| (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 §26.8 (d) 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, §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, §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 §26.4(3) 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 §26.23(a) 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 §26.23(b)
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 §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.
(b) Standards for the treatment of historic properties.
The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties (1995 and subsequent revisions; codified at 36 Code of
Federal Regulations Part 68) are hereby adopted by reference by the
commission and shall be considered to be a part of this chapter. Copies
of these standards are available on the National Park Service website
at www.nps.gov/tps/standards.htm.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §26.20 adopted to be effective May 20, 2013, 38 TexReg 2980; amended to be effective February 29, 2016, 41 TexReg 1440; amended to be effective December 31, 2017, 42 TexReg 7383; amended to be effective March 10, 2022, 47 TexReg 1088 |
