.