Practitioner support for building conservation accreditation and more effective repair and maintenance of the building stock

The aim of understandingconservation.org is to offer assistance and guidance to practitioners who are presenting their experience to various professional bodies to gain accreditation of building conservation skills.

It also provides useful educational material for a broader range of users who are not seeking professional body accredited status. This will include students, general practitioners, training and education providers, building contractors and the interested lay public.

In this capacity, the site will assist those directly involved in carrying out more effective repair and maintenance on the country's existing building stock.

It is not a course nor does it provide an easy route to accreditation.

However what it does seek to achieve is to influence the way of thinking and provide a self-assessment regime that will assist in compiling an appropriate body of evidence to demonstrate your accrued knowledge across a range of projects.

A variety of support tools are available for professional users to register and log on so they can work their way through the support material.

It is structured around five skill sets equivalent to the five units contained within its support material:

1. Cultural significance
2. Aesthetic significance
3. Investigation, Materials and Technology
4. Social and Financial Issues
5. Implementation and Management of Conservation Works

These skill sets are based on and condensed from abilities ‘a’ to ‘n’ adopted in the ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) Education and Training Guidelines skills considered essential in order to operate as a conservation practitioner.

The ICOMOS Guidelines are internationally recognised and form the basis of most conservation training courses.

For further information, see the external website top right of page.