Corporate Records Management Branch

1.3 The Organization of ARCS

ARCS is divided into six numbered sections covering broad groupings of primary subjects corresponding to major administrative functions and program activities. These groupings are called sections:

Section Number	Primary Numbers	Section Title

Section 1	100 - 499	Administration
Covers a wide variety of general administrative matters, including executive and management activities, legislation, committees and commissions, conferences, meetings, annual and general reports, plans and agreements. It also pertains to administrative subjects not included in other sections, such as library services, public information services, risk management, records management, security and postal services.
Section 2	500 - 699	Buildings and Properties
Covers accommodations, buildings, lands, and facilities management and includes development, acquisition, construction, alterations and repairs, and maintenance. It also covers utilities and fire prevention.
Section 3	700-899	Equipment and Supplies
Covers the requisition, procurement, storage, distribution, maintenance and disposition of equipment, and supplies. It also pertains to asset control and vehicle management.
Section 4	900-1299	Finance
Covers financial functions relating to the receipt, control, and expenditure of public funds. These are: financial management, accounts and accounting, financial planning, estimates and budgets, expenditure, liability, revenue control, financial reporting, and all audits.
Section 5	1300-1999	Human Resource Management
Covers human resource (HR) management functions such as employee supervision, leave and time reporting, job description preparation, job classification requests, staffing and recruitment, employer-employee relations, ministry recognition programs, occupational safety and health activities, and ministry training course development and delivery.
Section 6	6000 - 6999	Information Technology
Covers the management of automated information systems and the administration of computer applications. The functions covered are: computer systems technology standards, telecommunications, information resource management, and the development, acquisition, security and maintenance of applications. This section does not cover the data and information in systems, which are classified with the administrative or operational subject to which they pertain.

Within each section, primaries are presented in numerical order and grouped as follows:

First, there is a section default primary, which provides general information relating to the whole section and to records repeated in other primaries throughout the section ("reserved secondaries" - see 2.6.1).
The section default primary is followed by all the other primaries, arranged in alphabetical order.
Groups of related primaries, called "primary blocks", appear together, indicated by two-part titles and an initial "general" primary. For example, the Security primary block, composed of primaries 460, 462, 465, and 470, begins with "Security - General" and also includes primaries with the titles "Security - Information Technology". "Security - Personnel", and "Security - Physical".

As well as the sections consisting of primaries, ARCS has several other parts:

Table of Contents
How to Use ARCS (this section)
Index (aids in classifying and finding records - see 3.6 for further discussion)
Appendix A (provides guidelines for developing file codes)

In the past, ARCS included a glossary section, providing useful definitions of records management terminology used throughout ARCS and ORCS. Now this glossary has a separate existence as the Recorded Information Management (RIM) Glossary, available on the CRMB website.

Amendments to ARCS are reviewed by CRMB staff, Ministry Records Officers, the Public Documents Committee, and the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts (commonly called the Public Accounts Committee). ARCS amendments are then approved by resolution of the Legislative Assembly. That resolution established ARCS as the retention and disposition schedule for the administrative records of government. This means that ARCS is a legally binding document, i.e., it has statutory authority.

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	Page last updated: January 20, 2009