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Bath-area pilot | Putting it off
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BATH AREA PILOT
Maintain our Heritage originated, developed and undertook a pilot maintenance inspection service in the Bath Area in 2002-03, the first maintenance inspection service for historic buildings in the UK.
The Pilot achieved its aim of demonstrating that it is practically, technically and legally possible to establish and operate such a service. A wide range of historic buildings was inspected and owners were provided with illustrated reports setting out maintenance action priorities. Some maintenance work, such as clearing gutters and first-aid repairs to flashings, was done in the course of inspections.
The Pilot was grant-aided by the Bath Preservation Trust, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and English Heritage who were keen to see the innovative trial take place and for the experience to be disseminated.
The Pilot was pioneering. Valuable lessons have been learnt that are already informing similar emerging initiatives in the UK and should be central to the development of a national maintenance strategy.
Click here to see the Pilot Report, in pdf format. It sets out the main facts, reviews what happened against the aims and summarises the evaluation carried out. It begins to draw conclusions and indicates options for the future.
A supplement to the Pilot Report gives more detailed data about the Pilot. Click here to see the supplement.
Click here to see a sample inspection report.
Maintain now invites discussion of the Pilot, what is to be learned, and what
initiatives should now be framed - whether to be carried out by Maintain or
others. The results of this discussion will be published in due course.
To contribute to the discussion: click here.
Dead pigeon shows value of Bath trial When a national heritage group removed a dead pigeon from a roof gulley in Bath it showed that prevention is better than cure. Had the pigeon trapped more grunge and blocked the outlet then water would have overflowed into the loft possibly causing damage to ceilings and setting off rot in the roof timbers. Removing the bird was part of a pioneering maintenance scheme for owners of historic buildings that has just finished in the Bath area. The service involved an inspection and a report on maintenance action priorities plus a limited amount of gutter clearing and first aid measures. Owners taking part were given early warning of what work needed doing, so they could put matters right at far less cost than if they let things deteriorate and had to spend more later. Extract from Press Release issued by Maintain 11 December 2003 |