Although we are quickly moving toward a “paperless” world, there are still many records and documents that must be retained for several years. The traditional answer was archive facilities to manage these documents, but self storage is quickly becoming a reliable, efficient and easy solution for where to store voluminous documents.

In addition to your own personal documents, many professions also require storage of certain documents. These professions include, but are not limited to attorneys, accountants, physicians, financial firms and insurance companies. Some government and legal regulations require storage of document for up to 40 years. This can become unmanageable, very expensive and inefficient.

Self storage allows you access to your documents on your schedule. Also, you can be confident of the location and condition of the documents, as you stored them yourself. With a traditional archive firm, you are charged for access over a stated number of times and the facility also has access to the unit where they are stored.

Of course, if you use a self storage facility you must consider the environment and climate control. If you do not use a facility with an environment appropriate for archiving documents, your important papers could become damaged or destroyed. In addition, some facilities will offer specially made units or shelving, so that the documents are stored for easy retrieval, as well as be best protected from the elements. If you do not have special shelving, it is a good idea to invest in special archiving boxes, which come read to use. Finally, make sure to label all the boxes and keep a back up log of what is in each box. This makes for easy retrieval.

Finally, you can do the removal of the documents yourself, or use a service. In addition, some self storage facilities will offer removal service at an additional cost. If you have a large volume, it might be worth the additional charge to take advantage of this service.