Program Standards for Rehabilitation

Each project is evaluated based upon the Program’s Standards for Rehabilitation outlined in the Program’s state statutes: 

1.  A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment. 
2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided. 
3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.
4. Changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved. 
5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved. 
6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities, and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence. 
7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. 
8. Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken. 
9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment. 
10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.