(b) Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to an award shall be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report. The only exceptions are the following:

1. (1) If any litigation, claim, or audit is started before the expiration of the 3-year period, the records shall be retained until all litigation, claims or audit findings involving the records have been resolved and final action taken.
2. (2) Records for real property and equipment acquired with Federal funds shall be retained for 3 years after final disposition.
3. (3) When records are transferred to or maintained by the DoD Component that made the award, the 3-year retention requirement is not applicable to the recipient.
4. (4) Indirect cost rate proposals, cost allocations plans, and related records, for which retention requirements are specified in § 34.42(g).

(g) Indirect cost proposals, cost allocation plans, and other cost accounting documents (such as documents related to computer usage chargeback rates), along with their supporting records, shall be retained for a 3-year period, as follows:

1. (1) If a recipient is required to submit an indirect-cost proposal, cost allocation plan, or other computation to the cognizant Federal agency, for purposes of negotiating an indirect cost rate or other rates, the 3-year retention period starts on the date of the submission. This retention requirement also applies to subrecipients submitting similar documents for negotiation to the recipient.
2. (2) If the recipient or the subrecipient is not required to submit the documents or supporting records for negotiating an indirect cost rate or other rates, the 3-year retention period for the documents and records starts at the end of the fiscal year (or other accounting period) covered by the proposal, plan, or other computation.