Due to the great demand for National Register nominations, the small HPO staff is unable to prepare nominations as a public service. An owner of a Study List property who seeks to have it listed in the National Register may hire a private consultant to prepare the nomination. A list of qualified consultants is available from the State Historic Preservation Office. HPO staff cannot quote fees, and fees will vary depending on the consultant and the complexity of the nomination. An owner may expect to pay a professional historian, architectural historian, or archaeologist the equivalent of 40 to 80 hours of time at a professional hourly wage.
Some owners are interested in preparing their own nominations and are capable of doing so.
The level of description, historical documentation, analysis, and writing in every nomination must meet accepted professional standards. The SHPO will not submit substandard nominations to Washington, and HPO staff cannot make major revisions or provide detailed critiques of inadequate nominations. Because documentation of archaeological properties always involves excavation, analysis, and interpretation requiring specialized training, nominations of archaeological properties are always prepared by professional archaeologists. The nomination is reviewed by members of the National Register Advisory Committee at one of the regular meetings. If the NRAC recommends that the nomination be submitted to the National Register, it is signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer and forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register.