Overview

RKive provides a permanent, searchable archive of your RDrive project information, helping organisations preserve the complete project record beyond project completion and handover.

During delivery, projects can generate thousands of records, including inspections, Forms, approvals, issues, photographs, drawings and supporting evidence. While this information is actively used throughout the project, it can remain important long after the work has been completed.

RKive allows this information to be archived from RDrive and retained within a structured environment that can continue to be accessed without maintaining an ongoing RDrive project licence.

Rather than simply creating a collection of documents, RKive preserves the structure and context behind the project information, helping create a lasting digital record of how the project was delivered.

What is RKive? 

RKive is RDrive's solution for long-term project data retention and digital handover.

At the end of a project, authorised users can create an archive containing the information recorded within RDrive and save that archive to an agreed storage location.

Once created, the archive can be retained independently of the live RDrive project.

This provides organisations with continued access to important project information for future reference, asset management, compliance, investigation or operational requirements.

At its simplest, the journey is:

Project Delivery → Project Records → RKive → Permanent Project Archive

More than a document archive

Project information is more useful when the context behind it is retained.

A traditional project archive may contain thousands of PDFs, photographs and documents organised into folders. Although the information exists, finding the evidence behind a particular activity, inspection or location can become difficult.

RKive is designed to preserve more of the structure behind the original RDrive project.

Depending on the information included within the archive, users can continue to:

• Search project records
• Review Forms and inspections
• Access issues and supporting evidence
• View photographs and attachments
• Browse information in structured lists
• Navigate information using project drawings
• Understand where records were captured
• Review the evidence associated with completed work

This helps preserve not only the project documents, but the context surrounding them.

What can RKive be used for?

RKive can support a range of post-project and information-retention requirements.

Digital handover

Create a structured archive that can form part of the project handover information provided to clients, asset owners or other stakeholders.

Long-term record keeping

Retain access to important project information after the active delivery phase has ended.

This may include quality records, inspections, approvals, photographs and supporting evidence that could be required years after completion.

Golden Thread

RKive can help preserve the evidence captured throughout project delivery as part of the wider RDrive Golden Thread.

Rather than attempting to recreate the project record at handover, information captured throughout delivery can remain connected to the work it relates to.

This can help demonstrate:

• What work was carried out
• Where it was carried out
• When inspections or checks took place
• Who recorded or verified information
• What evidence was captured
• What approvals or outcomes were recorded

Asset and facilities management

Historical project information may continue to be valuable to the teams responsible for operating and maintaining an asset.

RKive provides a way to retain that information beyond construction or delivery so that it can be referenced when required.

Investigation and historical reference

Where questions arise after project completion, archived information can provide access to the original project records and supporting evidence without requiring the live project to remain active.

How does RKive work?

RKive connects to your RDrive environment and allows you to select the project information you want to preserve.

When creating an archive, you can choose the project and configure what information should be included.

Depending on your requirements, this can include drawings, project records, generated PDFs, attachments and linked information.

You can also define how the archive should be organised.

For example, information could be structured around:

• Drawings
• Locations
• Categories
• Profiles

RKive then processes the selected project information, generates the required files and builds the archive structure.

Once complete, the archive can be stored in your chosen location and accessed independently as a permanent project record.

Search and explore your archived project

Creating an archive doesn't mean losing the ability to find information.

RKive allows users to continue exploring the structured information contained within the archive rather than relying solely on navigating folders and individual documents.

This makes it easier to locate relevant inspections, Forms, issues and evidence when information needs to be reviewed after project completion.

Where project information was associated with drawings, this context can also be retained, helping users understand where work or records relate to within the project.

Your data beyond the RDrive licence

One of the key purposes of RKive is to provide continued access to project information after the live RDrive project is no longer required.

Once an RKive archive has been created, the archived project can be retained without requiring an ongoing RDrive project licence simply to access the historical information.

The archive can therefore become part of your organisation's long-term project record and be stored within your own chosen storage environment.

RKive and the RDrive Golden Thread

Throughout project delivery, RDrive can capture information about the work taking place — from inspections and Forms to issues, approvals, photographs and other supporting evidence.

RKive provides the final stage of that information journey by preserving the structured project history beyond completion.

Capture → Verify → Understand → Handover → Preserve

This helps create continuity between the information used to manage the project during delivery and the information retained as the permanent record afterwards.

The result is not simply an archive of project documents, but a more accessible record of how the project was delivered.

Why use RKive?

RKive provides organisations with a practical way to retain the value of the information captured throughout project delivery.

It can help teams:

• Preserve project information beyond completion
• Maintain access without keeping the live RDrive project active
• Create a structured digital handover
• Retain inspections, Forms, issues, photographs and supporting evidence
• Preserve the relationship between records and project drawings
• Search historical project information
• Support Golden Thread and information-retention requirements
• Provide future asset and operational teams with access to delivery records
• Reduce reliance on disconnected folders of exported documents

Ultimately, RKive helps ensure that the project information created during delivery remains useful long after the project itself has finished.

Next Steps

Ready to create your first project archive?

Learn more about RKive
Explore the RDrive RKive product page to learn more about the product and its capabilities.

Ready to create your first archive?
Follow our How to Download and Install RKive guide for instructions on connecting RKive to RDrive and creating your archive.

It also covers what to expect while an archive is being generated, how to pause or resume an archive and common troubleshooting questions.

FAQs & Troubleshooting

Q: Where is my RKive archive stored? 
A: The archive is saved to the storage location selected when RKive is configured. This allows your organisation to retain and manage the archived project information within its chosen storage environment. 

Q: What information can be included in an RKive archive? 
A: RKive can preserve project information recorded within RDrive, including Forms, issues, drawings, photographs, attachments and supporting project records. The information available will depend on the project and archive configuration.

Q: Where is my RKive archive stored? 
A: The archive is saved to the storage location selected when RKive is configured. This allows your organisation to retain and manage the archived project information within its chosen storage environment. 

Q: What information can be included in an RKive archive? 
A: RKive can preserve project information recorded within RDrive, including Forms, issues, drawings, photographs, attachments and supporting project records. The information available will depend on the project and archive configuration.

Q: Do I need access to an active RDrive project to create an RKive archive? 
A: Yes. RKive connects to RDrive to retrieve the project information, so the project and required access must be available when the archive is created. 

Q: Do I need an active RDrive project licence after the RKive archive has been created? 
A: No. Once the project data has been successfully archived using RKive, the archive can be retained and accessed independently. You do not need to keep the RDrive project licence active simply to access the information already contained within the archive. 

Q: Can I search information after the project has been archived? 
A: Yes. RKive is designed to retain the structured nature of your project information, allowing users to search and explore archived records rather than relying only on individual files and folders. 

Q: Can I still navigate project information using drawings? 
A: Where records have been associated with project drawings, RKive can retain this context, allowing archived information to be reviewed in relation to where it was recorded. 

Q: Can RKive be used for project handover? 
A: Yes. RKive connects to RDrive to retrieve the project information, so the project and required access must be available when the archive is created. 

Q: Can RKive support Golden Thread requirements? 
A: RKive can support an organisation's Golden Thread approach by preserving the project information and evidence captured throughout delivery for future reference. The specific information that must be retained will depend on your organisation's project, contractual and regulatory requirements. 

Q: Does archiving a project remove or change the information in RDrive? 
A: No. Creating an RKive archive creates a retained copy of the selected project information. It does not edit or remove the original information held within RDrive. 

Q: If information changes in RDrive, will my existing RKive archive update automatically? 
A: No. An RKive archive represents the project information captured when that archive was created. If the live project changes afterwards, a new or updated archive may be required to capture those changes. 

Q: How long can an RKive archive be retained?
A: The archive can be retained in accordance with your organisation's own information-retention requirements and the storage environment in which it is held.

Q: What happens if I need project information several years after completion?
A: Provided the RKive archive has been retained and remains accessible within your organisation's storage environment, the archived project information can be reviewed without needing to reactivate the original RDrive project.

Q: Can I create more than one archive of the same project?
A: Yes. This can be useful where archives need to be created at different stages of a project or where an updated final archive is required following further project activity.