Reconstruction Standards for Historic Buildings

In Reconstruction Standards for Historic Buildings , you'll learn ...

• What is reconstruction relative to restoration and rehabilitation
• How to execute the research and documentation phase of a reconstruction project
• What historic information or material is needed to justify a reconstruction project
• When conjectural design or features from other buildings should be used

Overview

Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.

Credit: 1 CPD

Length: 15 pages

Reconstruction is defined as the act or process of depicting, by means of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific period of time and in its historic location.

Whereas restoration involves restoring—or re-creating—building features, reconstruction addresses those aspects of treatment necessary to re- create an entire non-surviving building with new material. Much like restoration, the goal is to make the building appear as it did at a particular—and most significant—time in its history. The difference is, in reconstruction, there is far less extant historic material prior to treatment and, in some cases, nothing visible.

This course is based on the requirements of 36 CFR Part 68 covering the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for establishing professional standards and providing advice on the preservation and protection of all cultural resources listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Standards are intended to be applied to a wide variety of resource types, including buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts. They address four treatments: Preservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration, and Reconstruction.

Note that the Standards are only regulatory for projects receiving federal grant-in-aid funds; otherwise, they are intended only as general guidance for work on any historic building.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply research and documentation guidelines to a proposed historic building reconstruction.
• Evaluate reconstruction practices for building exteriors, interiors, and mechanical systems against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards.
• Analyze how a building's site, setting, district, and neighborhood affect reconstruction decisions.
• Incorporate appropriate energy-efficient measures into a reconstruction design while preserving historic character.
• Assess a reconstruction proposal for accessibility, health, and safety considerations.

Certificate of Completion

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 15 questions. CPD credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.