Trades, logistics & industry
Backup for construction and installation companies
Mindtime makes immutable, encrypted copies of your project files, Microsoft 365 mail and site laptops and keeps them in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, with an air-gapped copy held apart. Every backup job is checked, so the dossier a client is owed is still there when it is asked for.
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
Construction and installation companies need backup because drawings, calculations and Wkb delivery files must survive long after a building is handed over. Mindtime backs up the servers, NAS units, Microsoft 365 accounts and laptops that hold them, keeps immutable copies in Dutch and German Tier III data centres and checks every backup job.
What's at stake
The data construction and installation companies can't afford to lose
Drawings and calculations
CAD drawings, installation schemes and structural calculations are the record of what you actually built. Since 2024 they also belong in the dossier your client receives at delivery.
Wkb evidence from the site
Photos, test reports and declarations collected during the build feed both the file for the municipality and the consumer dossier. Once the walls are closed, that evidence cannot be photographed again.
Project administration
Hours, purchase orders, subcontracts and G-account payments sit in your ERP or accounting package and in mailboxes. Without them you are on weak ground in a dispute or a tax audit.
Rules and obligations
What the rules ask of construction and installation companies
Summarised from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Wkb: completion notice with the dossier bevoegd gezag
For buildings in consequence class 1 (gevolgklasse 1), the completion notice (gereedmelding) must reach the municipality at least two weeks before the building is taken into use (article 2.21 Bbl). Part of it is the 'dossier bevoegd gezag': evidence on construction, ventilation, energy performance and fire safety, plus the quality assurer's statement. [1]
Consumer dossier at delivery (article 7:757a BW)
For contracts concluded on or after 1 January 2024, the contractor hands over a dossier with drawings and calculations of the building and its installations, plus information needed for use and maintenance. It applies to private and professional clients, and to renovation work as well as new builds. [2]
Seven years for the books, ten for property data
The Belastingdienst requires you to keep your basic records, such as the general ledger, debtors and creditors, stock and payroll, for seven years. Data on real estate (onroerende zaken) has a ten-year retention period. [4]
Chain liability when you subcontract
Under the chain liability scheme (ketenaansprakelijkheid), a main contractor can be held liable for wage taxes that its subcontractors owe. Paying the wage-tax part into the subcontractor's G-account (g-rekening) is one of the measures that limits that liability, so the payment records behind it matter. [5]
When it goes wrong
Ransomware just before handover
Illustrative example: an installation company keeps its drawings and Wkb site photos on a server in the back office, which copies to a NAS on the same network. Ransomware encrypts both shortly before two handovers. The immutable backups in Mindtime's data centre cannot be altered by the attacker, so the company restores the project folders in an isolated environment, has them scanned for malware and puts them back on clean hardware. The delivery dossiers go out with the original photos and test reports instead of reconstructions.
How Mindtime protects it
Backup for construction and installation companies, workload by workload
- Microsoft 365 backupProject correspondence, OneDrive folders and SharePoint sites with drawings and dossiers live here, and a deletion syncs everywhere.
- Laptop and endpoint backupSite laptops and tablets often hold the only copy of today's photos, measurements and markups.
- NAS backupMany offices keep drawing archives on a Synology or QNAP NAS that shares the building's fire and ransomware risk.
- VMware and Hyper-V backupAn on-premise ERP or file server usually runs as a virtual machine that can be restored as a whole.
- Disaster RecoveryStandby infrastructure keeps planning and project administration running if the office server is lost before a deadline.
The software you use, and what we protect around it
| AutoCAD (Autodesk) | Drawings are stored as files on a workstation, server or NAS. Mindtime backs up whichever of those holds your drawing folders. |
|---|---|
| Syntess Atrium | ERP for installers, available in the cloud and on-premise. If it runs on your own server, Mindtime backs up that server; for the cloud version, check Syntess's export and retention terms. |
| 4PS Construct | Construction ERP delivered from the cloud on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Ask 4PS about export and retention; Mindtime protects the Microsoft 365 mail, OneDrive and SharePoint files and laptops around it. |
| Exact Online (construction edition) | Cloud accounting with a construction edition. Exact holds that data under its own terms; Mindtime covers the mailboxes and shared folders where quotes, contracts and invoices also end up. |
| Site photos and markups | Often taken on phones and tablets before they reach a shared folder. Mindtime backs up laptops and mobile devices and the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace storage they sync to. |
Before you switch
What construction and installation companies ask us first
Our drawings are already in the cloud. Isn't that enough?
Synchronisation is not backup: a deleted or encrypted file syncs too. Mindtime keeps separate, immutable copies of Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, servers and laptops in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, plus an air-gapped copy.
We're a small installer. Is this really for us?
The size of your company does not change what you owe a client at delivery. Mindtime runs the backups, checks every job and monitors them 24/7, so you do not need an IT department of your own.
Who do we call when something goes wrong?
A person. Support is in Dutch, German and English, without offshore call centres or chatbots, from a company that has been doing this since 1998.
FAQ
Questions about backup for construction and installation companies
How long should a construction company keep project files?
There is no single period. The Belastingdienst requires seven years for tax records and ten years for real estate data. The Wkb sources we cite do not set a fixed retention period for delivery dossiers, but those files are your evidence if a defect claim arrives years after delivery. Agree a retention policy per document type with your accountant or lawyer, then make sure your backups cover it.
Does Mindtime back up site laptops and tablets?
Yes. Mindtime backs up Windows, macOS and Linux laptops as well as mobile devices, so site photos, measurement notes and markups are protected before they reach the office. Data is encrypted with AES-256 in transit, and admin actions in the backup console require multi-factor authentication.
Does the Cyberbeveiligingswet (NIS2) apply to construction companies?
Construction is not one of the sectors listed in the Cyberbeveiligingswet, which took effect in the Netherlands on 15 August 2026. Organisations that are in scope must secure their relationships with direct suppliers and service providers, so if you build for one of them, expect questions about how you protect project data.
What happens if ransomware reaches our office server?
Mindtime's backups are stored with Object Lock, so they cannot be changed or deleted from your network, and an air-gapped copy is kept separately. Backups are scanned for malware and restored in an isolated environment first, so you do not bring the infection back. If you cannot wait for new hardware, Mindtime Disaster Recovery provides standby infrastructure.
Can we try it before we commit?
Book a free 15-minute demo to see the console and talk through your setup. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace backup also come with a 7-day free trial, so you can protect your mailboxes and project folders straight away and judge the result before you decide.
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.