STANDARDS & DUTIES:
Just what is conservation?

Conservation is a term that is used in many different ways!
In the IHBC ‘conserving’ our heritage is the integrated and proportionate process of valuing, caring for and, where necessary, changing fabric and places with a view to securing the long-term survival of what is, or might be, valued. Conservation is integrated, because it takes account both of the need to preserve and the need to change; and it is proportionate, because we should not do more than is appropriate to the needs of conservation.
In the IHBC’s ‘Conservation Cycle’ we promote conservation as integrated evaluation, management and, where appropriate, intervention across the built and historic environment. These are the IHBC’s ‘Practical Areas of Competence and they correspond loosely to different specialist areas: for example history underpins the evaluation of what we want to protect; planning frames the management process, and architecture and the wider construction industry shapes intervention.
GUIDANCE ON IHBC MEMBERSHIP STANDARDS

IHBC conservation standards are based on the 1993 ICOMOS guidelines for conservation education and training, and developed in accordance with models advised by the World Bank in the environmental assessment and project management of cultural heritage.
Tying standards to assessment and learning this way means that the IHBC’s services can provide structured support for relevant conservation skills: