Document type

What it should drive#

Four things, and if it drives fewer the model is under-used. Mandatory metadata, because a contract needs different fields from an invoice. The approval path, because different documents need different authority. The retention rule and its trigger. And the permission default, because sensitivity often follows type.

Configuring those per folder instead means reconfiguring them every time the structure changes.

Why it should not be a free-text field#

A controlled list, or people will produce "Contract", "contract", "Contracts" and "Agreement" — four values for one type, splitting every report that groups by it. The list should be short enough that someone choosing from it does not have to think, which usually means between fifteen and forty types for a whole organisation.

Getting it wrong is expensive to fix#

Because retention rules attach through it, a misclassified document is retained under the wrong rule and disposed of at the wrong time. Reclassifying in bulk is possible but requires deciding what the retention consequence of the correction is, which is why the type list is worth designing carefully before content arrives rather than afterwards.

Reviewing the list#

The type list is worth revisiting annually, looking for types with almost no documents filed against them and for types people clearly use as a catch-all. Both are signals that the list has drifted from how the organisation actually works.