Virginia Administrative Code › Title 17 - LIBRARIES AND CULTURAL RESOURCES › Agency 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC RESOURCES › Chapter 30 - HISTORIC REHABILITATION TAX CREDIT › Section 17VAC10-30-60 - Standards for rehabilitation

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. The standards for rehabilitation are the
				criteria used to determine if a rehabilitation project qualifies as a certified
				historic rehabilitation. The intent of the standards is to promote the
				long-term preservation of a property's significance through the preservation of
				historic materials and features. The standards pertain to historic buildings of
				all materials, construction types, sizes, and occupancy and encompass the
				exterior and the interior of historic buildings. The standards also encompass
				related landscape features and the building's site and environment, as well as
				attached, adjacent, or related new construction. To be certified, a
				rehabilitation project shall be determined by the Department of Historic
				Resources to be consistent with the historic character of the structure or
				structures and, where applicable, the district in which it is
				located.
B. The standards for
				rehabilitation shall be applied to specific rehabilitation projects in a
				reasonable manner, taking into consideration economic and technical
				feasibility.
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 of
				historic materials 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. Most properties
				change over time; those 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
				historic property shall be preserved.
6. Deteriorated architectural features shall
				be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires
				replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature should match the old in
				design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible,
				materials. Replacement of missing architectural features must 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. The
				surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the
				gentlest means possible.
8.
				Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected
				and preserved. If these 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.