Process
Seven steps from first call to ongoing work. Archeon represents your firm, and a principal at your firm decides at each one. A first review takes 20 minutes and commits you to nothing.
Our fee is in writing before any buyer sees you.
Nothing leaves your firm until your counsel has read the license. Archeon is paid only when your firm is paid, so you pay nothing upfront.
- 01
Review call
[20 MINUTES]A short call with a principal at your firm. We ask about office staff, years of records, the systems you run and which closed projects have the most complete records. The call costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
- 02
Inventory and rights screen
[WITH YOUR COUNSEL]We list where the records live and sort them into project records, standards, estimating and operations. We check the inventory against your client contracts, AIA B101 instruments of service language, confidentiality clauses and any federal or CUI work. Anything with a restriction or a client claim is set aside.
- 03
Engagement letter
[FEE IN WRITING]Archeon’s fee is a success fee: the same stated percentage of each payment your firm receives from a buyer Archeon introduced, due after your firm is paid. It is in the engagement letter before any buyer sees your firm. Nothing is due upfront. If a buyer ever pays Archeon anything, it is disclosed and credited against your fee.
- 04
Deal room
[BIDS BY A DEADLINE]In the Archeon deal room, vetted buyers see an anonymized one-page summary of your records. Buyers who want more sign an NDA. They then submit bids by a deadline we set with you.
- 05
Compare offers and negotiate
[YOUR DECISION]You compare the offers side by side and choose. Archeon negotiates the terms with the buyer you pick: price, exclusivity, payment timing, liability cap and deletion of the delivered data.
- 06
License signed, payment at closing
[CLOSING]Your counsel reviews the license and it is signed. Payment goes directly from the buyer to your firm at closing. Archeon handles the cleaning: your files pass through a sealed, temporary process that removes identifying details, and your team approves every cleaned file before the buyer receives it. The cleaned files go straight to the buyer. Archeon stores none of them and keeps only a signed record of what was done. Your firm controls what is shared, with whom and when, and you keep ownership and copyright.
- 07
Ongoing: refresh, renewals and new buyers
[AFTER CLOSING]Archeon keeps working for your firm after the first license. It handles each refresh delivery, offers the archive to new buyers, negotiates renewals and price increases, tracks payments and checks that buyers keep to the license, including deletion at the end of a term.
One payment for your archive, optional ongoing payments for new records.
The archive license covers your records through a cutoff date and is paid once. You can add a refresh: new records delivered quarterly, twice a year or yearly for a multi-year term, with a payment each period. Licenses are non-exclusive by default, so the same archive can be licensed to more than one buyer over time. A private evaluation set is a separate option.
We keep working for you after the first license.
Most data buyers deal with a firm once. Archeon represents your firm for as long as your records keep earning.
Every refresh, cleaned and delivered
Each delivery of new records is cleaned, approved by your team and delivered on schedule.
New buyers over time
Licenses are non-exclusive by default, so Archeon can offer the same archive to new buyers as they appear.
Renewals and price increases
Archeon negotiates renewals and price increases when the terms come up.
Payments tracked
Archeon tracks each payment and takes its fee only on what your firm actually receives.
Buyers held to the license
Archeon checks that buyers keep to the license, including deletion at the end of a term.
New kinds of buyers and deals
As the market grows, new kinds of buyers and new kinds of deals come to your firm first.
Who does what.
What you provide
- Time for a 20-minute call with a principal
- A list of the systems your firm uses
- Exports of the record types you choose to include, sent into a cleaning job in the secure seller portal
- Exports from every system involved in a project, because the links between systems are what buyers pay for
- A reviewer on your team to approve every cleaned file before a buyer sees it
- Copies of your standard client contract and any confidentiality terms
- Your counsel’s review of the license
What we handle
- Inventory and sorting of record types
- Rights screen against contracts and exclusions
- Cleaning in a sealed, temporary process: names, addresses, client and project details and metadata removed, title blocks, stamps and seals stripped, referenced drawing details cropped
- A signed record of what was done, which you can download
- Vetted buyer access, NDAs and the bid process in the deal room
- Negotiation of price, exclusivity, payment timing, liability cap and deletion of the delivered data
- Coordination of the license with the buyer’s counsel and yours
It moves at the pace of the rights screen and the bid deadline.
The review call and the inventory move quickly, because they depend on information your firm already has. The rights screen takes longer when client contracts vary from project to project or when your counsel needs to read several forms.
The bidding is sealed and runs in two rounds. Buyers submit first bids by a deadline, and no buyer sees another’s bid or name. Archeon and your firm review the first bids and shortlist the strongest. Shortlisted buyers are invited to a best-and-final round with its own deadline, and you choose from those offers.
The deal room opens once the screen is done and the record set is defined, and bids come in by the deadline we set with you. Closing depends on the buyer’s counsel and yours. We do not promise a date, and we will tell you where each step stands.
Request a data review.
For firms with 20 or more employees. Send your office staff, years of records and systems and we reply by email.
Start with a data review.
You pay nothing upfront, and you keep your copyright.
Request a data review