St Saviours Cathedral Goulburn NSW. Credit John Spencer. DPIE

St Saviours Cathedral Goulburn NSW. Credit: John Spencer DPIE

1. Maintenance and Cleaning

Maintenance and Cleaning

Maintenance and cleaning is part of the continuous protective care of a place, including the fabric and setting of a place. Examples of typical maintenance and cleaning activities/works under this exemption include:

  • washing surfaces to remove grime
  • removing vegetation and litter from gutters and drainage systems
  • lubricating equipment which has moving parts
  • applying protective coatings to surfaces which have previously had such coatings, for example limewash, polish, oils and waxes.

Standard Exemption 1: Maintenance and Cleaning

General conditions (see page 6 of Government Gazette) apply to the use of all Standard Exemptions and must be complied with. 

The following specified activities/works to an item do not require approval under subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 if the specified activities/works are undertaken in accordance with each of the relevant standards prescribed below.

Specified activities/works:

  1. The maintenance of an item to retain its condition or operation.
  2. Application of protection coatings such as limewash, polish, oils and waxes to an item.
  3. Cleaning to remove surface deposits, organic growths or graffiti from an item.

Relevant standards:

  1. Specified activities/works must not involve removal of or damage to significant fabric.
  2. New materials or new finishes may only be introduced to non-significant fabric where this does not impact the significance of the item, uses a colour sympathetic to the item, does not detract from the item and does not reduce the ability to appreciate the item.
  3. Protective coatings may only be applied to surfaces which have previously had these coatings. Existing finishes such as oils and waxes for timber must continue to be used rather than modern alternative protective coatings.
  4. Surface patina important to the item’s heritage significance must be preserved during maintenance and cleaning.
  5. Cleaning of significant fabric may only use low-pressure water less than 100 psi and neutral detergents.

Guidance