This guide is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Laws, contract terms and exceptions vary by state, by claim and by contract, so confirm how any of this applies to you with an attorney or CPA licensed where you work.
A commercial MEP contractor should keep project records for at least the construction statute of repose in each state where it works, plus 3 years. Contractor Magazine puts the rule plainly: "project-specific records should be kept three years beyond the expiration of the statute of repose." In most states that works out to about 9 to 13 years, and the clock doesn't always start at substantial completion. Tax, payroll and safety records follow shorter federal clocks.
What is the statute of repose, and why does it set the retention clock?
The statute of repose is the hard deadline after which an owner can no longer sue a contractor for a construction defect, no matter when the defect is discovered. It usually runs from substantial completion, regardless of when a claim is filed. That makes it the longest defect exposure on most closed jobs, so it sets how long project records need to survive. Warranties, indemnity and third-party injury claims can run on different clocks.
The deadline varies by state:
| State | Statute of repose | Runs from |
|---|---|---|
| California | 10 years for latent defects (CCP 337.15) | Substantial completion |
| Texas | 10 years (CPRC 16.008, 16.009) | Substantial completion |
| Florida | 7 years, cut from 10 in April 2023 (Fla. Stat. 95.11(3)(b)) | Earliest of the certificate of occupancy, completion or abandonment |
| Illinois | 10 years (735 ILCS 5/13-214) | Act or omission |
| New York | None for construction | Keep project records longer here |
For every state's period, trigger and extensions, see the construction statute of repose by state.
The 3 extra years cover claims filed on the last day and the time it takes to litigate them. Keeping project records 3 years past repose is a practical rule of thumb, and your attorney may set a longer period for your contracts.
What business records should a contractor keep for 7 years?
Tax records are the main 7-year category. The IRS asks businesses to keep records for 3 years in most cases, 6 years if income was underreported by more than 25%, and 7 years when claiming a loss from a bad debt or worthless securities. Many contractors simplify to 7 years for all tax and accounting records.
| Record | Minimum to keep | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Contracts, change orders, RFIs, submittals, drawings, job cost | Statute of repose plus 3 years | Contractor Magazine |
| Tax returns and supporting records | 7 years | IRS |
| Employment tax records | 4 years after the tax is due or paid | IRS |
| OSHA 300 logs and 301 incident reports | 5 years after the year they cover | 29 CFR 1904.33 |
| Form I-9 | 3 years after hire or 1 year after termination, whichever is later | USCIS |
| Certified payroll on Davis-Bacon jobs | 3 years after all work on the prime contract is done | 29 CFR 5.5 |
| Federal contract records | 3 years after final payment | FAR 4.703 |
What should a construction record retention policy include?
A retention policy tells your office what to keep, where, for how long, and who can destroy it. Without one, records get deleted when a server is retired or a subscription ends. A workable policy for an MEP contractor covers six things:
- An owner. Usually the controller or CFO.
- A schedule by record type. The table above is a starting point; your attorney sets the final periods.
- A system of record for each type. For example, Viewpoint Vista for job cost, Procore for RFIs, the file server for estimates.
- Export rights. Confirm each software agreement lets you export your full history in a usable format.
- A litigation hold procedure. When a claim is likely, the clock stops and nothing on that job is destroyed. The National Society of Professional Engineers notes the duty to preserve documents "can arise long before a lawsuit is filed."
- A destruction log. What was destroyed, when, and on whose approval.
What happens to your project records when you leave Procore or a cloud ERP?
Your access to records in a cloud platform depends on your subscription agreement. Creating the records doesn't guarantee you can get them out. Construction attorneys at McNees Wallace & Nurick note that raw job cost data generally isn't protected by copyright, which leaves contract language as "the strongest protection, particularly in SaaS agreements." In their example, a contractor switched platforms after five years and was told only limited raw entries could be exported, with compiled reports available for an additional fee.
Before you renew or leave any platform, check that the agreement:
- States that you own your data
- Guarantees a complete export in a structured, non-proprietary format
- Restricts the vendor from using your data for unrelated purposes
- Sets a deadline to return or delete your data after termination
What should you do with project records once the retention period ends?
Once the statute of repose plus 3 years has passed and no hold applies, a contractor has three choices: destroy the records, keep archiving them, or put them to work. Destroying them ends storage cost and discovery risk. Archiving keeps your own estimating history. Older job history can also be licensed to AI companies that train software on estimating, change orders and RFIs, while you keep the originals.
How does record retention apply to licensing your project records?
The same archive a contractor keeps for liability is what AI companies pay to license. Buyers value years of estimates, including lost bids, change orders tied to RFIs, and job cost through closeout, all linked by job number. A license covers a copy, so your originals and your retention obligations don't change. Records under a litigation hold should stay out of any license until the hold lifts. Confidentiality clauses, privacy law and information you've promised to keep secret can keep other records out too. Your attorney decides.
Frequently asked questions
How long do contractors keep records?
Most commercial contractors keep project records for the statute of repose in each state they work in, plus 3 years. That's about 9 to 13 years in most states. Tax records are kept at least 7 years, employment tax records 4 years, and OSHA 300 logs 5 years. Federal contract records must be kept at least 3 years after final payment under FAR 4.703.
What is the 7 year retention policy?
A 7-year policy keeps tax and accounting records for 7 years, which covers the longest standard IRS look-back for bad-debt and worthless-securities claims. It's a sound rule for financial records. It's too short for project records, because most construction statutes of repose run 10 years or more.
Does a contractor have to keep records in the original software?
No. Retention rules require records to be preserved and retrievable. They don't have to stay in the system that created them. A complete export in a non-proprietary format, stored with a clear index by job number, generally meets a retention policy. Confirm your export is complete before the subscription ends.
Should we keep estimates for jobs we didn't win?
Lost bids rarely carry liability, so many contractors delete them. They're worth keeping. Lost bids show how your pricing compared with the market, and buyers of construction data value them because they show how a firm prices every job it bids, including the ones it lost.
Can we license project records we're still required to keep?
Yes. A data license covers a copy of the records, so the originals stay in your systems and your retention schedule doesn't change. Records tied to an open claim or litigation hold should stay out of any license until your attorney clears them.
Sources
- Contractor Magazine, "Record Retention 101 for Contractors" (Mar 18, 2020). https://www.contractormag.com/management/best-practices/article/21126514/record-retention-101-for-contractors
- FAR Subpart 4.7, Contractor Records Retention. https://www.acquisition.gov/far/subpart-4.7
- National Society of Professional Engineers, Document Retention Guidelines (2016). https://www.nspe.org
- McNees Wallace & Nurick, "Who owns your construction job cost data?" (May 21, 2026). https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/who-owns-your-construction-job-cost-data-mcneeswallacenurick-wf2he
- IRS, "How long should I keep records?" (updated Jun 30, 2026) and Topic no. 305, Recordkeeping. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/how-long-should-i-keep-records
- OSHA, 29 CFR 1904.33. https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.33
- USCIS, Handbook for Employers M-274, 10.0 Retaining Form I-9. https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/handbook-for-employers-m-274
- 29 CFR 5.5(a)(3). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/5.5
- State statutes: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 337.15; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.008, 16.009; Fla. Stat. 95.11(3)(b) (2023 amendment, per Bilzin Sumberg and Porter Wright); 735 ILCS 5/13-214; New York has none (SDV Fenchurch state survey, Aug 2026).