to be considered an official record the document must be

To be considered an official record, a document generally must be complete, final, and created or kept as the authoritative evidence of an action, decision, or transaction.

Core requirements

Most organizations and public agencies treat a document as an official record when it:

• Is created, received, or sanctioned in the course of official business or under law, not for purely personal use.

• Represents the final, authoritative version (not a draft), often including required approvals, signatures, or seals where applicable.

• Is designated or held as the “record copy” or “official record copy” that must be retained under a records retention schedule.

• Is preserved (paper or digital) because it provides evidence of policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities.

Format and medium

The physical format does not matter much:

• Official records can be paper, email, databases, PDFs, images, audio, etc.; what matters is the content and context, not the medium.

• Even informal‑looking items (for example, a note or a short email) can be an official record if they document an official action or decision.

Examples of official records

Common examples that often qualify as official records include:

• Signed contracts, decision memos, and formal correspondence created for official business.

• Reports, data files, and publications that are designated as the authoritative version and kept under a retention policy.

What is not an official record

By contrast, documents usually not treated as official records are:

• Drafts, personal notes, convenience copies, and duplicates kept only for reference when another unit holds the record copy.

• Purely personal materials that are not used to conduct or document official business.

Quick Scoop note

If you are writing about “to be considered an official record the document must be” as a topic (for a blog, news, or forum‑style post), focus on:

• Explaining that “official record” is about authority, finality, and retention, not format.

• Highlighting that each organization’s policy or law (for example, archives acts or records laws) defines the exact criteria and should always be checked for precise compliance.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.