Construction

UAV-GC files after handover: keep or destroy?

11 February 2026 · 7 min read · DeSnipperaar

A construction project is not over once it is handed over. Warranty periods then only start to run, the maintenance phase begins and any disputes about variations or defects can surface years later. Yet the construction file does not grow indefinitely. At some point the paper archive (and its digital backup) has to go. This article lines up the retention periods and destruction moments for UAV-GC 2005 projects and comparable construction contracts.

Target audience: project administrators, work preparators and in-house counsel at main and sub-contractors.

The handover file: what is inside?

A UAV-GC handover file is typically a collection of contractual documents, drawings, correspondence and execution records. The bulk consists of:

• Contract of works, basic and request specifications, annexes.
• Variation statements, agreed instalment statements.
• Revision drawings (as-built), calculations, certificates of materials used.
• Inspection and audit reports from the execution phase.
• Handover minutes, list of remaining items and their resolution.
• Correspondence with client, advisors and sub-contractors.
• Time records and internal project file.

Part of this is fiscally relevant, part legally and part purely operational. The retention period follows the heaviest requirement per document.

Warranty periods: 5 years, 10 years, sometimes longer

UAV-GC 2005 contains a maintenance period and a liability period for defects. The usual frameworks:

• Maintenance period: typically 6 or 12 months after handover, set by contract.
• Liability for defects: after the maintenance period the contractor remains liable for attributable serious defects. Art. 7:761 BW provides a specific limitation for hidden defects, with an ultimate term of 20 years when there is danger to persons or things.
• Hidden defects in general: in practice 10 years is often used for hidden defects outside a direct danger setting.
• Residential construction (Wkb): since the Quality Assurance for Building Act, an additional documentation duty applies (file for the competent authority, consumer file).

Concretely: construction files may only go once the liability clock has run out, plus possibly the fiscal seven-year term for the administrative part.

Tax retention: 7 years as the floor

For the administrative part of the file (instalment statements, invoicing, time records, VAT documents) art. 52 AWR applies with a seven-year retention. For real-estate-related VAT documents, sometimes nine years (adjustment period). See our article Tax retention period 7 years for the details.

In practice, it is rarely the invoices that need to be retained longest, but the technical execution documents. The fiscal term often runs out earlier than the liability term.

When can the construction archive go?

A workable rule of thumb for UAV-GC files of closed projects:

1. Wait until the maintenance and warranty periods have expired.
2. Check whether the 10-year period for hidden defects has expired (or longer if there is personal risk).
3. Check whether the fiscal 7-year period for the administrative part has finished.
4. Confirm that there are no pending claims, disputes or procedures.
5. If all these checks are green: the file can go.

For many construction firms that means an archive round of projects handed over 10 to 12 years ago. Administrative archive boxes are often set apart earlier, as soon as the fiscal term is past and there is no longer a technical link needed.

What should not go in the paper bin?

• Personnel-related execution documents (attendance lists, toolbox forms with names).
• Confidential construction drawings (security, access, vaults, camera layout).
• Client contracts with financial or legal sensitivity.
• RI&Es and inspection reports describing installations.
• Backup media (old HDDs, USBs, laptops) from project offices.

The direct route to the paper container or the general waste stream brings unnecessary GDPR and corporate risk. For an overview of risks at office relocations, see Office relocation: what to destroy?.

Practice: destruction on-site

For construction firms with their own site in Amsterdam-Noord or nearby, on-site destruction is the practical route. The boxes from the company archive do not need to be transported to a central facility; the shredder comes to the car park. DIN 66399 P-5 for paper and drawings, H-4 or E-4 for media.

Benefit for construction administrations: an archive room is often at the edge of the site or on the ground floor near the project offices. Bringing in a shredder truck is usually easier to schedule than at inner-city law firms or accountants.

Certificate as the closure of the project file

A certificate of destruction is the closing piece of the file. It proves that the retention period has expired and that the archive has been cleared. Archive the certificate in the central quality system of the construction firm, with project number and destruction date. That way traceability remains even after destruction.

More information on our service for the construction sector is on the construction firms industry page.

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Summary: UAV-GC files may only go once both the warranty periods and the tax term have expired. In practice that is 10 years or more after handover. On-site destruction combines GDPR storage limitation, corporate confidentiality and practical feasibility in a single session.