Texas Administrative Code › Title 13 - CULTURAL RESOURCES › Part 2 - TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION › Chapter 26 - PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE › Subchapter D - HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES › Section 26.20 - Application for Historic Buildings and Structures Permits

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Permit application procedure.
(1) Applicant qualification. Only the
				  controlling agency, organization, or political subdivision having
				  administrative control over a publicly owned landmark or the owner of a
				  privately owned landmark (applicant/permittee) may apply for and be issued a
				  Historic Buildings and Structures Permit. It is the responsibility of the
				  applicant to obtain all necessary permissions and signatures prior to
				  submitting a permit application for work on historic buildings, structures, and
				  their sites.
(2) Notification. The
				  commission must be notified of any anticipated, planned, or proposed work to a
				  landmark or the site associated with a landmark. Notification must also be
				  given for work to buildings or structures that have been nominated for
				  designation as landmarks. Such notice should be made early enough to allow
				  adequate time to prepare the formal application as described in paragraph (4)
				  of this subsection. The notification must include a brief written description
				  of the project and at least one photograph of the building or structure or
				  affected portion of that building or structure. If a permit is required for the
				  proposed scope of work, the commission staff will provide the applicant with
				  the permit application form and notify him or her of the necessary attachments
				  or application reports within 30 days of receipt of notification. Historic
				  Buildings and Structures Permits can only be required for work to a designated
				  landmark, or a building or structure treated as a landmark under the interim
				  protection described in §
											RSA 26.8<subdiv>(d)</subdiv>
				  of this title (relating to Designation Procedures for Publicly Owned
				  Landmarks); such permits cannot be required for a property that is eligible but
				  not currently nominated for designation.
(A)
				  Normal maintenance and repair. Work that does not have the potential to cause
				  removal, damage or alteration to the integrity, form, or appearance of the
				  materials, features, or landform of the historic building or structure and its
				  site, is considered to be normal maintenance and repair, and therefore exempt
				  from the required notification process, per Texas Natural Resources Code,
				  §
												RSA 191.054.
				  Cleaning surfaces with non-corrosive mild solutions and low-pressure water,
				  repainting window frames or doorways with similar paints, or minor repairs such
				  as replacing putty on windows are examples of normal maintenance and repair.
				  Other work, however, may not constitute normal maintenance and repair. For
				  example, permanent masonry damage can result from use of inappropriate cleaning
				  methods, such as sandblasting, high pressure water cleaning, or the use of
				  unsuitable chemicals, or from use of damaging repointing techniques and
				  materials. Replacing historic windows damages the historical integrity of a
				  building, and painting previously unpainted surfaces constitutes alteration.
				  Such work is not considered normal maintenance or repair.
(B) Interior spaces. Nonpublic interior
				  spaces are spaces that are inaccessible to the public, and alterations to those
				  spaces are exempt from the required notification process, per Texas Natural
				  Resources Code, §
												RSA 191.054.
				  The interior spaces to be considered public and therefore not exempt are those
				  spaces that are or were accessible to the public (lobbies, corridors, rotundas,
				  meeting halls, courtrooms, offices of public officials, public employees, and
				  services, etc.), or those that are important to the public because of any
				  significant historical, architectural, cultural, or ceremonial value.
(3) Advance review. For more
				  complex projects, it is advisable that the commission staff be consulted early
				  in the planning or design process in order to avoid delays in issuing the final
				  permit.
(4) Formal application. All
				  applications should be submitted on the Historic Buildings and Structures
				  Permit application form approved by the commission at least 60 days prior to
				  the commencement of work or issuance of bid documents, whichever comes first.
				  The application form must be submitted electronically with scanned signatures
				  to the commission. The project professional personnel must be a project
				  architect who has the required experience on historic buildings and structures
				  in the type of project work proposed, or other professional as provided for in
				  §
											RSA 26.4<subdiv>(3)</subdiv>
				  of this title (relating to Professional Qualifications and Requirements). At
				  the request of commission staff, the professional personnel must submit a
				  resume demonstrating the required education and experience.
(5) Emergency application. If emergency
				  preservation or hazard abatement work must be performed quickly in a crisis
				  situation or due to extenuating circumstances, the minimum 60 day submission
				  requirement may be waived with approval from the commission staff. Staff shall
				  determine appropriate procedures for issuance of emergency permits based on the
				  specific circumstances and urgency of the work.
(6) Attachments. All permit applications must
				  be accompanied by digital plans, specifications, or other documents prepared
				  for the project that adequately describe the full scope of work. In addition,
				  digital photographs with a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch of the
				  overall building or structure and all areas of proposed work are
				  required.
(7) Application reports.
				  See §
											RSA 26.23<subdiv>(a)</subdiv>
				  of this title (relating to Reports Relating to Historic Buildings and
				  Structures Permits) for a discussion of each type of report. In the case of
				  more complex projects, one or more of the following reports may be required
				  with the permit application:
(A) historic
				  structure report;
(B) historical
				  documentation;
(C) architectural
				  documentation; and/or
(D)
				  archeological documentation.
(8) Project reports. Depending upon the scope
				  of work, one or more of the following reports may be required as a condition of
				  a permit to be prepared during the course of a project and to be submitted upon
				  completion of that project prior to expiration of the permit. All Historic
				  Buildings and Structures Permits require a completion report. For projects that
				  receive a grant under the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program,
				  described in Chapter 12 of this title, the completion report for the grant may
				  suffice in lieu of a separate permit completion report, when specified by the
				  commission. Any other required reports will be specified when the permit is
				  issued. See §
											RSA 26.23<subdiv>(b)</subdiv>
				  of this title for a discussion of each type of report:
(A) architectural documentation;
(B) archeological documentation;
(C) storage report; and/or
(D) completion report.
(9) Issuance of contract documents. Contract
				  documents should not be issued for bidding purposes before a permit has been
				  issued by the commission under §
											RSA 26.21
				  of this title (relating to Issuance and Restriction of Historic Buildings and
				  Structures Permits). Since changes may be required for issuance of a permit,
				  the commission will not be responsible for delay caused by amending contract
				  documents after issuance, price increases caused by reissuance of contract
				  documents, or any other such consequences.