ITAD documentation
ITAD Chain of Custody: What to Ask Before Equipment Leaves Your Office
Use this practical chain-of-custody checklist to define pickup authorization, serial tracking, exceptions and final records for retired business IT equipment.
Asset Aurality editorial team ·
Name the people allowed to release equipment
Before pickup, nominate the business owner and authorized site contact. Keep retired assets separate from active equipment and label anything that must stay. A signed release should refer to the agreed inventory, not simply “all computers in the room.”
Agree what is counted and when
Ask whether assets are scanned onsite, at a receiving facility or at both stages. Define how loose drives, missing serial numbers and quantity discrepancies will be recorded. Confirm when you receive the pickup manifest and how it will be reconciled with the final report.
Document transfers and exceptions
The project plan should identify the transport and handling responsibilities, any downstream provider and the route for unresolved exceptions. Ask how damaged packaging, failed sanitization and unlisted assets are reported to you. Do not authorize an alternative disposition route by assumption.
Connect custody with sanitization evidence
NIST guidance addresses media sanitization based on information sensitivity and applicable controls. The custody record and sanitization record answer different questions; your scope should define both the movement of assets and the evidence for the approved data-handling outcome. (NIST media sanitization guidance)
Keep a closeout packet
Request the final reconciled inventory, agreed sanitization or destruction records, exceptions and any recycling or value-recovery documentation specified in your contract. Asset Aurality can help scope these deliverables before coordinating an ITAD project across the Tri-State area.