How to archive contracts digitally?

Short answer

1. 1Log in to 4mycontracts.net and open the Archive module.
2. 2Upload the signed contract (PDF/DOCX) or import it from the workflow.
3. 3Fill in metadata: contract type, parties, expiry date, tags.
4. 4The system generates a unique ID and applies an archiving timestamp.
5. 5Set access permissions and receive secure archiving confirmation.

What the law says

• Romanian Law 135/2007 on electronic archiving — requires valid electronic signatures for stored documents.
• eIDAS Regulation (EU) 910/2014 — grants legal validity to qualified electronic signatures across the EU.
• GDPR (EU) 679/2016 — archive access must be restricted and logged (art. 32).
• Romanian National Archives Law 16/1996 — sets minimum retention periods per document type.
• Civil Code art. 1240 — written contracts may be evidenced by certified electronic copies.

Practical examples

• IT services contract (5-year retention) archived with qualified electronic signature, access restricted to legal team.
• Non-disclosure agreement with external freelancer — archived immediately after signing, with auto-expiry alert (1 year).
• Collective labor agreement — archived with all previous versions retained and full audit access for labor inspectors.
• SaaS supply contract with SLA clauses — archived with tags for automatic renewal at 12 months.

Common mistakes

• Archiving without metadata — the contract becomes untraceable during an audit or dispute.
• No expiry date set — expired contracts remain active in the system without any alert.
• Unrestricted archive access — any employee can view confidential contracts (GDPR risk).
• Archiving the draft version — storing an unsigned draft instead of the legally binding signed document.

How 4mycontracts helps

• Legally valid archiving timestamp — every document receives a certified time-stamp compliant with eIDAS.
• Configurable automatic expiry alerts — notifications sent 30/60/90 days before the contract deadline.
• Granular per-user permissions — access to each contract can be restricted by role (legal, finance, management).
• Full version history — all contract revisions are retained and comparable, with each change attributed to its author.
• Full-text search across the archive — find any contract by party name, clause, or date in under 5 seconds.