U.S. General Services Administration
Technical Procedures Disclaimer
Prior to inclusion in GSA’s library of procedures, documents are reviewed by one or more qualified preservation specialists for general consistency with the Secretary of Interior Standards for rehabilitating historic buildings as understood at the time the procedure is added to the library. All specifications require project-specific editing and professional judgement regarding the applicability of a procedure to a particular building, project or location. References to products and suppliers are to serve as a general guideline and do not constitute a federal endorsement or determination that a product or method is the best or most current alternative, remains available, or is compliant with current environmental regulations and safety standards. The library of procedures is intended to serve as a resource, not a substitute, for specification development by a qualified preservation professional.
Rewrite
We’ve reviewed these procedures for general consistency with federal standards for rehabilitating historic buildings and provide them only as a reference. Specifications should only be applied under the guidance of a qualified preservation professional who can assess the applicability of a procedure to a particular building, project or location. References to products and suppliers serve as general guidelines and do not constitute a federal endorsement nor a determination that a product or method is the best alternative or compliant with current environmental regulations and safety standards.
A regular visual survey of an inspected outdoor sculpture should be done to identify changing conditions and problems of deterioration in a timely fashion, prior to the onset of serious deterioration or material failure.
Planning Criteria:
Formal inspections should be undertaken every six (6) months, following the initial assessment (see 05725-01-S for guidance in planning the initial inspection and assessment of outdoor sculpture). In some cases, where workload, limited staff and a large number of outdoor sculpture prohibit semi-annual inspections, regular inspections may be conducted on an annual basis.
Inspections on less than an annual basis are substandard. The Regional Director should be advised if annual re-inspections (following the initial assessment) are not feasible. Some mitigation plan may be necessary to assure that outdoor sculpture are periodically evaluated to avoid neglect and achieve the objectives of preventive maintenance. Such a plan would have to be based on the significance of the materials involved, as well as age, exposure, and condition of the outdoor sculpture.
Procedures:
- Retrieve and review the assessment report on the outdoor sculpture to be inspected.
- Following familiarization with the condition of the resource at the time of the Initial Assessment and all succeeding Semi- Annual Inspections, go into the field and carefully inspect all surface areas to determine the nature and extent of weathering, deterioration or damage since the last semi-annual inspection.
- Make notes and list changes in condition. Photographs (2-3) for file are recommended (with dates).
- Refer maintenance problems to GSA building manager for corrective action.
- Refer conditions of deterioration or structural failure which are beyond the scope of maintenance to the appropriate Regional Historic Preservation Officer and Fine Arts Officer for scheduling an evaluation by professionals.
Reference:
Patrick Kipper, The Care of Bronze Sculpture, 2007.