Maintenance of Cultural Heritage

The maintenance of a cultural heritage building involves the implementation of planned and unplanned work to preserve a building in a good state of repair and therefore enable its continued use. It encompasses regular maintenance and investment maintenance work. We can extend the life of a building through good maintenance work.
A specification of the cultural protection requirements and a cultural protection agreement have to be obtained prior to any maintenance work on cultural heritage buildings and monuments.
This specification of requirements contains the guidelines that must be followed during maintenance work so as to safeguard protected cultural heritage from damage or destruction.
With any modernisation work, or any change to the interior or exterior of a building as a result of modernisation, the characteristics of the building must be preserved to the greatest possible extent.
If a building is entered in the Register or given cultural monument status, architectural changes are permitted only after very careful consideration and on the basis of thorough studies that enable the existing possibilities to be examined fully.
The basic guideline for regular and investment maintenance work on cultural heritage buildings is the preservation of authenticity.
This does not mean that individual parts should be reconstructed in the same way and using the same methods as were used for construction, but that the deterioration of the surface of a part of a cultural heritage building must be arrested by removing the cause of the damage and restoring the previous state. Even parts of protected elements that are damaged should not be replaced with new parts, but must be preserved or repaired to the greatest possible extent.
In the renovation of and work on cultural heritage buildings, traditional working methods and materials must be used; these are essential to secure their future.

It is recommended that the investor or project engineer work alongside the conservator from the initiative preparatory stage of work.

• In the case of the integrated renovation of cultural heritage, the competent heritage protection service must first commission the production of a conservation programme. *

• Renovation work on cultural heritage buildings may only be carried out by a contractor with appropriate references (a list of which must be submitted). *

• For all restoration work on cultural heritage buildings, a restoration programme must be drawn up in advance. *

Files on Cultural Heritage Buildings

If good maintenance work is to be carried out on a cultural heritage building, we must first have a thorough knowledge of its history and development.
We recommend the compiling of a ‘*cultural heritage building file*’, which contains, alongside the necessary basic documentation:

1. *archive plans and documents, recordings of the existing state and photographic documentation *

Archive plans and documents on the history of the building and old photographic documentation are stored in archives and museums (e.g. Historical Archives of Slovenia, Archives of the Republic of Slovenia, private archives, City Museum of Ljubljana). In addition, there is documentation relating to work carried out; this is usually kept by owners. The archives of the regional offices of the Institute also systematically collect and store documentation on the original state and on secondary work.
An architectural recording of the existing state is an indispensable aid in regular preventive inspections for the mapping and documenting of damage.

1. inventory

The production of an inventory is one method by which one can become most thoroughly acquainted with the state of a building and its vulnerable and strong points.

1. records of regular inspections

Regular inspections are without doubt the first and best approach to conserving a building and, in particular, its authentic elements. Damage detected on time and at an early stage is easier to repair and rectify than at the ‘acute’ stage. This is how we can avoid major damage, and the increased costs associated with repairing it. It is also the case that historical materials, such as certain types of stone, required for repair work are now longer available or difficult to obtain.
Regular inspections, which are completed in a very short space of time, suffice for the appropriate planning of maintenance. In the majority of cases, a short tour of the building is sufficient. It is particularly necessary to make such inspections after storms, heavy rain, snow, freezing weather and similar exceptional circumstances.
Regular inspections enable us to monitor whether damage is increasing or remaining at the same level. In this way one can anticipate the seriousness of the damage and promptly seek the opinion of an expert, who can ascertain the cause of the damage and recommend a method of rectifying it.

Certain minor preventive work can be carried out without the assistance of experts after a regular inspection – for example, replacing loose tiles, cleaning gutters, removing unwanted vegetation, etc.
Individual cultural heritage buildings are extremely diverse both in terms of the wealth of material and in the forms and technical solutions employed. They frequently contain unique elements, which is why every building must be dealt with separately and a separate damage inventory (PDF, 0.1 MB) drawn up, which is then filled in during regular inspections and used as an aid to the drawing-up of a maintenance plan.

This makes it easier to draw up a precise inventory of all necessary repair work, the sequence of the work and the priorities in the financial allocation of costs for specific regular and investment maintenance tasks defined in the maintenance plan.

When inspecting a building, it is recommended that photographs be taken to document the extent of the damage, binoculars used to check the state of individual upper and lower parts of the building (roof, projecting roof, decorative features on the upper floors), and measuring equipment, lighting equipment and a variety of tools (hammers, etc.) employed.

A regular inspection should encompass:

• an examination of the state of the roof, chimneys and gutters
• an examination of the state of the walls, plaster and whitewash, and of the stucco work and other decorative features
• an examination of the joinery and carpentry work (windows and doors)
• an examination of the attic and cellar areas

This allows us to quickly detect any damage that has arisen as a result of damp, mechanical impact and so on.

1. scheme of joinery and carpentry

The taking of architectural records of existing joinery and carpentry is a necessary starting point for maintenance and renovation work and, above all, is a basis for the drafting of a plan for the replacement of windows and doors, which will be a copy of the originals in terms of design but functionally adapted to modern living standards (thermopane glass, shades). New joinery and carpentry should be a copy of original in terms of design, but functionally adapted to modern living standards (thermopane glass, shades). A preparatory joinery and carpentry scheme simplifies the window and door replacement stage of the process. On the basis of a plan of execution that every apartment owner submits to the contractor, joinery or carpentry may be replaced in stages (in line with the capacities and needs of the individual owner).

1. report on ultrasound recordings

Prior to regular maintenance and investment maintenance work, ultrasound recordings must be carried out, for example on the exterior plasterwork and surfaces of painted facades, as well as on the interior plaster surfaces of walls and metal banisters, where new heritage elements are often discovered. On the basis of the results of ultrasound and laboratory-based stratigraphical analyses, colour studies of facades and internal common areas can be drawn up.
Ultrasound recordings and other analyses are carried out, as required, by the monument protection service, which also compiles a colour study. The competent monument service must be informed of the envisaged work (painting or the restoration of plaster work and whitewash) at least 30 days in advance.

Most commonly occurring damage:

The most common kinds of damage can cause irreparable damage to cultural heritage buildings; regular inspections are important if such types of damage are to be discovered and rectified promptly.

Exterior
The most common types of damage to the exterior are:

• missing, broken or displaced tiles, and ridged tiles damaged or displaced by wind, which can cause water to enter the wooden roofing area, soaking it and causing serious damage;
• damaged or blocked gutters and sewage pipes, which can cause water to leak into the most sensitive parts of the building, or its foundations, and lead to their deterioration and decay;
• cracks in the plasterwork and decorative elements and crumbled stone and other architectural elements, which can also lead to deeper damage to the fabric of the building;
• blistering or cracks on painted surfaces, which are clear signs of the deterioration of whitewash and paint coatings, particularly on windows, doors, plasterwork and metal parts, which can rapidly lead to the deterioration of painted surfaces.

Interior
The smell of damp in a building and noticeable stains on the ceiling and walls are evidence of the presence of damp. Depending on where the water enters, we can ascertain whether it is capillary damp, damage to the water system, the entry of water through the roof, etc.

Maintenance plan:

A maintenance plan for a building must be drawn up in accordance with the specific features of an individual building as determined by cultural monument and cultural heritage status, and with the needs and capacities of each owner.
It is above all important to have a thorough knowledge of the building and its architectural and construction elements, and to be aware of the needs and capacities of owners. For this reason we recommend the production of a file on the building or the establishment of basic documentation.
When drawing up a maintenance plan, measures and work need to be planned in such a way as to preserve the original elements that have been damaged. Only as a last resort should these elements be replaced by new ones identical in form, material and colour, after a carefully weighed consideration has been made.
It is particularly important that the cause of the damage be removed before repair is attempted.
The correct timetabling of work on buildings is also important. Maintenance work on facades must be carried out in the appropriate weather conditions; lime plasterwork and whitewash, for example, need at least a month of fine weather in order to bind together.