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Secretary of the Interior’s Treatment Guidelines Updated and Reissued

By Matthew S. Chalifoux FAIA posted 07-26-2017 02:56 PM

  

The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings are an important part of the framework of the national preservation program, used at the federal, state, and local levels to guide work on historic buildings.


For this revised edition, the Guidelines have been updated to ensure that they continue to reflect best practices in historic preservation, apply to 20th-century building types, materials, and systems now considered historic, and incorporate modern methods and technologies. The Standards themselves have not been changed. Since this publication was last issued in 1995, a broader range of buildings and building types has been recognized as “historic” and eligible for listing the National Register of Historic Places.


The Guidelines have the same organization as the prior version, beginning with an introduction and a historical overview, followed by chapters that focus on each of the four treatments. In each of the four chapters, the “Recommended” and “Not Recommended” treatments have been updated and revised to ensure that they continue to promote the best practices in preservation. Some key updates include:

  • The section on exterior additions to historic buildings in the Rehabilitation Guidelines has been broadened to address related new construction on a building site.
  • A section on code-required work is now included in all the chapters.
  • “Energy Efficiency” has been eliminated, since it is more fully covered by the guidance provided on sustainability in The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Illustrated Guidelines on Sustainability for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings, issued in 2011, which has general applicability to all the treatments.
  • Sections on “Resilience to Natural Hazards” have also been added.

The publication is available in PDF format and for purchase from the Government Printing Office. More information regarding the updated guidelines and a link to the full PDF file of the new edition can be found here.

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