Accommodating Heritage Value in Building Maintenance

Building performance and sustainability is partially and directly tied to the ongoing maintenance of the building components and systems. It is imperative to understand the processes causing deterioration and the processes, problems, and concerns inherent in preserving various historical building elements such as windows, metals, mortars and plasters, stone, and timber. ,  

Contemporary building maintenance regimes are often rarely suited to the unique realities of older buildings. Masonry walls, for example, are often thought to be “maintenance-free,” which is an incorrect assumption that results in unnecessary damage to walls because of insufficient repointing and freeze-thaw action from water infiltration. Building maintenance regimes also frequently avoid using seasonal storm windows, citing them as a “recurring, potentially expensive activity.” Often, very expensive replacement windows are purchased instead, which inverts the cost-value and shifts costs from operations to capital. However, although they may not be practical for tall buildings, seasonal storm windows could still be used in one and two storey buildings.

These kinds of less-informed and sometimes inappropriate maintenance regimes for older buildings can be an unintended by-product of programs not developed for older buildings, especially where large corporate or institutional organizations manage property portfolios containing a limited number of such buildings. Here, standardized systematic methods and processes targeted at newer buildings are in place, and maintenance personnel are more familiar with new buildings, simply by reason of their abundance. In addition, typical large-scale maintenance programs for older properties are often tied into revenue/expenditure projections, which are fed by annual building condition reviews and formulaic estimates for maintenance and replacement based on contemporary material and assembly life spans. The problem is then compounded by the fact that replacing traditional and/or original materials and components can be expensive and, when replacement is not executed properly, could compromise building character or heritage value.

For older buildings and portfolios of heritage properties, then, it is recommended that maintenance regimes and systems be augmented to better reflect the realities of working with historic fabric, traditional assemblies, potentially unique treatments and the potential presence of heritage value.

One example of such augmentation is Infrastructure Ontario’s 2013-14 Pilot Project, which was intended to establish a heritage-sensitive maintenance regime by adapting its standard Annual Building Inspection Report (ABIR) process. The project aims to make the heritage maintenance program as user-friendly for property management personnel as possible to better ensure that heritage fabric is protected and maintained as efficiently as possible. After ABIR is completed by a property manager and used to plan maintenance and capital expenses, the property management team, which is already familiar with the maintenance approach, simply adapts it for properties identified as having heritage value.

The pilot project added the following adaptations to the standard ABIR system:

• Including the heritage character statement and visual information, which illustrate areas/assemblies with heritage value;
• Identifying and separately categorizing building components with or contributing to heritage value to ensure heritage fabric and assemblies are not simply treated as contemporary ones (i.e., creating a unique ABIR component for exterior stone walls, separate from other non-heritage exterior finishes). This allows for heritage repair and rehabilitation projects to be referenced and budgeted for more appropriately;
• Developing a cost multiplier to reflect the anticipated cost of carrying out maintenance projects on heritage assemblies.

Finally, to successfully improve the sustainability of heritage properties, funds for heritage-specific maintenance processes need to be budgeted for on an on-going basis rather than through major capital projects. This shift can benefit all building types and a range of ownership scales from large to small.