§ 67.6 - Certifications of rehabilitation.

§ 67.6 Certifications of rehabilitation.

(a) Owners who want rehabilitation projects for certified historic structures to be certified by the Secretary as being consistent with the historic character of the structure, and, where applicable, the district in which the structure is located, thus qualifying as a certified rehabilitation, shall comply with the procedures listed below. A fee, as described in § 67.11, for reviewing all proposed, ongoing, or completed rehabilitation work is charged by the Secretary. No certification decisions will be issued on any application until the appropriate remittance is received.

(1) To initiate review of a rehabilitation project for certification purposes, an owner must complete part 2 of the Historic Preservation Certification Application according to instructions accompanying the application. These instructions explain in detail the documentation required for certification of a rehabilitation project. The application may describe a proposed rehabilitation project, a project in progress, or a completed project. In all cases, documentation, including photographs adequate to document the appearance of the structure(s), both on the exterior and on the interior, and its site and environment prior to rehabilitation must accompany the application. The social security or taxpayer identification number(s) of all owners must be provided in the application. Other documentation, such as window surveys or cleaning specifications, may be required by reviewing officials to evaluate certain rehabilitation projects. Plans for any attached, adjacent, or related new construction must also accompany the application. Where necessary documentation is not provided, review and evaluation may not be completed and a denial of certification will be issued on the basis of lack of information. Owners are strongly encouraged to submit part 2 of the application prior to undertaking any rehabilitation work. Owners who undertake rehabilitation projects without prior approval from the Secretary do so strictly at their own risk. Because the circumstances of each rehabilitation project are unique to the particular certified historic structure involved, certifications that may have been granted to other rehabilitations are not specifically applicable and may not be relied on by owners as applicable to other projects.

(2) A project does not become a certified rehabilitation until it is completed and so designated by the NPS. A determination that the completed rehabilitation of a property not yet designated a certified historic structure meets the Secretary's Standards for Rehabilitation does not constitute a certification of rehabilitation. When requesting certification of a completed rehabilitation project, the owner shall submit a Request for Certification of Completed Work (NPS Form 10-168c) and provide the project completion date and a signed statement that the completed rehabilitation project meets the Secretary's Standards for Rehabilitation and is consistent with the work described in part 2 of the Historic Preservation Certification Application. Also required in requesting certification of a completed rehabilitation project are costs attributed to the rehabilitation, photographs adequate to document the completed rehabilitation, and the social security or taxpayer identification number(s) of all owners.

(b) A rehabilitation project for certification purposes encompasses all work on the interior and exterior of the certified historic structure(s) and its site and environment, as determined by the Secretary, as well as related demolition, new construction or rehabilitation work which may affect the historic qualities, integrity or site, landscape features, and environment of the certified historic structure(s). More specific considerations in this regard are as follows:

(1) All elements of the rehabilitation project must meet the Secretary's ten Standards for Rehabilitation (§ 67.7); portions of the rehabilitation project not in conformance with the Standards may not be exempted. In general, an owner undertaking a rehabilitation project will not be held responsible for prior rehabilitation work not part of the current project, or rehabilitation work that was undertaken by previous owners or third parties.

(2) However, if the Secretary considers or has reason to consider that a project submitted for certification does not include the entire rehabilitation project subject to review hereunder, the Secretary may choose to deny a rehabilitation certification or to withhold a decision on such a certification until such time as the Internal Revenue Service, through a private letter ruling, has determined, pursuant to these regulations and applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and income tax regulations, the proper scope of the rehabilitation project to be reviewed by the Secretary. Factors to be taken into account by the Secretary and the Internal Revenue Service in this regard include, but are not limited to, the facts and circumstance of each application and

(i) whether previous demolition, construction or rehabilitation work irrespective of ownership or control at the time was in fact undertaken as part of the rehabilitation project for which certification is sought, and

(ii) whether property conveyances, reconfigurations, ostensible ownership transfers or other transactions were transactions which purportedly limit the scope of a rehabilitation project for the purpose of review by the Secretary without substantially altering beneficial ownership or control of the property. The fact that a property may still qualify as a certified historic structure after having undergone inappropriate rehabilitation, construction or demolition work does not preclude the Secretary or the Internal Revenue Service from determining that such inappropriate work is part of the rehabilitation project to be reviewed by the Secretary.

(3) Conformance to the Standards will be determined on the basis of the application documentation and other available information by evaluating the property as it existed prior to the commencement of the rehabilitation project, regardless of when the property becomes or became a certified historic structure.

(4) For rehabilitation projects involving more than one certified historic structure where the structures are judged by the Secretary to have been functionally related historically to serve an overall purpose, such as a mill complex or a residence and carriage house, rehabilitation certification will be issued on the merits of the overall project rather than for each structure or individual component. For rehabilitation projects where there is no historic functional relationship among the structures, the certification decision will be made for each separate certified historic structure regardless of how they are grouped for ownership or development purposes.

(5) Demolition of a building as part of a rehabilitation project involving multiple buildings may result in denial of certification of the rehabilitation. In projects where there is no historic functional relationship among the structures being rehabilitated, related new construction which physically expands one certified historic structure undergoing rehabilitation and, therefore, directly causes the demolition of an adjacent structure will generally result in denial of certification of the rehabilitation unless a determination has been made that the building to be demolished is not a certified historic structure as in § 67.4(a). In rehabilitation projects where the structures have been determined to be functionally related historically, demolition of a component may be approved, in limited circumstances, when:

(i) The component is outside the period of significance of the property, or

(ii) The component is so deteriorated or altered that its integrity has been irretrievably lost; or

(iii) The component is a secondary one that generally lacks historic, engineering, or architectural significance or does not occupy a major portion of the site and persuasive evidence is present to show that retention of the component is not technically or economically feasible.

(6) In situations involving rehabilitation of a certified historic structure in a historic district, the Secretary will review the rehabilitation project first as it affects the certified historic structure and second as it affects the district and make a certification decision accordingly.

(7) In the event that an owner of a portion of a certified historic structure requests certification for a rehabilitation project related only to that portion, but there is or was a larger related rehabilitation project(s) occurring with respect to the certified historic structure, the Secretary's decision on the requested certification will be based on review of the overall rehabilitation project(s) for the certified historic structure.

(8) For rehabilitation projects which are to be completed in phases over the alternate 60-month period allowed in section 47 of the Internal Revenue Code, the initial part 2 application and supporting architectural plans and specifications should identify the project as a 60-month phased project and describe the number and order of the phases and the general scope of the overall rehabilitation project. If the initial part 2 application clearly identifies the project as a phased rehabilitation, the NPS will consider the project in all its phases as a single rehabilitation. If complete information on the rehabilitation work of the later phases is not described in the initial part 2 application, it may be submitted at a later date but must be clearly identified as a later phase of a 60-month phased project that was previously submitted for review. Owners are cautioned that work undertaken in a later phase of a 60-month phased project that does not meet the Standards for Rehabilitation, whether or not submitted for review, will result in a denial of certification of the entire rehabilitation with the tax consequences of such a denial to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. Separate certifications for portions of phased rehabilitation projects will not be issued. Rather the owner will be directed to comply with Internal Revenue Service regulations governing late certifications contained in 26 CFR 1.48-12.

(c) Upon receipt of the complete application describing the rehabilitation project, the Secretary shall determine if the project is consistent with the Standards for Rehabilitation. If the project does not meet the Standards for Rehabilitation, the owner shall be advised of that fact in writing and, where possible, will be advised of necessary revisions to meet such Standards. For additional procedures regarding rehabilitation projects determined not to meet the Standards for Rehabilitation, see § 67.6(f).

(d) Once a proposed or ongoing project has been approved, substantive changes in the work as described in the application must be brought promptly to the attention of the Secretary by written statement through the SHPO to ensure continued conformance to the Standards; such changes should be made using a Historic Preservation Certification Application Continuation/Amendment Sheet (NPS Form 10-168b). The Secretary will notify the owner and the SHPO in writing whether the revised project continues to meet the Standards. Oral approvals of revisions are not authorized or valid.

(e) Completed projects may be inspected by an authorized representative of the Secretary to determine if the work meets the Standards for Rehabilitation. The Secretary reserves the right to make inspections at any time up to five years after completion of the rehabilitation and to revoke a certification, after giving the owner 30 days to comment on the matter, if it is determined that the rehabilitation project was not undertaken as represented by the owner in his or her application and supporting documentation, or the owner, upon obtaining certification, undertook further unapproved project work inconsistent with the Secretary's Standards for Rehabilitation. The tax consequences of a revocation of certification will be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.

(f) If a proposed, ongoing, or completed rehabilitation project does not meet the Standards for Rehabilitation, an explanatory letter will be sent to the owner with a copy to the SHPO. A rehabilitated property not in conformance with the Standards for Rehabilitation and which is determined to have lost those qualities which caused it to be nominated to the National Register, will be removed from the National Register in accord with Department of the Interior regulations 36 CFR part 60. Similarly, if a property has lost those qualities which caused it to be designated a certified historic structure, it will be certified as noncontributing (see § 67.4 and § 67.5). In either case, the delisting or certification of nonsignificance is considered effective as of the date of issue and is not considered to be retroactive. In these situations, the Internal Revenue Service will be notified of the substantial alterations. The tax consequences of a denial of certification will be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.