Document & Records Management
The enterprise content management, records lifecycle, and document repository layer for the entire Civic platform — every module that needs file storage, versioning, or records classification plugs into Document & Records.
Uptime SLA
Search Latency
File Types
Storage per Muni
Purpose-Built for Canadian Municipalities
How It Works
The identity journey, step by step
From first registration to golden record resolution — how a resident's identity evolves across the platform.
Document Upload & Classification
A records clerk uploads a batch of council meeting minutes and classifies them.
How it works
The clerk drags a folder of PDF minutes into the repository. The system auto-detects the file types, runs OCR on any scanned pages, and suggests TOMRMS classification code A02-01 (Council — Agendas/Minutes). The clerk confirms the classification, and a retention schedule of 'Permanent' is automatically applied. The documents appear instantly in full-text search.
Step 1 of 5
Purpose & Scope
What this module owns
Clear ownership boundaries prevent duplication and ensure every capability has exactly one authoritative home.
Owns
14Delegated to
4Form intake (attachments uploaded via forms stored here)
Workflow orchestration for document approval
Notification on document events
GIS data / spatial documents
These capabilities are handled by dedicated modules and consumed via stable API contracts — keeping boundaries clean and ownership unambiguous.
Core Capabilities
What it does
5 capability groups comprising 8 discrete capabilities — each with API surface, business rules, and data ownership.
Drag-and-drop, bulk upload, scan-to-repository, and email-to-repository with S3-compatible object storage backends.
Upload
Drag-and-drop, bulk upload, scan-to-repository, email-to-repository.
Storage
S3-compatible object storage with configurable backends (AWS S3, Azure Blob, MinIO).
Max File Size
Configurable (default 500 MB); chunked upload for large files.
File Types
PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, TXT, HTML, JPG, PNG, TIFF, MP4, MP3, EML, MSG, DWG, DXF, IFC, Shapefile, GeoJSON.
Major/minor version tracking with document locking to prevent concurrent edits — previous versions retained and restorable.
Versioning
Major/minor version tracking; previous versions retained; restore any version.
Check-In / Check-Out
Lock document for editing; prevent concurrent edits.
Folder Structure
Virtual folder hierarchy + metadata-driven views (same document appears in multiple virtual folders).
Preview & Download
In-browser preview for PDF, images, Office documents; direct download with version selection; bulk download as ZIP.
Real-World Scenarios
Who uses this, and how
4 persona-driven scenarios showing how Document & Records Management works in practice — from resident registration to privacy compliance.
Records Manager
Legacy DMS Migration
The municipality is migrating 500,000 documents from a legacy document management system and shared network drives to the Civic platform.
Steps
- 1The Records Manager uses the bulk import tool to ingest documents from the legacy DMS export (CSV manifest + files)
- 2The system maps legacy metadata fields to the Civic document model
- 3AI-assisted auto-classification suggests TOMRMS codes for each document based on folder paths and content
- 4The Records Manager reviews and approves classification suggestions in bulk (90% accuracy)
- 5Batch OCR runs on 50,000 scanned documents, converting them to searchable PDF/A
- 6Retention schedules are auto-applied based on classification codes
- 7Duplicate detection flags 12,000 duplicate files for review and deduplication
Outcome
500,000 documents migrated with TOMRMS classification, retention schedules, and full-text searchability — replacing the legacy system entirely.
View scenario
Building Inspector
Building Permit Document Package
A contractor submits building plans and the inspector needs to review, annotate, and approve drawings stored in the document repository.
Steps
- 1The contractor uploads DWG and PDF building plans via the permits portal (files stored in document-records)
- 2Documents are auto-classified under E04 (Engineering — Building) and linked to the permit case
- 3The building inspector opens the DWG file in the in-browser preview
- 4The inspector adds markup annotations highlighting code compliance issues
- 5Comments are added to the document with references to Ontario Building Code sections
- 6The inspector checks out the review report, adds findings, and checks it back in as version 2.0
Outcome
All building permit documents stored centrally with versioning, annotations, and classification — accessible to inspectors, applicants, and planning staff.
View scenario
Municipal Solicitor
Litigation Legal Hold
The municipality is served with a lawsuit and the solicitor must place all related records on legal hold to prevent destruction.
Steps
- 1The solicitor identifies relevant departments and record classifications related to the litigation
- 2A search across the repository identifies 3,400 responsive records spanning 5 departments
- 3The solicitor places all responsive records on legal hold with a hold reason referencing the court file number
- 4Legal-held records are excluded from automated disposition — even if their retention period has expired
- 5The disposition queue automatically filters out held records and displays a legal hold indicator
- 6When the litigation concludes, the solicitor releases the hold and records re-enter normal retention lifecycle
Outcome
Complete litigation hold across the enterprise — no records destroyed during active litigation, with full audit trail of hold/release actions.
View scenario
Clerk Staff
Incoming Correspondence Management
The Clerk's office receives 50 pieces of mail daily and needs to digitize, classify, and route correspondence to the appropriate departments.
Steps
- 1Mail room staff scans incoming correspondence using scan-to-repository
- 2OCR extracts text from scanned letters and the system suggests classification codes
- 3Staff confirms classification and adds metadata (sender, subject, department, urgency)
- 4The system routes digitized correspondence to the appropriate department via workflow-automation
- 5The department receives a notification and accesses the document in their virtual folder
- 6Outgoing responses are generated using document templates and filed as related correspondence
Outcome
Paper correspondence digitized same-day with full classification, searchability, and automated routing — eliminating manual mail distribution.
View scenario
Internal Architecture
How it's built
4 architectural layers comprising 24 components — from API gateway to data quality engine.
4 layers · 24 total components
Document & Records Management
Every module owns a single bounded context, exposes stable APIs, and can be composed into any Civic product — that's the architecture that scales.
Krutik Parikh
Creator of Civic
Data Model
Entity Architecture
4 entities with 5 relationships — the authoritative schema for this bounded context.
Entities
Select an entity to explore its fields and relationships
API Surface
Integration Endpoints
16 RESTful endpoints across 4 resource groups — plus 7 domain events for async integration.
/api/v1/documents/upload
Upload document(s)
/api/v1/documents/{id}
Get document metadata
/api/v1/documents/{id}/download
Download document file
/api/v1/documents/{id}/preview
Get preview URL
/api/v1/documents/{id}/versions
List all versions
/api/v1/documents/{id}/checkout
Check out for editing
/api/v1/documents/{id}/checkin
Check in new version
/api/v1/documents/search
Full-text + metadata search
Ecosystem
Products that depend on this module
13 Civic products consume Document & Records Management — making it one of the most critical platform services in the ecosystem.
Document & Records
This IS the DRM spec — full ECM platform
View product →
Council & Agenda
Staff reports, bylaws, policies, meeting minutes, agendas
View product →
CRM
Case attachments, correspondence, citizen-uploaded documents
View product →
Licences & Permits
Application documents, plans, drawings, permit certificates
View product →
Planning & Development
Planning reports, site plans, environmental studies, public submissions
View product →
Building Inspection
Building plans (DWG/PDF), inspection reports, occupancy permits
View product →
HR & Payroll
Employee files, resumes, contracts, performance reviews
View product →
Procurement
RFP/RFQ documents, bid submissions, contracts, insurance certificates
View product →
Property Tax
Assessment notices, tax bills, appeal documents, certificates of tax
View product →
Legal / Court
Court documents, evidence, legal opinions, agreements
View product →
Elections
Nomination forms, financial statements, voter lists
View product →
Social Housing
Tenant applications, income verification, lease agreements
View product →
Grant Management
Applications, agreements, reports, financial statements
View product →
Technical Specifications
Performance, Compliance & Configuration
Availability
Upload Latency
Search
OCR
Storage
Versioning
Compliance
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
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