Version archive

Explained

A version archive stores each version of a document unchanged, together with the period in which it applied. For safety data sheets the need follows from Article 36 REACH: all information required under REACH is kept for at least ten years after the last manufacture, import, supply or use, superseded versions included. For declarations of performance on a website, Delegated Regulation (EU) No 157/2014 requires unchanged content and free access for ten years after the construction product is placed on the market. A new version is therefore a new file, and the old one moves to the archive. Keep the archive independent of the website, so that a relaunch deletes nothing. Each act starts its period differently: REACH from the last supply or use, the declaration from placing on the market.