Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada

Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada (Second Edition, 2010), or SGCHPC, is a pan-Canadian benchmark for heritage conservation practice offering results-oriented guidance for sound decision-making when planning for, intervening on and using historic places. It establishes a consistent, pan-Canadian set of conservation principles and guidelines that will be useful to anyone with an interest in conserving Canada’s historic places.

SGCHPP has become an important tool for the conservation community in Canada.

Rehabilitation

The Standards and Guidelines best practices on sustainable conservation and rehabilitation of historic places, which are incorporated into Part Three of Building Resilience. In fact, the SGCHP and Building Resilience can be read as companion pieces.

The Standards and Guidelines outline a cyclical and ongoing heritage conservation decision-making process that is particularly useful for sustainable rehabilitation, including the points below:

Developing a comprehensive understanding

of the historic place’s existing conditions, heritage significance and evolution, and the new use requirements by:

  • Determining heritage value;
  • Establishing character-defining elements;
  • Investigating and documenting conditions and changes.

Planning in a comprehensive and integrated manner

that balances natural and heritage conservation with other project goals and engages stakeholders early and throughout the process by:

  • Ensuring the selected programme can be accommodated within the existing building or site while minimizing impact to heritage character;
  • Ensuring new interventions are sustainable and appropriate;
  • Thoroughly defining the new requirements and establishing priorities;
  • Providing for a multi-disciplinary team approach.

SGCHP in Canada - 2nd Edition (2011): A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Collaboration on Historic Places in Canada (FPTCHPC) Document.

Intervening carefully

using a minimal intervention approach, including upgrades and ongoing maintenance by:

  • Ensuring appropriate skills and experience are brought to the project;
  • Ensuring an adequate and appropriate long-term maintenance plan is in place to protect value.

While these are best practices for buildings of heritage value, they are also applicable more broadly to existing buildings for which heritage value has not been determined. Building conservation, in other words, is inextricably linked with sustainability.

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