You have completed a project for a client at his facility. The project has lasted for 18 months and you have generated many reports, plans, change request forms, and other documents about the project

Giving documentation to the client transfers potentially proprietary organizational knowledge and fails to preserve records for the performing organization's future use.

Destroying the documentation eliminates valuable lessons learned and historical data that could benefit future projects within the organization.

At project closure, all project documentation - reports, plans, change requests, and correspondence - must be archived as organizational process assets (OPAs). These historical records provide lessons learned, reusable templates, and performance benchmarks that improve future project outcomes across the organization.

Leaving documentation for the client to decide its fate does not fulfill the project manager's responsibility to formally close the project and archive records properly.