A Guide to Buying a Filing Cabinet

Why would you buy a filing cabinet?

Do you manage a business, work from home or are you the person responsible for organising the family and household bills and documents? Many of us could probably answer ‘YES’ to at least one of those questions. What do you do with all those bits of paper? Do they get shoved in drawers or cupboards, anywhere you can find a space? Is it a case of “out of sight, out of mind” and “I’ll remember where it is when I need it”? Consequently when an invoice is needed or the car needs taxing do you end up searching through every drawer in the house or office, before that all important documentation turns up? If the answer is “yes”, “maybe” or “sometimes” perhaps the efficient and sensible solution would be to purchase a filing cabinet.

Filing Cabinets from our Featured Retailers

How would a filing cabinet be of benefit?

Is this a possible scenario?

• A client contacts you but the account is dormant; you have had successful dealings with your client previously but cannot remember whether they paid their bills on time or what it was they ordered from you. Your database has been updated and you need to find the clients old paper records and they could be anywhere.

Or

• The car needs taxing; you need to find the insurance and MOT certificates – and quickly before the post office closes.

If you have an organised system of filing records you won’t have a problem. It will not be necessary to turn your work area or cupboards and drawers upside-down; you just put your hand in the filing cabinet section of ‘dormant accounts’ or ‘car’. How much easier is that going to be? You will suffer less stress, save time and have the self satisfied feeling of ‘being organised’ and ‘in charge’.

What do I need to consider?

Filing our important documents efficiently, securely and safely is critical for good organisation and management, whether it is for business or for personal uses. Choosing a filing cabinet can be a tricky process; if your cabinet is too small your documents will overflow, too large and there may not be enough space for the cabinet to be accessed safely or it will look as if your working space is cramped.
There are probably as many filing cabinets on the market as there are reasons to use one. The options then, once you begin to look, may become somewhat overwhelming. This guide will help you to make a decision based on what you want, what you need and just as importantly what you can reasonably afford. Aspects such as space and Health and Safety requirements will also be examined in order for you to make a fully informed judgement about which new filing cabinet to buy.

How do I decide how much to spend?

Quite often it is our monetary budget that is the deciding factor when we buy anything; from our weekly family food bill, to those more permanent items we have to live with for a long time. A filing cabinet is one of those items that you really don’t want to have to replace frequently. Replacing a filing cabinet means the time consuming task of re-organising all those files and documents you already have stored. A new cabinet is probably going to cost more than the original one did and you are likely to have the problem of either disposing of the original or finding enough room for an additional unit. None of us like to waste money and time is quite often even more precious. Prices for filing cabinets and units vary considerably; a small desk top style of unit can be obtained from as little as under £20, some of the more secure filing cabinets retail at over £2,000. Knowing that the price range is £20 – £2000 but bearing the old adage in mind ‘you only get what you pay for’, may help you to begin your search for the most appropriate filing cabinet. It may also be considering whether you will get a more efficient filing storage system by purchasing more than one cabinet. Check out any offers; retailers may present the opportunity of buying multiple units at a discount.

How do I evaluate my filing needs?

So you know that you need to be more organised because your current filing system is just not ‘cutting the mustard’ but how do you decide just what it is you want and need? Perhaps asking these questions will help formulate a definite outline of the exact type of filing cabinet you should purchase:

• How much room is my current documentation using?
• How much more room do I need for future documentation?
• When is it likely that I will reach a peak in terms of documentation produced?
• Why will I reach that peak?
• What turnover do I have in terms of destroying old documents?
• What style of cabinet do I want?
• Where is the filing cabinet going to be located?
• Who is going to use the filing cabinet?

If you can answer those questions you will be well on your way to finding the perfect filing solution and just the right filing cabinet for your office or home work space.

Conventional (Upright) Style filing cabinet

Initially it is probably wise to look at the conventional type of filing cabinet, such as an upright (vertical) storage unit, usually with two to five sliding drawers. This is the type of filing cabinet we normally envisage but there are both advantages and disadvantages to this type of cabinet.

The vertical type of filing cabinet has the advantage of not taking too much wall space in terms of width and the drawers are deep, allowing plenty of document storage space. It is however the depth of the drawers that may pose a disadvantage; when fully extended a cabinet drawer will encroach into your ‘walk’ space. In other words, when measuring how much area you need for your cabinet remember to double the depth from the wall in order for efficient and safe access to your stored files.

Specific measurements of cabinets can be found in the individual cabinet specification guides. The principle of height opposed to width in this style of filing cabinet makes it an ideal unit for permanent storage of files varying in size and including the larger type legal sized documents (approx. 9”x10”x12”). Files are generally stored in your upright cabinet from the front of the drawer to the back, with text and labels facing you (or your filing clerk; if you are lucky enough to have one).

Horizontal (lateral) Style Filing Cabinet

A horizontal or lateral style filing cabinet is wide rather than high. This type of filing cabinet uses more wall space in terms of width but as the (two to five) drawers are not as deep, there is less encroachment into your office ‘walk’ space than with the conventional upright unit.

This type of filing cabinet may be the perfect solution for work areas with less width and could be placed in an area such as a passage or foyer. The lack of height on a two drawer lateral filing cabinet enables many of these types of unit to be stored underneath work desks or counters, an advantage where floor space is at a premium. Tucking a lateral filing cabinet underneath an existing work surface may also cause less disruption to the visual appearance of your office or work area.

A disadvantage to ‘hiding’ your unit may be the ease of accessibility to the contents. It may be advisable to consider the physical effect on you or anyone using the cabinet – especially if it is necessary to bend or twist in order to frequently retrieve documents. These two to five drawer cabinets are capable of storing a large quantity of files, from letter sized documents to the larger types (approx. 9”x10”x12”). Files can be placed either from the front to the back of the drawer, in several rows or from left to right which means the text and labels face the side of the drawer.

Structure and composition of filing cabinets

An item such as a filing cabinet is probably going to get a great deal of use. It is first and foremost a storage facility that facilitates free space where you need it most, for your current project or critical assignment. When opening and closing such things as doors and drawers there may be a tendency to slam or flip; especially when in a hurry.

When deciding which filing cabinet to buy it makes sense to consider how sturdy you need the cabinet to be. Different materials have different properties; steel is strong and will probably remain ‘new’ looking’ after a great deal of frequent use, wood can be more aesthetically pleasing and may be more suitable for a home or small office, where the cabinet may not have as much use. A good quality cabinet will fully protect your documents and it may have a double layer of steel built into the base or sides. But you need to consider just how much ‘protection’ is required and therefore whether the cabinet is structurally strong enough for your needs.

Health and Safety considerations

We live in a world where Health and Safety is an important aspect to consider as there may be legal requirements or standards to adhere to, especially if you have the responsibility of employing people. Filing cabinets need to have drawers that are opened easily and safely and it may be advisable to check to see if the cabinet you want has the safety locking feature included on the drawers. This feature ensures that more than one drawer cannot be opened at a time, reducing the risk of the cabinet becoming top-heavy and tipping over.

Security of contents in filing cabinets

The type of data you are storing will dictate how secure your documents need to be. There are regulations related to how some types of data are stored, which if you run a business you will probably be well aware of. Filing cabinets are available with a variety of locking mechanisms. Locking kits that allow you to change the locks on your cabinet can usually be obtained from retailers. Fire is one way of losing valuable documents totally; if this is of importance to you fire-proof cabinets are available but these will be more expensive than a standard filing cabinet. Fire proof cabinets should have some sort of certification of standard, stating the temperature the cabinet can withstand; this should be stated within the suppliers’ information.

Have you thought about……?

The future – You may only need a two drawer filing cabinet right now but is that going to be the case in 12 months time or even as far ahead as several years? Good management means looking to the future and long term plans usually save money.

Portability – Do you need to move files about from one area to another? There are wheeled units that provide a solution to this problem.
Matching items – Many sets of office furniture can be bought individually allowing you to build on your suite as and when needed.

Summary

There are a number of things to consider before buying and installing your new filing cabinet; size, style, construction, safety and security as well as aesthetics and cost. This buyer’s guide and our reviews of the sites selling filing cabinets will hopefully help you to make a well informed decision and you will have a cabinet that will be serve its purpose for as long as you need it.

Our reviews also include a number of news items, related to filing cabinets, which you may be interested in reading before making your final choice. These news items cover topics such as Health and Safety and information on the type of security needed for certain types of data.

(NB news items may vary periodically)