ISO 15489-1:2016

Overview

ISO 15489-1:2016 - Information and documentation - Records management - Part 1: Concepts and principles provides the foundational concepts and principles for creating, capturing and managing records. The standard applies regardless of structure or form, in all types of business and technological environments, over time, and sets out the rationale for records management programmes, the nature of records and metadata, and the high‑level controls needed to ensure records remain authentic, reliable, usable and integral.

Key topics and technical requirements

ISO 15489-1:2016 covers core records management elements, including:

• Records and metadata - definitions, characteristics of a record, and metadata needed to support authenticity, reliability, integrity and useability.
• Records systems - principles for reliable, comprehensive and systematic records systems and their characteristics.
• Policies and responsibilities - requirements for records management policy, assigned responsibilities, monitoring and training.
• Records processes and controls - capture, registration, classification, indexing, storage, access, tracking, retention and disposition controls.
• Design and implementation - guidance on designing, documenting and implementing records systems, including physical media, distributed management, conversion/migration, and access/retrieval.
• Monitoring, appraisal and audit - recurrent analysis of business context, identification of records requirements, appraisal scope and monitoring to maintain compliance and performance.
• Competence and training - establishing competence, training and documentation practices for consistent records management.

These topics are presented as principles rather than prescriptive technical specifications, so organizations translate them into policies, procedures and technical controls appropriate to their context.

Practical applications - who uses this standard

ISO 15489-1:2016 is a practical reference for organizations and professionals responsible for managing information and records:

• Records managers, archivists and information governance officers implementing or improving a records management programme.
• Legal, compliance and risk teams needing defensible records practices for litigation, audits and regulatory requirements.
• IT architects and service providers developing or procuring records systems, document management or ECM solutions.
• Business unit owners and auditors assessing records capture, retention and disposition controls.
• Consultants and trainers creating policies, metadata schemas, classification schemes and training curriculums.

Typical uses include developing records policies, defining metadata and classification, planning migration and disposition, and integrating records controls into business processes.

Related standards

ISO 15489-1:2016 is typically used alongside national records legislation and other ISO standards that address information security, IT service management and metadata practices (for example, records‑related technical standards and organizational information governance frameworks). For implementation, consult the clean/official edition of the standard and applicable regulatory requirements.

Keywords: ISO 15489-1:2016, records management, records systems, metadata for records, records retention, records capture, information and documentation, records controls.