SOI Standards for Rehabilitation

The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation (the Standards) are a set of guidelines that when applied to the rehabilitation of historic buildings allow for a new or continued use without impacting the building's characteristics and its ability to listed on the State or National Register of Historic Places.

The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, which includes the rehabilitation standard, were published in the Code of Federal Regulations in 1995.  This publication replaced various iterations dating back to the mid-1970s.  Since 1995, bulletins that help interpret the Standards have been published along with new guidance on incorporating sustainability into historic buildings and adapting buildings for flood events within the Standards framework. For more information on the history of the Standards visit, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/treatment-standards-history.htm.

While the Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties have not changed in nearly 30 years, they do evolve as new building materials, environmental constraints, and energy requirements emerge and impact the way that historic buildings are preserved and reused. To learn more about how the SHPO and National Park Service interpret the Standards, check out the NPS's Interpreting the Standards Bulletins and visit this page for information on planning a successful historic tax credit project using the Standards.