Creative & technical
Backup for architecture firms: keep every design and the archive safe
Mindtime copies your models, drawing sets and project mail from the studio, from laptops and from Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 to immutable storage in its own Dutch and German data centres. An air-gapped copy is kept apart, so one attack cannot reach every copy of your work.
In Dutch, German or English.
- NL · DEStored only in our own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany
- ImmutableObject Lock storage plus an air-gapped copy; every backup job is checked
- ISO 27001 · NEN 7510Audited security, with a data processing agreement in every contract
- NL · DE · ENSupport from people, no offshore call centres or chatbots
In short
Architecture firms need backups kept away from the studio, because drawings, BIM models and project mail are the product they sell and their proof when a client questions the work. Mindtime stores immutable copies of design files, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 and laptops in its own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, with an air-gapped copy.
What's at stake
The data architecture firms can't afford to lose
Design models and drawing sets
From the first sketch design to the construction drawings, an Archicad or Revit model carries every decision the client approved. Rebuilding it from PDFs costs weeks and loses the reasoning behind each choice.
Permit submissions and client briefs
The documents you submitted for a permit, and the brief and budget the client signed off, settle arguments later. If they exist only in one mailbox, they are one deleted account away from gone.
The archive of finished buildings
Clients come back for an extension, a renovation or a dispute, sometimes many years on. An archive of closed projects on one office drive is the easiest thing to lose without anyone noticing.
Rules and obligations
What the rules ask of architecture firms
Summarised from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Architectural designs are protected works
Article 10 of the Dutch Copyright Act (Auteurswet) lists works of architecture, and designs and sketches relating to architecture, among the works it protects. Dated original files are how you show what you designed and when. [1]
Claims lapse five years after the assignment
DNR2025, the general terms BNA and NLingenieurs launched in December 2025 to replace DNR 2011, works with a single expiry period of five years after the assignment ends. Plan your project archive and its backups to stay restorable for at least that period. [2]
Seven years for the business administration
The Belastingdienst requires businesses to keep basic records, including the general ledger, debtors and creditors and the purchase and sales administration, for seven years. Fee invoices and supplier bills for each project are part of that record. [3]
Private clients mean personal data
A design for a private house names the owner and shows where and how they live. If that data becomes unavailable through ransomware, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens treats it as a data breach, with a 72-hour deadline for reporting. [4]
Architecture is not a NIS2 sector
Architecture firms are not among the sectors listed in the Cyberbeveiligingswet, the Dutch NIS2 law. Clients that are listed must secure the relationships with their direct suppliers, so public and corporate clients may still ask how you protect project data. [5]
When it goes wrong
The project architect's account was already gone
Illustrative example: a project architect leaves a small studio, and her Google account is deleted before anyone moves her Drive folders to a colleague. Three weeks later the client of a home extension she ran asks for the construction drawings and the agreed changes, which is past the window in which Google lets an admin restore a deleted user's files. Because Mindtime had backed up her Gmail and Drive to its own data centres, the office restores the project folder and the mail thread with the contractor. The studio now also backs up every account before it is removed.
How Mindtime protects it
Backup for architecture firms, workload by workload
- Google Workspace backupStudios working in Gmail and Drive need a copy that survives deleted accounts and emptied trash.
- Microsoft 365 backupFirms on Outlook and SharePoint keep client correspondence and shared project folders there.
- Laptop and endpoint backupArchitects design on laptops at home, on site and in client meetings, and those files are not always synced.
- NAS backupProject archives and render output often live on a single NAS in the studio.
- Disaster RecoveryPermit deadlines and site meetings carry on when the studio's server is out of action.
The software you use, and what we protect around it
| Archicad (Graphisoft) | Projects are saved locally or shared through BIMcloud, on your own server or hosted by Graphisoft. If BIMcloud or the project files run on your own server or NAS, Mindtime backs up that machine; for hosted BIMcloud, check Graphisoft's retention terms. |
|---|---|
| Autodesk Revit | Central models and drawing sets on a file server, a NAS or in OneDrive are covered by Mindtime's server, NAS and Microsoft 365 backup. |
| BIMcollab | Cloud platform for model checking and issue tracking with consultants. Ask the supplier what it exports and how long it keeps data; Mindtime covers the studio's mail, drawings and laptops. |
| Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive) | Many studios share project folders and client mail in Google. Mindtime backs up Gmail and Drive outside Google's own environment. |
| Synology or QNAP NAS | Often the home of the archive and the render output. Mindtime backs up the NAS to its own off-site data centres. |
Google Workspace
Google Workspace backup for architecture firms
Studios that run on Google keep project folders in Drive, share drawing sets with consultants through Drive links and handle client mail in Gmail. Google's trash and Vault help with mistakes and legal holds, but they are not a separate backup of your work.
- Drive empties its trash automatically after 30 days, and after a user empties the trash an admin has 25 days to recover the items.
- When an account is deleted, Google lets an admin restore that user's Drive files for only 20 days, so a departing architect's projects need their own copy.
- Google's own Vault FAQ says Vault isn't designed to be a backup or archive tool.
- Mindtime backs up Gmail and Drive to its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. Try it free for 7 days.
Before you switch
What architecture firms ask us first
We are a studio of five. Is professional backup worth it?
A small studio usually has no IT person to notice when a backup silently stops. Mindtime checks every backup job and monitors around the clock, and its own support staff answer in Dutch, German or English.
Our BIM model is hosted in the cloud already. What is left to protect?
Quite a lot: mail with the client and contractor, drawings on laptops, the archive on the NAS and files in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Check what the model host keeps and for how long, and let Mindtime cover the rest.
Would our client files be stored outside Europe?
No. Copies go to two places only: Mindtime's own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and in Germany. You get a data processing agreement with your contract, and Mindtime is audited against ISO 27001.
FAQ
Questions about backup for architecture firms
How long should an architecture firm keep its project archive?
Long enough to answer a claim or a returning client. DNR2025 lets claims lapse five years after the assignment ends, while the Belastingdienst wants seven years for your financial administration. Many studios keep drawings longer because clients return for renovations. Decide per document type and set backup retention to match.
Can we restore a model to how it was before last week's changes?
You restore from the backup taken before the change, as long as it is still within your retention period. Mindtime checks every backup job, so you know the copy exists. Restores go back to your own environment, or into an isolated environment if you suspect the original was infected.
What if ransomware hits the studio NAS?
The attacker cannot change Mindtime's copies. Backups are immutable through Object Lock, an air-gapped copy is kept separately and backups are scanned for malware before you restore. Then assess whether personal data of private clients was affected and whether the breach must be reported to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.
Do clients in the public sector ask about our backups?
Increasingly they do. Organisations that fall under the Cyberbeveiligingswet must secure their direct supplier relationships, and backup is part of that picture. You can tell them where the data is stored, that it is immutable and that Mindtime is audited against ISO 27001 and NEN 7510.
How do we try Mindtime?
Start the 7-day free trial for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 backup, or book a free 15-minute demo to talk through the NAS, laptops and servers in your studio. Mindtime has protected business data since 1998, is part of Group22 and answers your questions with its own staff, not a chatbot.
See it with your own data
Book a 15-minute demo
We show you a backup and a restore, and answer your questions in Dutch, German or English. No offshore call centres, no chatbots.