PHASE 2 – ASSESS RISKS

[GRAPHIC: DIAGRAM SHOWING THE FOUR PHASES OF THE 
PLANNING PROCESS WITH PHASE 2 AND ITS 4 STEPS HIGHLIGHTED

Mitigation Planning Process
1.	Organize Resources
2.	Assess Risks
	Identify hazards
	Profile hazard events
	Inventory assets
	Estimate losses 
3.	Develop a Mitigation Plan
4.	Implement the Plan and Monitor Progress
END GRAPHIC]

Overview

In Phase I, you identified, assembled, and organized the resources necessary for 
integrating historic properties and cultural resources into the hazard mitigation plan. In 
Phase 2, “Assess Risks,” your team will use these resources to conduct a risk 
assessment of the historic properties and cultural resources located in your jurisdiction. 

[GLOSSARY SIDEBAR: Risk assessment
Measuring the potential for property damage, economic loss, injury, and death that may 
result from both natural and manmade hazards. Specifically, it involves identifying 
potential hazards and assessing a community’s ability to survive them, diminish their 
impact, or avoid them completely. Risk assessment is central to the hazard mitigation 
planning process, and is described fully in FEMA 386-2: Understanding Your Risks: 
Identifying Hazards and Estimating Losses. 
END SIDEBAR]

There are four primary steps associated with conducting risk assessments that this 
Phase of the guide will cover:
Step 1:	Identify hazards that can affect your community.
Step 2:	Profile hazards to determine hazard-prone areas and magnitude of 
each hazard.
Step 3:	Inventory the historic properties and cultural resources vulnerable to 
those hazards, assess vulnerability of these assets, and establish 
preservation priorities by determining which assets are most valuable 
to the community.
Step 4:	Estimate the associated amount of potential losses. 

To assist you through Steps 3 and 4, the primary focus of this section, the guide includes 
worksheets filled in with sample information.

At the end of Phase 2, your planning team should have a clear picture of the historic 
properties and cultural resources that are important to the community; how vulnerable 
these resources are to hazards; and the cost of their loss, replacement, or repair due to 
a hazard event. The end-product of this phase will be a prioritized list (or preservation 
hierarchy) of historic properties and cultural resources for protection in the community. 

Steps 1 and 2

Identify and Profile Hazards 

Since hazard identification is essential to the mitigation plan, it is likely that the planning 
team has already identified the hazards that are likely to affect the jurisdiction and has 
already developed a hazard profile. This information should be used as the starting point 
for accomplishing Steps 3 and 4 of the risk assessment process as it relates to historic 
properties and cultural resources. There is no need to repeat Steps 1 and 2, as the goal 
is to integrate cultural resource considerations into the existing hazard mitigation 
planning process. In addition, Steps 1 and 2 are described in FEMA 386-2: 
Understanding Your Risks: Identifying Hazards and Estimating Losses.
In preparation for Step 3, review the identified hazards that exist within the planning area 
and their profiles.

[TIP SIDEBAR: Geographic Effects of Hazards
Some hazards will affect the entire planning area (e.g., winter storms, tornadoes, and 
droughts), and others will only affect certain geographically determined areas (e.g., 
floodplains, seismic zones, and urban-wildland interface zones).
END SIDEBAR]

Step 3

Inventory Historic Property and Cultural Resource Assets

In this Step, the historic properties and cultural resources that are most likely to be 
affected by a hazard event will be determined. Specifically, your planning team will: 

Develop and map a general inventory of historic property and cultural resource 
assets located in the planning area.

Overlay the map of identified hazards developed in Step 2 of the risk assessment 
process with the general inventory map of historic properties and cultural 
resources in the planning area. This will provide the needed data for identifying 
which properties and resources are located in hazard-prone areas. 

Review the map of historic properties and cultural resources located in hazard-
prone areas and determine the number and value of these assets.

Compile property data and characteristics for each resource that may be 
potentially impacted. This can be accomplished either by using a geographic 
information system (GIS) or by conducting a survey. Note: this information will be 
needed to accurately estimate potential losses in Step 4 of the risk assessment 
process.

Review the property data and characteristics of each property and establish 
preservation priorities. This information will be incorporated into Phase 3 of the 
hazard mitigation planning process.

Before starting Step 3, there are a few considerations to keep in mind with regard to 
assessing the vulnerability of historic properties and cultural resources.

1. Characteristics of Historic Properties and Cultural Resources

In determining a community’s preservation priorities, an assessment should be made of 
each resource’s vulnerability potential. Unfortunately, there is no easy formula for 
predicting how a historic property or cultural resource will perform during a disaster. For 
example, determining which structural systems in buildings will be superior is dependent 
upon a wide variety of factors, most particularly, the type of hazard confronted. 
In addition, the age of a structure cannot be considered a predominant factor in 
determining whether a resource will perform well in a disaster. It is often assumed that 
older structural systems and materials used in historic buildings will perform far worse 
than recent code-driven construction. This is not always the case, as some historic 
structural systems were designed with far greater structural support than necessary. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Vernacular Historic Construction Methods
Buildings designed without the aid of an architect or engineer can sometimes better 
withstand damage from certain types of disasters than modern construction techniques. 
These properties may actually be able to outperform recent construction in certain disaster 
events because their essential structural systems may be better able to sustain lateral 
vibrations and pressure than buildings constructed more recently. Examples of such 
traditional “over design” include the nineteenth-century stone or brick masonry bank barns 
commonly found throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Reinforced with heavy timber framing, 
these barns typically possess a structural capacity far exceeding their actual use. On the 
other hand, the structure of some historic buildings may emphasize flexibility over 
strength. These buildings may be able to withstand the seismic force from an earthquake 
quite well by dissipating it throughout a larger area of the building. Examples of this type of 
construction are the small-scale wood-frame houses built in the San Francisco Bay Area 
during the late nineteenth century. 
END SIDEBAR]

Similarly, specific types of collections can better withstand the direct effects of different 
disaster types. For example, paper records are not affected by vibrations associated with 
earthquakes, and certain types of art collections, such as stone sculptures, are usually 
not damaged by significant flooding. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Cultural Museum Disaster Preparedness – No Lack of Information!
Over the past decade, concerted efforts by conservation professionals have resulted in a 
wealth of information to help cultural museums design effective plans to better protect 
their unique assets. The Heritage Emergency National Task Force is one of the oldest 
efforts of this type. This coalition was formed in 1995 to help libraries and archives, 
museums, historical societies, and historic sites better protect their collections from natural 
disasters. The Task Force is sponsored by the non-profit Heritage Preservation, Inc. and 
FEMA. The organization provides a wealth of technical information on disaster response 
and salvage on its Web site: http://www.heritagepreservation.org.
The Central New York Library Resources Council has prepared a publication entitled In 
the Face of Disaster—Preparing for Emergencies in Central New York: A Self-Planning 
Manual for Disaster Prevention, Response, and Recovery in Libraries, Museums, and 
Cultural Institutions of Central New York State. This document provides step-by-step 
instructions and worksheets to institutions on how to complete a customized disaster plan 
and includes three major components: prevention, response, and recovery. See the 
Central New York Library Resources Council Web site for more information: http://clrc.org. 
One of the nation’s premier art museums, the Getty Museum, located in Los Angeles, 
California, is also extraordinarily active in providing information about disaster 
preparedness and response. The Getty Conservation Institute serves the conservation 
community through its support of scientific research, education and training, model field 
projects, and the dissemination of information. In addition to many on-line educational 
articles, the Institute publishes useful guides such as Building an Emergency Plan. For 
more information on these resources, go to: http://www.getty.edu/conservation.
Other educational institutions provide high-quality information on the care and treatment of 
cultural resources damaged through disasters. For example, a Web site entitled 
“Conservation OnLine” (also known by its acronym CoOL), is sponsored by Stanford 
University. This site provides detailed information on the care and treatment of specific 
materials. It also provides hotlinks to other Web sites that contain useful case studies, 
information about disaster plans by type of museum or institution, and bibliographic 
references. See the CoOL Web site at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu.
END SIDEBAR]

Lastly, just because a historic property or cultural resource has survived the test of time 
does not necessarily mean it is hazard-resistant. On the contrary, a number of factors 
may make historic resources uniquely vulnerable to disaster-related damage. For 
example, historic buildings may have been constructed in locations without any 
forethought of possible future hazard events. These include buildings sited in 
floodplains, or those built along early transportation corridors, such as canals. 
Furthermore, a disaster may compound damage already sustained from poor 
maintenance or inappropriate alteration.

[TIP SIDEBAR: Accounting for Peculiar Design Advantages and Vulnerabilities 
You should consult a qualified structural engineer or a design professional with experience 
in historic building rehabilitation to conduct a detailed evaluation of historic properties in 
your inventory. Since financial resources will likely not permit a detailed assessment to be 
carried out on each historic property, you should focus on conducting your inventory first 
in the most significant hazard-prone areas, and then refer to your preservation hierarchy 
(see Task B in the next section) for the order in which you can complete your inventory 
over time.
END SIDEBAR]

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Rehabilitation and Alteration
As you read this guide, keep in mind the following clarifications. Rehabilitation has one 
meaning in the preservation planning context and another in the context of hazard 
mitigation planning. When design experts talk about rehabilitation, they usually mean 
taking actions that help preserve the distinctive character of a historic building while 
allowing for reasonable change to meet new needs. In the hazard mitigation context, when 
mitigation planners mention rehabilitation, they mean retrofitting a structure or taking steps 
to reduce its vulnerability to hazards (e.g., flood-proofing or seismic strengthening). 
Another key word to keep in mind is alteration. Alteration usually has a negative 
connotation—when a historic structure or resource is said to be altered, it may be taken to 
mean that the structure has changed to the extent that it no longer is considered historic. 
In hazard mitigation planning, however, altering a structure to protect it from a hazard or 
hazards means doing something positive—that is, changing or strengthening a structure 
to better withstand future hazard events while at the same time minimizing the impact 
these changes have on the structure’s historic integrity.
END SIDEBAR]

2. Threat of Terrorism and Other Manmade Hazards

In recent years, another factor has markedly contributed to the unique vulnerability of 
historic properties and cultural resources—the threat of terrorism. The high visibility, 
significance, and public accessibility of many historic resources make them attractive 
targets for terrorists. Many resources are symbolic on a local, State, Tribal, or national 
level, with some serving a governmental or other type of public function. In evaluating 
the threat from terrorism, it is important to identify why a resource is significant. 
Properties important to a certain social group may be targeted by enemies of that group. 
Moreover, many historic buildings lack the terror-resistant features included in many of 
today’s new buildings—defensible spaces, flame-retardant materials, and blast-resistant 
windows (see FEMA 386-7: Integrating Manmade Hazards into Mitigation Planning  for 
more details on manmade hazards). 

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Assess Building Vulnerability in a Multi-Hazard Context
The characteristics that enhance performance during one type of hazard event may be the 
very features that make it vulnerable to damage from another type of hazard event.
END SIDEBAR]

3. Learning From Historic Disasters in Local Communities 

It is recommended that your planning team research the community’s past experience 
with disasters. Beyond providing an indication of the community’s resiliency and 
response, such a study may reveal how local building traditions were adapted over time 
as a result of disaster events. From the recent post-disaster experiences of other 
communities, your team may glean valuable information about how well historic 
properties and cultural resources withstand a disaster, and how they can be protected 
from future disasters. 

[GRAPHIC: OLD PHOTO OF COLLAPSED BUILDINGS.
CAPTION: Jefferson and Allen Avenues, St. Louis, Missouri, after the tornado, May 27, 1896.
END GRAPHIC]

Above all, learning from the disaster experiences of local communities will help to 
identify and evaluate hazard mitigation alternatives for potential implementation. 
Historical information on local disasters may be found in a variety of sources, including: 

Disaster reports and qualitative financial statistics archived by FEMA or a State 
emergency management agency (SEMA);

Published local and regional histories;

Unpublished historical information, including collections of memoirs, diaries, oral 
histories, and historical photographs; and

Newspaper and magazine accounts of the disaster.

[TIP SIDEBAR: See Appendix B
Additional information regarding historic building construction, performance, and treatment 
standards is provided in the Library Appendix of this guide.
END SIDEBAR]

Procedures and Techniques

Task A. Determine the proportion and value of historic property and 
cultural resource assets in your community located in hazard-prone areas.

You will use Worksheet #2: Determine Extent and Value of Historic Properties (see 
the example following the introduction to worksheet 2 and blank worksheet in Appendix C) 
for this task to determine the proportion and value of historic property and cultural resource 
assets located within those areas, or in the case of community-wide hazards, those that are 
most vulnerable to the identified hazards. Your inventory should not only identify properties and 
resources that merit protection, but also demonstrate other factors, including economic 
value. Worksheet #2, which was adapted from Worksheet #3a from FEMA 386-2 will help your 
team develop this determination. 

Introduction to Worksheet # 2

To place the value of historic properties in perspective, show what percentage of the 
total structures in the identified hazard area are historic. The total number of structures 
in the hazard area should have already been tabulated by the mitigation planning team. 
The number and value of historic properties and cultural resources should also be 
computed as a percentage of the total assets in the community. You will be able to 
compute the percentage of historic properties and their value after completing 
Worksheet #3: Inventory Historic Property and Cultural Resource Assets. In the 
example included below, 15% of the historic residential structures represents 20% of the 
total value of the residential stock. See FEMA 386-2 for more information. 


[SAMPLE WORKSHEET #2	Determine Extent and Value of Historic Properties	Phase 2, Step 3
Date: January 3, 2007

Fill in Columns 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, and 11. Fill in Columns 4 and 10 after completing Worksheet #3.
 Divide Column 1 by Column 2 and multiply by 100 to calculate the percentage of properties 
in the hazard area (Column 3). This process can be used to determine the percent value of 
properties within the hazard area (Column 6), the percentage of historic properties in the 
community (Column 9) and their percent value (Column 12).

13 column table listing type of structure, number of properties (Columns 1 to 3), value of 
properties (Columns 4 to 6), number of properties (Columns 7 to 9), and value of properties 
(Columns 10 to 12). The types of structure are: residential, commercial, industrial, religious/
non-profit, government, and education. Under number of properties: column 1—number of 
historic properties in hazard area for residential is 150; column 2—number of all properties 
in hazard area for residential is 1,000; column 3—percentage of properties that are historic 
for residential is 15%. Under value of properties: column 4—dollar value of historic properties 
in hazard area for residential is $3 m; column 5—dollar value of all properties in hazard area 
for residential is $15 m; column 6—property value of historic properties as percentage of total 
property value for residential is 20%. Under number of properties: column 7—number of historic 
properties in community or state for residential is 400; column 8—number of all properties in 
community or state for residential is 2,000; column 9—percentage of properties that are historic 
for residential is 20%. Under value of properties: column 10—dollar value of historic properties 
in community or state for residential is $60 m; column 11—dollar value of all properties in 
community or state for residential is $250 m; column 12—property value of historic properties as 
percentage of total property value for residential is 24%. The last row of the table is for the total 
by column.

END OF WORKSHEET #2]


1. Determine the location of historic property and cultural resource assets within 
hazard-prone areas.

The simplest way to determine which historic and cultural resource assets are located in 
hazard-prone areas is to use GIS. If your team has access to GIS, it should overlay the 
community’s base map onto a map of historic properties and cultural resources. This 
composite map should then be overlain onto a map identifying the location of hazard-
prone areas in the community, such as floodplains. The resultant map will reveal which 
historic properties and cultural resources are located in hazard-prone areas, and 
precisely where they are situated, by street and parcel. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Creating a Composite Map
[GRAPHIC:  SHOWING 3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAPS OF THE SAME AREA. 
DOTTED LINES CONNECT THE MAPS SHOWING THEY ARE TO BE LAIN ON TOP OF EACH OTHER.
A Map showing the location of the community’s historic properties and cultural resources in hazard areas can be produced…
…by overlaying a composite of the base map and historic property and cultural resource map…
…with a map delineating hazard area boundaries.
END GRAPHIC] END SIDEBAR]

To determine the specific hazard threats posed to each historic and cultural resource, 
your team should repeat the last overlay using hazard-specific maps, i.e., maps 
identifying seismic zones, flood hazard areas, etc. For some hazards, such as 
hurricanes and tornadoes, a GIS layer will not be available. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Geographic Databases and Data Sharing
Obtaining or creating GIS-based information is important because it will help your team 
locate concentrations of historic properties and cultural resources, and also better define 
the level of risk faced by your historic properties and cultural resources. For example, GIS 
data will show if historic properties are located in floodplains, in active earthquake zones, 
etc. In addition, other planning initiatives can be placed in a GIS, which can help your 
team identify impacts to historic properties and cultural resources that have occurred over 
time. 
END SIDEBAR]

If your team does not have access to GIS, hazard boundaries can be hand-drawn on a 
map depicting the location of historic properties and cultural resources. Your planning 
team may want to take the locations of historic properties recorded on tax maps or U.S. 
Geological Survey (USGS) quadrangle maps, and map them directly onto paper copies 
of floodplain maps, USGS earthquake hazard maps, or other hazard-related maps. 

[GRAPHIC: OLD PHOTO SHOWING LEANING BUILDING AND SCATTERED DEBRIS.
CAPTION: Hurricane and storm surge damage in Galveston, Texas, September 1-10, 1900.
END GRAPHIC]

2. Compile a detailed inventory of what historic properties and cultural resources 
can be damaged by a hazard event.

At this point, you will be able to compile a detailed inventory of all of the historic 
properties and cultural resources found within each of the identified hazard areas in your 
community. Run a query and sort your results by the characteristics—e.g., age and type 
of construction—listed in Worksheet #3: Inventory Historic Property and Cultural 
Resource Assets. 

Introduction to Worksheet #3 

Your planning team will be using Worksheet #3 throughout the remainder of Phase 2 
(see the following example worksheet and blank worksheet in Appendix C). It is 
designed to help the team organize the information it collects on historic properties and 
cultural resources, and can be used to establish preservation priorities. Based on 
Worksheet 3b from FEMA 386-2, Worksheet #3 has been adapted specifically for use in 
assessing historic properties and cultural resources. 

For each hazard identified in Step 1, your planning team should make a photocopy of 
Worksheet #3 and fill in the name of the specific hazard at the top of the sheet (e.g., 
flood, hurricane, or earthquake). As your team progresses through Phase 2, 
information will be supplied to complete the remainder of Worksheet #3.


[SAMPLE Worksheet #3	Inventory Historic Property and Cultural Resource Assets	Phase 2, Step 3

Make a copy of a blank worksheet for each hazard of concern.  Fill in the name of the hazard 
and the date.  List the name and address of vulnerable historic properties and cultural resources 
in Column 1. For each property/cultural resource (row) fill out Columns 2 to 10 to complete the 
information about the asset. For Columns 11 to 15, use results from Worksheet #5 to fill in the 
applicable columns. For Column 16, use the ranking from Column 7 of Worksheet #4. See the 
Building Data Requirement table below to determine what additional columns to add to this 
worksheet, depending on the hazard.  

Hazard:	Flood			Date: January 8, 2007

Examples of the types of information to fill in for Columns 3, 5, and 6:
Column 3:  Type of Property/Resource (include, but not limited to, buildings, structures, objects, sites, and districts)
Column 5:  Structural System (e.g., concrete, wood frame, or steel)
Column 6:  Primary Material(s) of Property/Resource (brick veneer, concrete, or plaster)
8 column table, titled Building Data Requirements by Hazard, lists building characteristics, flood, 
earthquake, tsunami, tornado, coastal storm, landslide, and wildfire. In column 1, the building 
characteristics are: Building Type/Type of Foundation, Building Code Design Level/Date of 
Construction, Roof Material, Roof Construction, Vegetation, Topography, and Distance from the 
Hazard Zone. This table shows you at a quick glance the type of data required when addressing 
the selected seven hazards.

Hazard: Flood. Building Characteristics: 1. Building type/type of foundation, yes. 2. Building code 
design level/date of construction, yes. 3. Roof material, no. 4. Roof construction, no. 5. Vegetation, no. 
6. Topography, yes. 7. Distance from the hazard zone, yes.

Hazard: Earthquake. Building Characteristics: 1. Building type/type of foundation, yes. 2. Building code 
design level/date of construction, yes. 3. Roof material, no. 4. Roof construction, no. 5. Vegetation, no. 
6. Topography, no. 7. Distance from the hazard zone, no.

Hazard: Tsunami. Building Characteristics: 1. Building type/type of foundation, yes. 2. Building code 
design level/date of construction, yes. 3. Roof material, no. 4. Roof construction, no. 5. Vegetation, no. 
6. Topography, no. 7. Distance from the hazard zone, yes.

Hazard: Tornado. Building Characteristics: 1. Building type/type of foundation, no. 2. Building code 
design level/date of construction, yes. 3. Roof material, yes. 4. Roof construction, yes. 5. Vegetation, no. 
6. Topography, no. 7. Distance from the hazard zone, no.

Hazard: Coastal Storm. Building Characteristics: 1. Building type/type of foundation, yes. 2. Building code 
design level/date of construction, yes. 3. Roof material, yes. 4. Roof construction, yes. 5. Vegetation, no. 
6. Topography, yes. 7. Distance from the hazard zone, yes.

Hazard: Landslide. Building Characteristics: 1. Building type/type of foundation, no. 2. Building code 
design level/date of construction, no. 3. Roof material, no. 4. Roof construction, no. 5. Vegetation, no. 
6. Topography, yes. 7. Distance from the hazard zone, yes.

Hazard: Wildfire. Building Characteristics: 1. Building type/type of foundation, no. 2. Building code 
design level/date of construction, yes. 3. Roof material, yes. 4. Roof construction, yes. 5. Vegetation, yes. 
6. Topography, yes. 7. Distance from the hazard zone, yes.


Two examples are provided in this 16-column table. 
First example. 1. name and address of asset subject to hazard— Hazardville Opera House on 50 
Main Street, 2. date of construction/creation is 1905, 3. type of property/type of resource is 
commercial building, 4. square footage is 40,000, 5. structural system is concrete, 6. primary 
material(s) of property/resource are brick veneer, concrete, plaster ceiling, 7. current function/use 
is community center, 8. current condition is good, 9. owner is interested in mitigation (Town is 
owner), 10. level of property vulnerability is medium, 11. loss to structure is $300 K, 12. loss to 
contents is $150 K, 13. loss of function or use is $30 K, 14. displacement cost is $190 K, 15. 
total loss for hazard event is $670 K, and 16. level of community value for ranking purposes is 
medium.
Second example. 1. name and address of asset subject to hazard—Lehman Gardens on the Corner of Main and North, 
2. date of construction/creation is 1840, 3. type of property/type of resource is a park, 
4. square footage is 43,560, 5. structural system is not applicable, 6. primary material(s) of property/resource are 
marble statues, granite gravestones, metal historic streetscape furniture, and heirloom roses, 
7. current function/use is public garden, 8. current condition is excellent, 9. owner is interested in mitigation (Town is owner), 
10. level of property vulnerability is high, 11. loss to structure is not applicable, 12. loss to contents is $20 K, 
13. loss of function or use is not applicable, 14. displacement cost is not applicable, 
15. total loss for hazard event is $20 K, and 16. level of community value for ranking purposes is high.
END OF WORKSHEET #3]


For each hazard identified in Step 1, your team will use the information from its inventory 
to fill in Columns 1–8 of Worksheet #3. At a minimum, your team should consider 
collecting the following information on historic properties and cultural resources identified 
in the inventory:
1.	Name and Address/Location of Asset Subject to Hazard;
2.	Date of Construction/Creation;
3.	Type of Property/Type of Resource;
4.	Square Footage;
5.	Structural System;
6.	Primary Material(s) of Property/Primary Materials of Resource;
7.	Current Function (for Properties);
8.	Current Condition; and 
9.	Building Characteristics (for Properties) (Building Type/Type of Foundation, Roof 
Materials, Roof Construction, Vegetation, Topography, Distance from the Hazard 
Zone).

Additional information to collect for your inventory includes:
Tax ID Number; 
Distinguishing Characteristics; and 
Party Responsible for Maintenance.

The first eight items in this list correspond to the first eight columns in Worksheet #3. 
The building characteristics needed for the ninth item will depend on the hazard type. 
See the Building Data Requirement table in Worksheet #3 for applicable data and add 
the necessary number of columns to the worksheet. 

This information should be entered into a computerized database in order to run queries 
and analyses. A spreadsheet modeled on Worksheet #3 can serve the purpose, as this 
data should eventually be imported into, or linked to, a GIS. If limited time is available to 
address all of the historic properties and cultural resources contained in your community, 
consider using representative properties for initial planning purposes. 

Conducting a Survey of Historic Properties and Cultural Resources

If an existing inventory of historic properties and cultural resources is not available, or is 
inadequate, your team will have to conduct its own survey. (This inventory will prove to 
be an invaluable source of information for both the hazard mitigation planning process 
and other planning efforts.)
Although the prospect of conducting a survey of historic properties and cultural 
resources may seem daunting, several resources are available to assist you (e.g., you 
can enlist the aid of a variety of individuals, from volunteers and students to 
professionally qualified consultants). Moreover, several public sector professionals are 
available to provide guidance to your team on appropriate methodologies, funding 
sources, etc. Among the most important resources to tap into is the Survey Coordinator 
from the SHPO/THPO office, as they can assist in determining the focus for such a 
survey. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Survey Guidelines
Many local and State planning and preservation offices have published guidelines on how 
to conduct a survey of historic properties. Readily available guidelines describe the 
qualifications and experience of individuals who should conduct the survey, what kind of 
photographic documentation is required, and what types of information are needed to 
complete the survey forms. One of your most useful sources of information for conducting 
your survey will be National Register Bulletin 24: Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for 
Preservation Planning, accessible at http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb24.
END SIDEBAR]

Additionally, your team should consult the Hazards Profile developed in Step 2 to 
ascertain the areas that have been identified as having a significant hazard threat. 
These areas should receive high priority for the initial survey effort, with less threatened 
areas to be surveyed in subsequent project phases.

[TIP SIDEBAR: Saving Time and Resources
If you cannot complete a comprehensive survey of historic properties and cultural 
resources located within the planning area, consider what you can do with the time 
available. For example, by simply examining old maps, you can identify areas where it is 
highly likely historic properties will be found. Additionally, taking digital photographs of 
representative historic properties and streetscapes may also be useful. While these 
activities won’t yield a comprehensive inventory, they will help to make a good start.
END SIDEBAR]

[TIP SIDEBAR: Rapid Visual Screening for Seismic Zones 
A tool available to help you quickly identify, inventory, and rank buildings most at risk from 
a seismic event is called rapid visual screening. This methodology uses a form for a 
“sidewalk survey” which the screener fills out based on visual observation of the building 
from the exterior, and if possible, the interior. The form includes space for documenting 
building identification information, including its use and size, a photograph of the building, 
sketches, and documentation of pertinent data related to seismic performance, including 
the development of a numeric seismic hazard score. To learn more about this 
methodology, see FEMA Publication 154: Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for 
Potential Seismic Hazards: A Handbook. 
END SIDEBAR]

Note that a historic property and cultural resource survey may be undertaken for one 
property or one set of resources, or for several thousand. Also note that the process for 
identifying below ground archeological properties will differ from an aboveground 
architectural survey. Surveys undertaken for archeological sites often include limited 
sampling and an examination of historic land use patterns. Surveys for cultural 
resources, such as museum collections, will also differ. While the effort and 
techniques are variable, the goal for such surveys is always to document important 
information about these resources.

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Don’t Develop Your Mitigation Options Without A Definitive 
Survey
Initial or windshield surveys can miss historic buildings or potentially historic buildings. A 
very important building may be located within an otherwise non-important block and lose 
out as a result. Disasters may also yield additional information/reveal previously hidden 
materials that were not readily visible before (buildings surveyed as non-historic could lose 
a later exterior cladding, revealing the original historic facade, as happened in the 
California Northridge earthquake in 1994.)
END SIDEBAR]

[TIP SIDEBAR: Be Comprehensive
Your plan should also account for historic properties and cultural resources that are yet 
undiscovered. Certain types of historic properties—particularly those not yet identified or 
conserved—are also uniquely vulnerable to hazard events. During some hazard events, 
archeological resources previously buried or submerged in water may become exposed. 
For example, prehistoric sites along waterways may be unearthed by erosion due to 
flooding. Once-buried wells, privies, cellar holes, graves, building foundations, and 
artifacts may become flooded or exposed during a seismic event. A shipwreck might 
become dislodged or damaged by wave action. Archeological resources made of organic 
materials are especially vulnerable if they are located adjacent to waterways prone to 
flooding. 

[GRAPHIC: PHOTO OF STEEP CLIFFS.
CAPTION: Eroded fields in Chilton County, Alabama, April 1937.
END GRAPHIC] END SIDEBAR]

Information received during the survey will be recorded on inventory forms. These forms 
often vary in design from State to State. Regardless of whether your team is surveying a 
few properties/resources or is surveying districts containing large concentrations of 
resources, standard information should be collected and recorded on the inventory 
forms. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Field Surveys in Milton, Pennsylvania
The community worked with consultants to survey the historic properties vulnerable to 
floods. The community selected 100 properties to survey in its National Register-listed 
historic district, using a field survey form developed for this project. The consultants later 
input the results of the survey into a database that was linked to a GIS program for 
analysis.

[GRAPHIC: PICTURE OF THE HAZARD MITIGATION/HISTORIC DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FIELD SURVEY FORM.
END GRAPHIC] 
END SIDEBAR]


[TIP SIDEBAR: Consider a Variety of Features 
When Surveying a Historic Property
Include secondary buildings, landscape features and setting, archeological sites, and any 
art, artifact and antique collections, etc. 
END SIDEBAR]


[TIP SIDEBAR: New Curatorial Facility at Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve 
It is important to remember that some cultural resources—such as works of art, books, or 
historic documents—may be located in buildings that are not historic. For example, four 
national park units in Northeast Florida recently collaborated on construction of a new 
curatorial building to house their museum collections. Timucuan Ecological and Historic 
Preserve and Fort Caroline National Memorial, located in Jacksonville, are jointly 
managed, as are Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and Fort Matanzas National 
Monument, located an hour south in St. Augustine.
A unique sharing of resources between the parks made the facility possible. Although the 
Castillo had the money to fund its own building, all of its parkland is at or near sea level, 
between the Intercoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. After Hurricane Floyd 
threatened Northeast Florida in 1999, and park staff had to scramble to move the museum 
collection to higher ground, Castillo superintendent Gordie Wilson realized that “… we 
were putting people and collections at risk on a regular basis.” He looked at other space in 
St. Augustine, but the low elevation of the whole city, as well as cost and lease 
agreements of rental space on a higher floor, ruled out that option. Wilson approached 
Timucuan Superintendent Barbara Goodman, knowing that Timucuan Preserve contains 
land above the 100-year floodplain.

[GRAPHIC: PHOTO OF OUTSIDE OF 1-STORY BUILDING.
CAPTION: Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve building, sited 40 feet above sea 
level, safely houses museum collections of four national parks in Jacksonville, Florida.
END GRAPHIC]

The new curatorial facility was designed in 2001, and constructed in 2003. The result is a 
new 3,500-square-foot building, funded through the Castillo 80% Fee Demo program and 
located near Timucuan headquarters at approximately 40 feet above sea level. 
The building contains two large rooms to store archives and three dimensional objects 
separately, as well as a much needed work area, a research room, and an office. The 
facility is climate- and humidity-controlled and has fire suppression and alarm systems. 
Collections consist primarily of archeological objects systematically excavated from the 
parks as well as a large archival collection encompassing much of the history of Castillo 
de San Marcos. Historical objects, such as books, household goods, and architectural 
fragments from the Castillo are also contained in the collection.

The collections for Timucuan and Fort Caroline were previously stored in two cramped 
rooms with limited air conditioning, minimal humidity control, and a security system in only 
one area. The rooms had both exceeded their storage capacity and contained no work 
space. The Castillo and Fort Matanzas collections were stored in a stand-alone Bally 
Building at sea level.

Had the new building not been completed by spring 2004, park staff from both facilities 
would have been hurriedly moving collections prior to the rash of hurricanes that hit 
Florida later in the summer. Instead, the collections were already safe and staff could 
spend time securing other facilities and park resources. The four parks’ museum 
collections are now stored according to NPS guidelines and these unique cultural 
resources will no longer be deteriorating in poor environmental conditions and subject to 
potential tidal surges. 
END SIDEBAR]

To make sure you have not missed any important piece of information in your survey, 
consult the various experts you identified in Phase 1, Worksheet #1. 

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Sensitivity of Information
Some information on historic properties and cultural resources may be so highly sensitive or 
private that it should not be included in the publicly available hazard mitigation plan. Examples 
include specific locations of culturally sensitive archeological sites and the value of 
significant archival collections, museum contents, or artifacts. Moreover, you should treat 
any information you find on the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and on security plans and 
systems as highly sensitive. Sensitive information should not be included in the main body of 
the mitigation plan, but rather in an addendum to which access is controlled. For guidance on 
how to protect sensitive information contained within your inventory, see Phase 4, 
Consideration 1: Sensitivity of Information. 
END SIDEBAR]

Finally, remember that a survey without input from community members is a survey that 
lacks legitimacy. Therefore, it is extremely important to solicit the input of the public early 
in the survey process. 
Once the survey is completed, the next task is to determine which of the identified 
properties/resources are most important to the community, and to set preservation 
priorities accordingly.

Task B. Establish preservation priorities.

Once the inventory of historic properties and cultural resources is complete, your team 
will be tasked with answering the following question: “Which property/resource would the 
community miss most if it were lost?” 

In attempting to answer this question, your team will need to determine the value the 
community places on these historic properties and cultural resources. Whereas some 
communities define themselves by skyscrapers, others may identify themselves with a 
particular landscape, neighborhood, or even sculpture. These assets are considered to 
be “preservation priorities.” Not only do these icons provide invaluable information about 
the past, but their loss would also provoke a public outcry. In addition to providing a 
“sense of place,” they may also serve as potentially valuable economic centers, 
commercial cornerstones, or important pieces of infrastructure. Examples include the 
retention of historic buildings along a river’s edge incorporated into a regional “riverwalk” 
system, or archeological sites in a flood-prone area protected and integrated into a 
neighborhood environmental education and discovery center. Thus, preservation of 
properties and resources like these would be conducive to strengthening and 
maintaining a sustainable community—a general goal of the hazard mitigation plan. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Artistic and Cultural Collections
Consider artistic and cultural collections that are valuable assets to your community. Many 
communities have created mitigation plans that focus on the uniqueness of artistic or 
cultural collections, and use these to achieve economic development and tourism goals. In 
some cases, this may represent the entire community, such as the Taos Pueblo in Taos, 
New Mexico. In other cases, museums that house such collections focus on particular 
types of cultural resources, such as the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. 
Other institutions may highlight significant events in a jurisdiction’s history, such as the 
Johnstown Flood Museum in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, or may display a wide range of 
historic records and artifacts related to the formation and development of a town or region. 
An excellent example of this type of museum is the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, 
Kentucky, which is home to an extensive collection of original manuscripts, Daniel 
Boone’s famous “Kill a Barr” carving, handmade quilts, Civil War artifacts, photographs 
and prints, and the most extensive collection of antebellum portraiture in Kentucky. 
END SIDEBAR]

[TIP SIDEBAR: Storage Procedures
Developing appropriate storage procedures for moveable heritage (e.g., collections of 
artifacts, special collections of a local library, school, or college, and written histories) will 
be an important part of your plan. For example, you may wish to relocate significant items 
stored in hazard-prone areas or buildings to less hazard-prone areas.
END SIDEBAR]

In Task B, the goal for your team is to establish a working hierarchy of preservation 
priorities for the community. Once established, these preservation priorities (also 
referred to in this guide as a preservation hierarchy) will provide a basis for important 
planning decisions that will be made by the planning team in Phase 3 of the hazard 
mitigation planning process—the part of the process when mitigation actions are 
evaluated. By viewing this hierarchy in conjunction with information on hazards, the 
community can consider ways to reduce disaster-related damage with a view to also 
preserving a community’s character. Given the potential abundance of information on 
historic properties and cultural resources in a community, setting preservation priorities 
is essential. Although each resource in your inventory may have an interesting story to 
tell, it is unlikely the community has the immediate ability to provide each historic 
property and cultural resource an equal level of attention in the hazard mitigation plan. 
To establish your preservation hierarchy, you will first determine the community value of 
each historic property and cultural resource, then organize your results by order of 
priority.

If you are having trouble creating a preservation hierarchy, consider asking for advice for 
a creative solution from a local planner, professional mediator, or a college class 
studying community planning.

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Communicate Regularly With Your Planning Team 
Throughout the priority-setting process, you must communicate regularly with members of 
your hazard mitigation planning team. If goals and objectives whose implementation could 
threaten historic properties or cultural resources are advanced, you will want to voice your 
concerns and resolve potential conflicts. An example of this would be the selection of a 
structural diversion mitigation alternative that would result in the demolition of a significant 
number of buildings in a designated historic district. Conversely, if you find that 
preservation potentially complements other mitigation goals, you will also want to make 
that known. An example of this might be the acquisition of land that achieves multiple 
community goals, such as preserving open space, maintaining natural features, and 
enhancing recreational opportunities.
END SIDEBAR]

Introduction to Worksheet #4 

You will use Worksheet #4: Determine Community Value for Historic Property and 
Cultural Resource Assets (see the following example and blank worksheet in 
Appendix C) to determine the level of community value. To arrive at this overall value, 
your team must first rank each asset in the categories listed in Columns 1–6 of 
Worksheet #4, which roughly correspond to the variables listed above. Then, 
qualitatively add the results of Columns 1–6 and fill in Column 7. Record this total in 
Column 16 of Worksheet #3. Although these two worksheets use rankings of high, 
medium, or low, any range of numbers, colors, symbols, or other signifiers can also be 
used to ascribe value. 


[SAMPLE Worksheet #4	Determine Community Value for Historic Property and 
Cultural Resource Assets	Phase 2, Step 3
List the name and address of vulnerable historic properties and cultural assets. For each asset 
(row), fill in columns 1 to 6. Define High, Medium, and Low for Columns 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 at the 
bottom of this worksheet (optional). Fill in Column 7 by qualitatively adding Columns 3 to 6. 
Enter the results of Column 7 in Column 16 of Worksheet #3.

Date: January 16, 2007

5 examples are provided in this 8 column table.
Example 1. Name and address of asset—Hazardville Opera House on 50 Main Street, 
1. historic designation is NR-listed, 2. geographic context of significance is State, 
3. level of significance is high, 4. public sentiment is low, 5. economic importance is medium, 
6. degree of integrity is low, and 7. total level of community value  is medium.
Example 2. Name and address of asset—Carruth House Museum on 22 Primrose Lane, 
1. historic designation is local landmark, 2. geographic context of significance is Local, 
3. level of significance is high, 4. public sentiment is medium, 5. economic importance is low, 
6. degree of integrity is high, and 7. total level of community value is medium.
Example 3. Name and address of asset—Carruth Archives on 35 North Street, 
1. historic designation is not listed, 2. geographic context of significance is State, 
3. level of significance is medium, 4. public sentiment is medium, 5. economic importance is low, 
6. degree of integrity is medium, and 7. total level of community value is low.
Example 4. Name and address of asset—Lehman’s Garden on the corner of Main and North, 
1. historic designation is NR-listed, 2. geographic context of significance is National, 
3. level of significance is medium, 4. public sentiment is high, 5. economic importance is high, 
6. degree of integrity is medium, and 7. total level of community value is high.
Example 5. Name and address of asset—Downtown District on Main Street, 
1. historic designation is NR-listed, 2. geographic context of significance is Local, 
3. level of significance is medium, 4. public sentiment is high, 5. economic importance is high, 
6. degree of integrity is medium, and 7. total level of community value is medium.
For column 1, historic designation, the asterisk means the designation level does not 
automatically correlate to the level of community value for ranking purposes.

END OF WORKSHEET #4]


1. Determine community value.

While all of a community’s historic properties and cultural resources are important, some 
do a better job in visually reflecting the community’s history, some are more important to 
the local economy, and some are better able to convey important information about the 
past. Moreover, the significance of some assets may not be immediately obvious to the 
outside “expert.” What may strike an outsider as an unimpressive artifact or piece of 
property may in fact be highly meaningful to the community. Thus, a variety of variables 
(e.g., economic importance or public sentiment) contributes to the overall value each 
historic property and cultural resource in your inventory holds for the community. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: New Uses for Old Structures
The structure pictured here is not what immediately comes to mind when we think of a 
historic property, yet it has great community value. Constructed circa 1850, this 
acorn-shaped gazebo is located in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, and is all that 
remains of the estate that gave this city its name. 
[GRAPHIC: PHOTO OF GAZEBO WHOSE ROOF IS ACORN-SHAPED.
END GRAPHIC]

Another unusual structure valued by its community is the Transfer House in Decatur, 
Illinois, built in 1895 to serve streetcar riders from the center of a downtown intersection. 
After streetcar service ended in 1936, the Transfer House serviced the bus lines. When the 
square was reduced in 1962 in the name of highway building, the Transfer House was moved 
to nearby Central Park. It languished there, serving as a shopper's resting place and, in season,
 as Santa's headquarters, until 1970. It was then renovated for use of the Downtown Decatur 
Council as offices and public information center. 

[GRAPHIC: PICTURE OF A POSTCARD ILLUSTRATING A 2-STORY OCTAGONAL 
BUILDING WHOSE 2ND FLOOR IS OPEN.
CAPTION:	Vintage postcard Illustration of the Transfer House, Decatur, Illinois.
END GRAPHIC]
 
[GRAPHIC: PHOTO OF THE RENOVATED TRANSFER HOUSE AND FOUNTAINS.
CAPTION: Renovated Transfer House in Central Park, Decatur, Illinois.
END GRAPHIC]
END SIDEBAR]

Due to the profusion of such variables, determining community value is not a science; 
however, it is still possible to approach the task in a structured way. Often local 
jurisdictions and States have already developed information that will help you determine 
community value of certain properties and resources. Local governments, private non-
profit historic preservation organizations, and SHPO offices have often developed plans 
that specify some of this information. As part of this task, you should check with your 
local historic preservation planner or SHPO for this information.

[TIP SIDEBAR: A Great Source of Information – State Historic Preservation Plans
As a condition of the receipt of Federal matching funds from NPS, SHPO offices are 
required to develop what are known as State historic preservation plans. These plans help 
guide each State’s approach to the identification, evaluation, and protection of historic 
properties. These plans integrate historic preservation into broader planning systems at 
local, regional, and State levels.

Each of these plans has a statewide focus, and usually describes key organizations that 
are active in historic preservation in each State. Each plan requires broad public 
involvement to ensure that the vision, issues, and goals of each plan are truly 
representative of a broad cross-section of the State. Preservation-relevant information on 
social, economic, political, legal, and environmental conditions, and trends, is an important 
component of each plan. Including information about these conditions is important, and 
helps shape how each State develops its program priorities, and carries out its historic 
preservation activities. Each plan also includes information on a wide range of historic 
properties, and often identifies specific property types that will be a special focus of 
preservation activities. Such plans may also contain information on cultural resources, if 
these resources are of concern to the public and professionals across the State.
State historic preservation plans represent broad statements of public policy regarding 
historic preservation. Your hazard mitigation planning team should employ these State 
historic preservation plans as general information guides, rather than technical 
encyclopedias that represent the sum of all knowledge regarding historic properties in a 
given State. Used in conjunction with data from State inventories, National Register 
listings, and historic context data, they represent invaluable information sources that 
should be actively used in shaping your hazard mitigation plan.
You should contact your SHPO office directly to obtain the most up-to-date version of this 
document, which is often available via the Internet. The NPS’ Historic Preservation 
Program Planning unit also provides readily accessible and updated information on these 
plans, as well as contact information in each State. Information current as of October 2004 
is included at: http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/pad/stateplans/planlist.htm.
END SIDEBAR]

[TIP SIDEBAR: Unique Preservation Priorities
The values you use to establish your preservation priorities are unique to the community. 
It is possible that your community’s preservation values may conflict with those of the 
larger jurisdiction, such as the county or State. For example, while your community may 
focus its preservation efforts on the oldest historic properties, State preservation goals 
may highlight the need to better protect and enhance more modern examples of historic 
properties, such as early 20th century residential communities. In such cases, you do not 
have to accept the priorities of the larger jurisdiction. Rather, you should document in your 
plan the process you followed to determine your preservation priorities. In this way, it will 
be clear to the community, county, State, or anyone else who reads the plan why you are 
pursuing a given course of action.
END SIDEBAR]

As you work with your community in setting preservation priorities, you may identify 
additional variables that factor into what the community considers valuable. By 
understanding how historic properties and cultural resources are important in other 
areas of your community’s life, you will be able to make a more informed choice about 
how to best protect those historic properties and cultural resources. The following list of 
variables acknowledges FEMA’s desire to encourage communities not only to consider 
the historic significance and informational value of an asset, but also to take into account 
other factors when making decisions about historic properties and cultural resources, 
such as economic potential. These variables are:

Public Sentiment;

Economic Importance;

Geographic Context of Significance;

Level of Significance; and

Integrity.

The next section will discuss each of these variables in depth. Careful consideration of 
these variables in relation to the resources contained in the inventory will help to 
determine the overall value of the community’s historic property and cultural resource 
assets.

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Community Value of Cultural Resources
In developing your preservation priorities or hierarchy, it may not be easy to determine the 
community value of cultural resources, such as archival collections and other moveable 
objects. There are, however, some basic questions you can answer to help you 
understand how some cultural resources may hold a greater value than others. For 
example, does the resource contain information relating to the surrounding community? Is 
it highly usable? 

Usability of a cultural resource is one key characteristic to consider. Is the resource 
organized or curated in such a way that its important information can be accessed by the 
public? If your cultural resource is an archival collection, does it have a finding guide? 
In addition, you may wish to evaluate how unique your cultural resource is. For example, 
is the information contained in a collection unique or is it duplicated in another collection 
stored at another institution or site? 
END SIDEBAR]
 
[SPECIAL SUBJECT BOX: Variables for Developing Community Value
Public Sentiment
Your assessment of public sentiment should be based on actual input from the public, 
rather than just your intuition. Public input will help you identify those resources held in 
high regard by the community (some of which may not strike an outsider as particularly 
impressive), as well as those which create less public sentiment, yet are still significant 
in their own right. You may have recorded the level of public sentiment towards your 
community’s historic properties and cultural resource as you researched in Phase 1 what 
has been done to date to protect these assets, and later as you undertook your inventory 
in Step 3 of Phase 2. If your team has determined the level of public sentiment for an 
asset in your inventory, that level should be entered into Column 4 of Worksheet #4. 
If your team does not know how the community feels about certain assets, there are a 
variety of methods that can be used to gather community input. Three effective methods 
are public meetings, questionnaires, and visual definition surveys. At public meetings, 
interested individuals have an opportunity to express their thoughts and reach 
consensus. In the questionnaire, respondents may be requested to list significant 
structures known to them. In the visual definition survey, community members are asked 
to place adhesive stickers on a large poster board of their community to highlight areas 
they believe to be of high significance. Once you obtain the public’s input, enter your 
results in Column 4 of Worksheet #4.

Economic Importance 
Historic properties and cultural resources do considerably more than provide a 
community with a unique sense of place. They can also provide an important attraction 
for potential residents and tourists. Examples include historic buildings used as 
museums and educational centers, as well as larger geographic areas such as Pike’s 
Place Market Historic District, a healthy, bustling community of merchants and residents 
in Seattle, Washington. Furthermore, neglected historic properties may be eligible for tax 
credits and other incentives for proper rehabilitation. Most importantly, these historic 
properties and cultural resources are nonrenewable and cannot be replaced or 
replicated. While potential economic importance is not the only reason a historic property 
should be prioritized, it is an important consideration in the decision-making process. 
Often local decision-makes are unaware of the economic potential of these properties. 
Showing decision-makers how these properties can be economic assets will help in 
ensuring that they are considered for preservation and enhancement as part of the 
hazard mitigation planning process.

[TIP SIDEBAR: Disasters and Heritage Tourism
The rain from Tropical Storm Alberto fell for 11 days. In one day alone, the town of 
Americus, Georgia, was inundated by 21 inches of rainfall. The commercial district of the 
town of Montezuma, Georgia, comprising 60 historic buildings, found itself covered by 14 
feet of water. By the time the 500-year flood event ended, President Clinton had declared 
78 counties in the State eligible for Federal disaster assistance.
Federal officials estimated damage at over $1 billion. Agricultural losses alone exceeded 
$100 million. Approximately 50,000 people fled their homes. The floods damaged more 
than 18,000 buildings, and destroyed more than 250 historic buildings. Thirty-three people 
perished. These numbers alone, however, do not fully convey the devastating impact of 
Tropical Storm Alberto upon the State of Georgia and its economic infrastructure.
Although one local newspaper reported that some considered Montezuma a ghost town 
that couldn’t come back…it did come back. A combination of Federal, State, and private 
non-profit funding was used to rebuild the town, which learned that historic preservation 
can be the foundation of economic and physical growth. The effort, in turn, brought a new 
industry—heritage tourism—to Montezuma, generated new life to the downtown area, and 
helped bring citizens together in a common cause. But if the communities wrecked by 
Tropical Storm Alberto had taken action well before the flood, they might have been able 
to reduce damages and losses from the flood. 
END SIDEBAR]

Examining local and regional planning data may give you an idea of the potential 
economic importance of the historic properties and cultural resources in your inventory. 
Are some of your properties located in a zone targeted for redevelopment and future 
investment? Are they already an important anchor of the local economy? Answers to 
these questions will help you understand how historic properties and cultural resources 
can contribute to a community’s economic future.

[TIP SIDEBAR: Economic Importance of Historic Properties and Cultural Resources
Thought should be given to the role these resources play in creating a diversity of housing 
options (e.g., converting warehouses into apartment lofts) and generating additional 
benefits to the community (e.g., serving as a revitalization engine).
END SIDEBAR]

Once the economic importance of assets in the inventory has been determined, it should 
be entered into Column 5 of Worksheet #4.

Historic Designation
Historic properties and cultural resources in a community may already have been 
designated as such under local historic preservation ordinances, State landmarks, or the 
National Register. It is likely, though, that many historic properties have not yet been 
evaluated. These properties should not automatically be discounted. It is important, 
therefore, to recognize past efforts and indicate designation or lack thereof of each asset 
in the inventory in Column 1 of Worksheet #4.  

Evaluating Significance 
Geographic Context of Significance (National, Tribal/State, Local). One way of 
determining significance is to evaluate properties or resources using a prescribed set of 
criteria. One of the best available sets is the Criteria for Evaluation developed by NPS, 
which is used to determine a historic property’s eligibility for listing in the National 
Register. The basis for a historic property’s significance rests on one or more of the 
following four factors (additional information is provided in Appendix A – Glossary):

Events important to broad patterns of our history;

Lives of persons important in our past;

Architectural and engineering design and construction; and

Information important in prehistory or history.

Historic contexts can help your team evaluate the significance of properties contained in 
your inventory. Specifically, a historic context is used by historians to compare a specific 
property type with other similar historic properties. Historic contexts that have been 
developed over the past two decades are usually on file in SHPO and THPO offices, and 
in some cases in local historic preservation agencies. 

[GLOSSARY SIDEBAR: Historic contexts 
Documents that specify certain themes, geographic areas, and chronological periods that 
provide perspective to evaluate a historic property’s significance. Historic contexts have 
been developed on a variety of geographic levels or scales. The geographic scale 
selected may relate to a pattern of human development, a political subdivision, or a 
cultural area. For example, a local historic context represents an aspect of the history of a 
town, city, county, cultural area, or region. A State historic context allows evaluation of a 
historic property when it represents an aspect of the history of the State as a whole. A 
national context would be employed when a historic property represents the history of the 
United States and its territories as a whole. Regardless of the scale, the historic context 
establishes the framework through which decisions about the significance of related 
historic properties can be made.

NPS has made extensive information on historic contexts available to the public, including 
information on approximately one-third of the 77,000 historic places listed in the National 
Register. As components of Multiple Property Submissions (MPS), information on groups 
of properties is available via the Internet. For more information, go to 
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/research/contexts.htm. 
END SIDEBAR]

As your team creates a list of preservation priorities, the process of establishing 
significance must be handled with care and diligence. Ultimately, there is no easy litmus 
test for defining significance; some of the challenges your team may face are described 
in the sidebar below. The careful use of a rigorous evaluation process and established 
criteria will help achieve community consensus in this important portion of the inventory 
process. 

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Defining Significance
Not all historic properties and cultural resources in your inventory will be equally significant 
or exceptional, however much they may appear to be. Properties with more significance 
than others might be those that are easily identifiable with historic trends, or that serve as 
exceptional examples of an architectural form or style. Among this subset of resources, 
you must still make comparisons. For example, although buildings associated with 
important historical figures may already have been identified and evaluated, their levels of 
significance may not have been compared.

Significant buildings might not always be large and impressive, but may actually be quite 
modest, such as a row of workers’ houses with simple front porches, closely set to the 
street. Although humble-looking, they may contain design elements that evoke a bygone 
era. Indeed, certain features may define a building’s character and link it with its historical 
past or architectural style—its ornate exterior construction materials, its interior room 
organization, or its placement within a working agricultural landscape. On the other hand, 
other features of the same building may contribute little to an understanding of the 
building’s history or overall significance.

Likewise, cultural resources with little value on the open market may be priceless to your 
community—for example, diaries or artwork produced by early residents, or an original 
first edition of the local newspaper from its inception 150 years ago. Other cultural 
resources may be valuable for their sheer rarity—an irreplaceable sculpture collection, a 
set of rare books, or antiques that once belonged to some renowned person.
The process of defining significance will take time and careful analysis. For example, 
although an important labor leader was born and raised in a certain house in your 
community, it may be the small apartment where he formed his labor union that is the 
more significant site. In another example, although a community has many streets 
containing examples of post-World War II suburban housing, it may be the street with the 
largest intact collection of the same type of house, with the same type of landscape, built 
by the same developer, which has the greater level of significance. Thus, the street 
nicknamed “Ranch House Heaven” would merit greater recognition in the evaluation 
process due to its abundance of ranch houses. Because it so thoroughly typifies a postwar 
ranch-house streetscape, it serves as an important example of postwar housing. In 
summary, training a critical eye on the evaluation process will ensure success in your 
efforts.
END SIDEBAR]

Once the geographic context of significance of historic properties and cultural resources 
has been determined, the significance level should be entered into Column 2 of 
Worksheet #4 - the geographic context level.

Level of Significance (High, Medium, Low). Whereas the geographic context of 
significance helps you understand where a property or resource is important, the level of 
significance helps you understand just how important that property or resource is. In 
other words, is the resource simply a representative example of a particular property 
type or historic trend, or is it an important and exceptional example?
When determining community value, it is useful to look at the level of significance of a 
historic property or cultural resource. The level of significance will provide you with some 
important information about the character and nature of the resource, which may prove 
useful as your team proceeds to define overall community value. For the purposes of 
this guide, the level of significance is defined in the following manner: High = Exceptional 
property or resource important to maintaining the unique character of the community; 
Medium = Important representative example which contains some unique details; and 
Low = Important, but other representative examples exist in the community. Fill in the 
level of significance in Column 3 of Worksheet #4.

Once you have determined the designation (or lack thereof) and level of significance, 
you may wish to consider combining the two variables. For example, you might 
categorize historic properties as “National Register Listed-Local Significance” or 
“Unevaluated-Regional Significance.”
Closely tied to level of significance is the integrity of a historic resource, discussed in the 
following section. 

Integrity 
After assessing the geographic context and level of significance of the historic properties 
and cultural resources in the inventory, the next step is to assess the integrity of those 
assets. Simply put, the integrity of a historic property is how well it conveys its 
significance. Remember that integrity focuses on the features of a historic property, and 
is not the same as condition, which pertains to appearance. The ability of a historic 
building to “tell its history”—to demonstrate historic themes and trends in a certain place 
and time period—heavily depends on its integrity. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: The Seven Aspects of Integrity
The National Register uses seven aspects of integrity to assess the eligibility of a 
historic property. Even if you are not assessing National Register eligibility, an 
understanding of these seven aspects of integrity will help guide you through determining 
the overall integrity of a historic property. These seven aspects of integrity are location, 
association, setting, materials, design, feeling, and workmanship. More information on 
assessing integrity is available from NPS in Chapter Seven of its Bulletin #15: How to 
Apply the Criteria for National Register Evaluation, found online at 
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb15/nrb15_7.htm. 
END SIDEBAR]

When evaluating integrity, it is important to document and evaluate all contributing 
historic design features. The removal or replacement of important design elements, such 
as windows and siding, may prevent a historic property from depicting some of its 
historic and architectural themes. 

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Renovation or modification may not diminish a building’s integrity
Someday, a recent remodeling or alteration might itself be considered historic. Therefore, 
significant architectural features may not always date from the time of original 
construction. For example, the relatively recent addition, in 1920, of wood clapboard siding 
on a remodeled log cabin dating back to 1840 does not necessarily diminish the building’s 
physical integrity. The siding in itself may be a historic design element and may not 
diminish the integrity of the property as a whole. For more information on this topic, see 
NPS Technical Brief #35: Understanding Old Buildings: The Process of Architectural 
Investigation by Travis McDonald, at http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief35.htm. 

[GRAPHIC: PHOTO OF HOUSE SHOWING DIFFERENT STYLES OF ARCHITECTURE.
CAPTION: Blythewood has three distinct sections: the 1820s main block (center), 1880s shed-
roofed addition (left), and 1920s Colonial Revival addition (right). Prince Georges County, 
Maryland.
END GRAPHIC] END SIDEBAR]


[TIP SIDEBAR: Summarizing Survey Results
Communities summarize the results of historic property integrity evaluations in a variety of 
ways. For example, the City of Chicago recently completed an ambitious project—a 
citywide survey of historic properties. More than 17,000 buildings or structures were 
identified as having at least a minimal level of significance. In order to better understand 
the significance and integrity of all of these properties, the City developed a color-coding 
system in which red properties were significant on a City, State, or national level, and 
orange properties were significant on a community or neighborhood level. As it turned out, 
only 300 of the 17,000 properties were categorized as “red,” with 9,600 categorized as 
“orange.” The system also assigned categories of green, yellow-green, and yellow to 
represent different degrees to which buildings had undergone alterations. Finally, “blue” 
properties were those constructed too recently to be considered for evaluation for 
significance, but whose significance may be reevaluated as time passes.
END SIDEBAR]

This process may also afford your team with an opportunity to evaluate the current 
condition of cultural resources, especially in regard to their ability to withstand hazard-
related damage. While some museums and other repositories may have already begun 
this process, there is a wealth of information available to assist in this effort.

[TIP SIDEBAR: Assessing Your Conservation Needs
Professional associations such as the American Institute for the Conservation of Artistic and 
Historic Works (AIC) maintain an extensive guide of qualified conservators experienced in a 
range of specialties, including books and paper, photographic materials, objects, paintings, 
architecture, wooden artifacts, and textiles. These conservators may be able to assist you in 
assessing the current conservation needs of your cultural resources, and may also be able to 
help you develop a site-specific disaster emergency plan for cultural resources. This free guide 
is available directly through AIC as well as on its Web site, located at http://aic.stanford/public/select.html. 
END SIDEBAR]

Once you have evaluated the integrity of each historic resource in your inventory, you 
should indicate the degree of integrity in Column 6 of Worksheet #4.
END SPECIAL SUBJECT BOX]

2. Determine overall community value.

By now, your planning team should have considered and evaluated a range of factors to 
determine the overall community value of the historic properties and cultural resources 
contained in its inventory. These would include public sentiment, potential economic 
importance, geographic context level, type of significance, and integrity. Taken together, 
all of these factors will be combined to generate an overall community value for each 
asset. Perhaps your community feels that it is appropriate to put more emphasis on one 
category than another; if so, you can consider the use of weighted multipliers.
Throughout your assessment of these factors, your planning team has been recording 
on Worksheet #4 the degree to which each factor contributes value to each asset within 
your inventory. To determine the overall community value of a specific asset, combine all 
the ranks assigned to that asset across all the factors noted in Columns 1–6 of 
Worksheet #4. This composite rank is your overall community value for that asset. You 
should record the value first in Column 7 of Worksheet #4 and then in Column 16 of 
Worksheet #3. 

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Not All Historic Properties and Cultural Resources are Created 
Equal
You should resist the temptation to consider every historic property and cultural resource 
as equally important in your preservation hierarchy. Remember that you are creating a 
preservation hierarchy that will help planners prioritize mitigation actions in the hazard 
mitigation planning process. As difficult as it may be to consider, some properties and 
resources in the hierarchy will need to be less of a priority than others. In the case where 
the area is small, intact, original enough, or of high integrity, then every historic property 
and cultural resource may rate as equally important. 
END SIDEBAR]

[TIP SIDEBAR: Mapping Historic Properties and Cultural Resources 
If you have a number of historic properties and cultural resources, your team may wish to 
create a map to display these. This map can be created by color-coding the community 
value assigned to each asset on a base map or using a GIS (see GIS discussion in Step 3, Task A, Part 1). 
A glance at the completed map will reveal a bell-curve distribution of community 
value for resources: a few resources of either high or low value, and several of average 
(medium) value. Likewise, you will find this same bell-curve distribution among the 
individual factors that comprise community value (e.g., a few resources of very high or low 
integrity, and many of average integrity).
Ultimately, this mapped preservation hierarchy will serve as an invaluable aid to your 
planning team as it attempts to prioritize mitigation options during the mitigation planning 
process. For example, highly significant areas, where preservation is a top priority, may be 
the focus of intensive mitigation efforts, whereas less significant areas may not require 
such concentration of effort. 
END SIDEBAR]

With the establishment of your preservation hierarchy, you are now ready to revisit the 
hazards you identified back in Step 1 and estimate the losses to the resources prioritized 
in your preservation hierarchy in Step 4.

This is the end of Step 3 of Phase 2. Following are questions you should ask yourself to 
determine if you have adequately addressed preparing your inventory and preservation 
hierarchy. These are followed by a Review Test you should use as a learning aid to help 
you check your understanding of key terms and concepts in inventorying assets.

Evaluate Your Community

Is GIS being used for the hazard mitigation plan? Does a GIS database already exist 
for historic properties and cultural resources?

If a GIS inventory does not exist, do you have an inventory in another format? If so, 
is it complete and up to date? Who manages and updates the inventory?

Have you been able to show on a map—using GIS or by hand—which resources lie 
in areas affected by more than one hazard? 

Were you able to evaluate the vulnerabilities to different hazards of the historic 
properties and cultural resources in your inventory? If not, where can you find 
assistance to assess vulnerabilities?

Did your preservation priorities conflict with other community plans and policies? If 
so, have you worked out these conflicts?

Have you clearly justified your preservation priorities and created a record of your 
evaluations?


Review Test (Select one answer for each question.)
1.	Where can you check to make sure you have all the existing data you need on 
historic properties and cultural resources in your community? 
a.	Your local planner.
b.	SHPO/THPO office.
c.	Local and State non-profit historical and cultural organizations.
d.	All of the above.

2.	A GIS is useful for:
a.	Providing rules of order for contentious public meetings.
b.	Producing maps that display many types of data that are tied to a particular 
location.
c.	Telling you where you can find more information on historic properties and 
cultural resources.
d.	None of the above.

3.	If a GIS is not available, you should:
a.	Give up. 
b.	Compile your data on a computerized spreadsheet based on Worksheet #3.
c.	Plot the location of historic properties and cultural resources by hand on a USGS 
map or a flood map of your community.
d.	Undertake the actions described in b and c.

4.	The level of community value for ranking purposes is based on:
a.	An exact mathematical formula.
b.	The geographic context of significance only.
c.	The best judgment that the team makes after evaluating an array of variables 
that contribute to community value.
d.	None of the above. 

5.	A property can be considered historic and worthy of consideration in the hazard 
mitigation plan only if it is listed in the National Register, a State landmarks list, or a 
local landmarks list.
a.	True.
b.	False.

6.	Which of the following, in your opinion, should rank first in the preservation 
hierarchy? Second? Third? State your reasons.
a.	A block of bungalows, some of which have been greatly altered, that were 
designed by a prominent local architect and date back to the 1920s.
b.	A privately owned house that is listed as a local landmark and that serves as an 
outstanding example of the Queen Anne style.
c.	The library, which was constructed in 1890, is listed in the National Register, 
contains diaries and photographs of the community’s founders, and is an 
excellent example of the Neoclassical architectural style.
d.	None of the above.

(Answers in Appendix D, Answers to Review Tests.)

Step 4

Estimate Losses

Step 4 will address the question “Which historic properties and cultural resources would 
result in the most financial damage to the community in the event they were damaged or 
destroyed?” In this step, your team will bring together the information gathered in Steps 
1–3 to estimate the potential losses to the community’s historic properties and cultural 
resources due to hazard events. To do this, your team will need to assess the level of 
damage as a percentage of structural and content replacement value, and functional and 
displacement value. See Worksheet #5: Estimate Total Losses for Historic 
Properties and Cultural Resources (see the following example and blank 
worksheet in Appendix C) for this step. 


[SAMPLE Worksheet #5	Estimate Total Losses for Historic Properties and Cultural Resources	Phase 2, Step 4

Make a copy of this worksheet for each hazard of concern.  Note the date and the hazard at the top of the worksheet. 
List each historic property or cultural resource asset. For each asset (row) calculate the structure, contents, function, 
and displacement losses. Enter each loss and total loss on Worksheet #3, as indicated.

Hazard:	Flood			Date: January 19, 2007

4 examples are provided in this 14 column table. 

Example 1. Name/description of structure—Hazardville Opera House.
Calculate structure loss for Hazardville Opera House.
Structure replacement value, $1,000,000, multiplied by
Percent damage, 30%, equals
Loss to structure, $300,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 11)

Calculate contents loss for Hazardville Opera House.
Replacement value of contents (professionally appraised for historic contents), $500,000, multiplied by
Percent damage, 30%, equals 
Loss of contents, $150,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 12) 

Calculate loss of function for Hazardville Opera House.
Average daily operating budget, $1,000, multiplied by 
Functional downtime in number of days, 30, equals
Total function loss, $30,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 13)

Calculate displacement cost for Hazardville Opera House.
Displacement cost per day, $1,000, multiplied by
Displacement time, 190, equals
Total displacement cost, $190,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 14)

Example 2. Name/description of structure—Carruth Archives.
Calculate structure loss for Carruth Archives.
Structure replacement value, $200,000, multiplied by
Percent damage, 20%, equals
Loss to structure, $40,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 11)

Calculate contents loss for Carruth Archives.
Replacement value of contents (professionally appraised for historic contents), $250,000, multiplied by
Percent damage, 20%, equals 
Loss of contents, $50,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 12) 

Calculate loss of function for Carruth Archives.
Average daily operating budget, $300, multiplied by 
Functional downtime in number of days, 22, equals
Total function loss, $6,600 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 13)

Calculate displacement cost for Carruth Archives.
Displacement cost per day, $100 multiplied by
Displacement time, 126, equals
Total displacement cost, $12,600 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 14)

Example 3. Name/description of structure—Downtown District.
Calculate structure loss for Downtown District.
Structure replacement value, $3,000,000, multiplied by
Percent damage, 30%, equals
Loss to structure, $900,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 11)

Calculate contents loss for Downtown District.
Replacement value of contents (professionally appraised for historic contents), $750,000, multiplied by
Percent damage, 30%, equals 
Loss of contents, $225,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 12) 

Calculate loss of function for Downtown District.
Average daily operating budget, $5,000, multiplied by 
Functional downtime in number of days, 30, equals
Total function loss, $150,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 13)

Calculate displacement cost for Downtown District.
Displacement cost per day, $7,500, multiplied by
Displacement time, 190, equals
Total displacement cost, $1,425,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 14)

Example 4. Name/description of structure—Lehman Gardens.
Calculate structure loss for Lehman Gardens, not applicable.
Loss to structure, not applicable (enter in Worksheet 3, column 11)

Calculate contents loss for Lehman Gardens.
Replacement value of contents (professionally appraised for historic contents), $200,000, multiplied by
Percent damage, 10%, equals 
Loss of contents, $20,000 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 12) 

Calculate loss of function for Lehman Gardens, not applicable.
Total function loss, not applicable (enter in Worksheet 3, column 13)

Calculate displacement cost for Lehman Gardens, not applicable.
Total displacement, cost not applicable (enter in Worksheet 3, column 14)

The total for structure loss is $670,000; the total for content loss is $109,200; the total for loss of function 
is $2,700,000; and the total for displacement cost is $20,000.
The total loss for hazard event is $3,499,200 (enter in Worksheet 3, column 15). This was obtained by 
adding structure loss ($670,000) plus content loss ($109,200) plus function loss ($2,700,000) plus 
displacement cost ($20,000).

END OF WORKSHEET #5]


Before you begin to estimate losses, first check to see if these calculations have not already been 
made as part of the hazard mitigation planning effort. If so, you can simply use these estimates, 
making appropriate adjustments for historic values. Additionally, you are strongly advised to 
review FEMA 386-2: Understanding Your Risks, Identifying Hazards and Estimating Losses 
before delving into Step 4 of Phase 2. The loss estimation tables provided in Step 4 of FEMA 
386-2 should be used to complete Task A. These tables have been adapted from various sources, 
including Means Square Foot Cost publication, Hazards U.S. (HAZUS), and FEMA’s Benefit-
Cost Analysis module. For more a detailed analysis, refer to the source(s) listed for each table. 


[TIP SIDEBAR: Hazards US (HAZUS) 
FEMA's Mitigation Division recently released HAZUS-MH MR1 (HAZUS-Multi-Hazard 
Version 1.1), an updated and revised version of HAZUS-MH, a powerful risk assessment 
software program for analyzing potential losses from floods, hurricane, winds, and earthquakes. 
Included with the new release are an updated version of the Building Inventory Tool (BIT), the 
Inventory Collection Survey Tool (InCAST), and the Flood Information Tool (FIT). These three 
data input tools have been developed to support data collection. InCAST helps users collect and 
manage local building data for more refined analyses than are possible with the national level 
data sets that come with HAZUS. InCAST was released in 2002 with expanded capabilities for 
multi-hazard data collection. BIT allows users to import building data and is most useful when 
handling large datasets (over 100,000 records), such as tax assessor records. FIT helps users 
manipulate flood data into the format required by the HAZUS flood model. 
Federal, Tribal, State, and local government agencies and the private sector can order 
HAZUS-MH free-of-charge from the FEMA Distribution Center. 
Please visit the FEMA Web site for more information: http://www.fema.gov/hazus/.
END SIDEBAR]

In using these tables, you will find that loss estimation tables have been developed for floods, 
earthquakes, and coastal storms, but not for tornadoes, landslides, tsunamis, and wildfires. In 
these cases, you can base your loss estimations either on the full value of historic properties and 
cultural resources located within a given hazard area or on past community experience with those 
types of hazards. For example, if your community is vulnerable to wildfires, your estimate of 
loss to a wildfire would be based on the number of assets, such as infrastructure, timber, and 
other community resources, that were destroyed in past wildfire events. For further explanation 
on how to use these tables, see FEMA 386-2, page 4-3. 

[GLOSSARY SIDEBAR: Loss estimation table 
A loss estimation table projects the losses likely to be sustained due to a specific type of hazard 
event (e.g., floods) based on observed past damages. Estimated losses are provided for different 
magnitudes of the hazard and are expressed as a percentage of replacement cost. 
END SIDEBAR]

[CAUTION SIDEBAR: Using Loss Estimation Tables
Currently, no standardized loss estimation table or damage curve exists for historic properties 
and cultural resources. Therefore, the loss estimation tables provided in FEMA 386-2 should only be used as a 
broad planning tool for estimating losses to historic properties and cultural resources. You may 
wish to develop alternative tools for loss estimation, or highlight historic properties slated for 
detailed loss analysis in the future. Moreover, loss estimation tables and standardized damage 
curves represent the cumulative data on average loss gathered from many thousands of hazard-
prone buildings. Many of these buildings may not be representative of the historic buildings in 
your community. For example, they may be of more recent construction or of a different 
construction method. Although loss estimation tables and standardized damage curves are an 
imperfect tool, they may still be an important aid in the hazard mitigation decision-making 
process. 
END SIDEBAR]

Task A. Determine the extent of damages.

It is important to remember that potential losses to a historic property or cultural resource go 
beyond the immediate dollar value of materials and labor needed for repair. Your total estimate 
of the costs of expected losses will take into account several different types of losses, including 
the following: 

Losses to Historic Properties or Cultural Resources (Column 11 of Worksheet #3);

Losses to the Contents of the Historic Properties (Column 12 of Worksheet #3);

Losses to the Use and Function of Historic Properties or Cultural Resources (Columns 13 of 
Worksheet #3); and 

Losses due to Displacement Costs (Column 14 of Worksheet #3).

In Task A, you will calculate the expected losses to the structure and content, along with the 
functional loss and displacement cost. In Task B you will add these losses together to obtain 
total loss estimates for each asset and for the hazard as a whole.

Worksheet #5 will help guide you through the four types of calculations required to estimate 
losses to structures, contents, functional downtime, and displacement. You will make these 
calculations for each hazard identified in Step 1 of this risk assessment. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Estimating Seismic Rehabilitation Costs
FEMA has two publications to aid your team in estimating seismic rehabilitation costs. FEMA 
156: Typical Costs for Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings Volume 1 – Summary, and 
FEMA 157: Typical Costs for Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings Volume 2 – Supporting 
Documentation. Both publications can be ordered through the FEMA Publications Warehouse by 
calling 1-800-480-2520.
END SIDEBAR]

1. Estimate losses to structure.

Before you can calculate the estimated percent damage to a structure, you must first determine 
the replacement value of the resource. As discussed below, arriving at the replacement value of 
historic properties and cultural resources requires careful consideration of historic design 
features.

[GLOSSARY SIDEBAR:  Replacement value
A replacement value represents the approximate cost of the contemporary reconstruction of an 
existing building, structure, or cultural resource. The replacement value is used in determining 
the cost-effectiveness of various hazard mitigation alternatives.
END SIDEBAR]

While several methods exist for determining a fair market value for historic properties, especially 
buildings, no established method is available for determining a replacement value for historic 
properties. It is a difficult task to place a dollar value on the craftsmanship exhibited by many 
historic properties, particularly when the types of materials and skilled labor that went into such 
work are no longer readily available. It is nearly impossible to provide an accurate valuation 
when craftsmanship is truly unique. Assigning a replacement value to certain cultural resources, 
such as works of art, original photographs, or documents may be even more difficult. 
Despite this challenge, defining a reasonable replacement cost allows historic properties and 
cultural resources to more effectively be integrated into the hazard mitigation planning process. 
Replacement values for historic properties and cultural resources can vary significantly. For 
example, methods for treating historic properties and cultural resources following a disaster can 
deviate significantly, ranging from standard repair and rehabilitation to a more careful (and often 
more expensive) level of museum-quality conservation or restoration. Moreover, the costs of 
materials required for rehabilitation often vary widely from region to region. 
As you develop an idea of the replacement value of your historic properties and cultural 
resources, it is important to remember that these resources are non-renewable resources—they 
cannot truly be replaced by duplicates or facsimiles. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: Involvement of Property Owner in Determining Replacement Value
Owners may also be a valuable source of information on the replacement value of historic 
properties and their contents. Some institutions or landowners, however, may be hesitant to 
reveal the actual value of their properties. 

These owners should be assured that they can provide planners with the dollar values they 
require for planning purposes, but that the amount will be classified as sensitive and not included 
in the plan. Additionally, if it makes the owners more comfortable, they can cite a value range—
between $100,000 and $120,000, for example—instead of a precise value, or state the value of 
the contents as a percentage of the structure’s value. 

Some institutions may not know the value of their artifacts or parts of their collections. In these 
cases, they can report the percentage of their holdings that are considered unique or 
irreplaceable. This figure can still be useful in prioritizing mitigation actions. 
END SIDEBAR]

One way to determine replacement values for what are essentially irreplaceable resources is to 
combine standard cost estimating techniques used for new construction with approximate costs 
of post-disaster rehabilitation based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for 
Rehabilitation of Historic Structures. 
These guidelines, as well as other guidelines from NPS, will also help in determining 
replacement values for historic properties. Of great assistance will be the documentary 
photographs and field notes you took during your survey of the property in Step 3. For 
appraising cultural resources, it may be necessary to work with a professional appraiser or 
experienced conservator. Reviewing insurance policies may also help you to estimate their 
replacement value. More detailed methods for replacement valuation are described in the section 
below.

[SPECIAL SUBJECT BOX: Recommended Methods for Replacement Valuation of Historic 
Properties
In estimating losses to a building, you must first determine the replacement value of a historic 
property. One recommended method for determining the replacement value of historic properties 
is to organize information in a standard valuation format using a common construction costing 
guide, such as the one published by RS Means. Such costing guides place buildings and 
structures into several different quality-based categories of per-square-foot construction costs, 
based on such factors as height and level of detail and craftsmanship. 

[TIP SIDEBAR: How do I determine a replacement value of a historic property?
Using a common construction costing guide, you should:

Determine the appropriate style category to which the property belongs by examining the 
pictures provided in the guide. Look for similar design features, as well as level of ornament and 
detail.

Establish a basic square-foot cost based on the basic structural system, using extra costs for other 
structural features such as chimneys and porches. These extra costs classifications are listed in 
the guide.

Use the local construction cost multipliers provided in the guide to find the construction cost 
multiplier appropriate for your community; use this figure to calculate your final cost.

For unique property features, consider using additional multipliers specific to your community 
or site-specific cost exceptions. 
END SIDEBAR]

You may notice that some of the new buildings in your community resemble certain historic 
structures. This is not surprising, since certain popular architectural styles have often been 
revived throughout history. 

Because many contemporary buildings or structures listed in the RS Means guide and other 
similar construction costing guides are alike in basic external appearance to historic buildings 
and structures, it is relatively easy to place many historic properties into different categories of 
construction costs. 

However, due to the high level of architectural detail that is often present in historic properties, 
many historic buildings and structures should be placed into a higher Means or construction 
guide category indicating a higher level of detail or construction quality. In addition, you should 
adjust your estimate to account for local construction costs and any unique or site-specific 
characteristics. For example, certain exceptions and allowances should be made for unique 
decorative features, such as curved glass windows, turrets, or detailed cornices. A qualified 
preservation architect, a contractor experienced in historic building rehabilitation, or other 
appropriate design or construction professionals will be able to assist you in the development of 
site-specific or unique cost exceptions and allowances. 

Perhaps your community has some highly unusual, one-of-a-kind historic properties and cultural 
resources for which there is no easy comparison or cost category. These might include places and 
structures as diverse as a sod house, a traditional cultural landscape feature, or a unique example 
of commercial roadside sculpture. For these truly unique assets, you should make a list of their 
most unusual or unique aspects. For example, a property may serve as the venue for an annual 
community cultural gathering, or be an exceptional example of architecture that draws tourists 
regionally or nationally. Once you have compiled your list of unusual features, examine it for 
those items which have a well-defined dollar value. This may include annual costs associated 
with the continual upkeep of unique design features. When standard cost estimating techniques 
are inadequate for determining a replacement value for a highly unusual historic property, you 
can explore alternative methods of replacement valuation. If you do decide to pursue other 
methods, remember to keep a written paper record justifying your decisions.

If your community is undertaking a large-scale hazard mitigation plan encompassing hundreds or 
even thousands of historic properties, it may lack the time, money, or other resources needed to 
develop detailed individualized replacement costs, especially those requiring multiple cost 
exceptions for historic design features. Although these more detailed estimates provide a greater 
degree of accuracy, your community can instead develop a specialized multiplier for each 
historic property that you add to the standard estimated replacement value for similar standard, 
modern construction to account for locally unique cost considerations. This multiplier should be 
based on the average costs of potential post-disaster rehabilitation of historic design features 
found in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Such a multiplier will be 
useful if many of your community’s historic properties have similar or typical historic features. 

To formulate this community-specific multiplier, you may want to investigate a variety of local 
or regional sources, such as the following:

Insurance claims and post-disaster reports for historic properties and cultural resources in 
your community, or for similar properties facing similar hazards in other communities in your 
region. 

Local, State, or Federal financial incentive programs, that encourage appropriate rehabilitation of 
historic properties (e.g., tax credits for rehabilitation). Do the figures used by these programs 
accurately reflect the potential costs for post-disaster rehabilitation? Could these figures be used 
in support of a multiplier for your project? 

Your SHPO/THPO, as well as local professionals experienced with historic buildings, may be 
able to tell you the typical features and costs associated with rehabilitating local historic 
properties. 

The needs of your community will determine whether you choose to establish a multiplier or 
pursue a more detailed analysis. Should you choose the multiplier, community needs will also 
determine the means by which you gather cost data to develop the multiplier.
END SPECIAL SUBJECT BOX]

Remember that you probably will not find a perfect match for every historic property in your 
preservation hierarchy. This means that replacement value data generated using either a costing 
guide or a multiplier will be approximate, and not exact. The replacement cost you assign to an 
essentially irreplaceable resource is, at best, imperfect. If you encounter concerns about 
replacement valuation, you can remind those concerned that many other factors about a historic 
property or cultural resource can influence the decision-making process. 
Once you have determined the structural replacement value of each historic property and cultural 
resource (when applicable) in your preservation hierarchy, you should multiply it by the percent 
damage expected to occur from a particular hazard event using the loss estimates tables in Step 4 
of FEMA 386-2. Record that value in Column 11 of Worksheet #3.

2. Estimate losses to contents of historic properties and cultural resources.

An additional consideration for estimating losses to historic properties is the replacement 
valuation of their contents. Many historic commercial and residential buildings contain items 
similar in value to those found in more contemporary buildings and structures. Certain historic 
properties, however (particularly museums, community centers, and historic sites), may contain 
valuable art, antiques, and furnishings, as well as other rare historic items. If your inventory does 
not list these cultural resources separately, you should include them in the contents valuation for 
the historic property. For these unique contents, it may be necessary to consult an antiques dealer 
or appraiser to determine their value or check existing insurance policies. In addition, important 
cultural resources such as archives or art may be located within a building that is not considered 
historic. 

Once you have determined the replacement value of the contents of a historic property, you 
should multiply it by the percent damage expected to occur from a particular hazard event using 
the loss estimates tables in Step 4 of FEMA 386-2. The product of this calculation will be the 
costs expected to be incurred by a community due to losses to the contents from that hazard 
event. For example, if the library’s content replacement value equals $225,000 and it is expected 
that 10 percent of its contents would be damaged by a 100-year flood, then estimated losses to 
these contents from such a flood would be $22,500.
Once you have estimated the content loss to the historic property or cultural resource, you should 
record that value in Column 12 of Worksheet #3.

[TIP SIDEBAR: Collections and Objects Damaged by a Disaster
To determine eligibility for FEMA funding for stabilization and treatment of collections and 
objects of exceptionally significant value after a disaster, see FEMA’s Collections and Individual 
Objects Policy at http://www.fema.gov/rrr/pa/9524_6.shtm. 
END SIDEBAR]

3. Estimate losses due to functional downtime and displacement time.

To estimate losses due to functional downtime and displacement, you are referred to pages 4-4 
and 4-5 of FEMA 386-2. Losses due to functional downtime are the costs associated with the amount of time a historic 
property is out of business, or the amount of revenue from visitors that would be lost if a site 
were destroyed. To determine tourism losses, the loss of revenue is calculated from the time the 
business is closed through the day the business resumes operations. As stated before, you can 
count either loss of revenue per day or loss of operating budget per day (based on the annual 
operating budget). To calculate functional downtime losses, multiply the average daily operating 
budget by the number of days that the business is closed. 

Displacement costs are associated with the amount of time a business or service is displaced 
from its original location. A standard of $1/square foot for rent, $500/month of additional costs, 
and a $500 one-time cost for the initial move can be applied. While these are the default values 
for a residential structure, higher costs can be applied as long as the applicant can support higher 
values through receipts or estimates. To derive displacement costs, calculate the daily 
displacement cost and multiply by the number of days the business or service would operate in 
its temporary location.

[GLOSSARY SIDEBAR:  Functional Downtime
Functional downtime is the number of days that a business would be closed due to damage from 
a hazard event before it could resume in another location.
Displacement Time
Displacement time is the number of days a business or service would operate away from its 
original location due to a hazard event. 
Displacement Cost
Displacement cost is the expense for a business or service to be relocated to another structure 
because of a hazard event. This cost can include the rent for temporary building space per month 
and a one-time cost to set up operations in the new place.
END SIDEBAR]

Once you have calculated losses due to functional downtime and displacement costs, you should 
record those values in Columns 13 and 14, respectively, of Worksheet #3.

Task B. Calculate the total loss for each hazard.

Now that you have completed all the calculations in Worksheet #5 for each historic property and 
cultural resource in your preservation hierarchy, sum the dollar value of the calculated losses to 
arrive at the total estimated damage for each hazard event. Transfer this information to Column 
15 of Worksheet #3.

Summary

With the completion of your calculations in Worksheet #5, you should have a good idea of which 
historic properties and cultural resources are subject to the greatest potential damage and which 
hazard event would produce the greatest potential losses. This information will aid you in 
prioritizing your mitigation actions in Phase 3.

This is the end of Step 4 of Phase 2. Following are questions you should ask yourself to 
determine if you collected sufficient data to carry out your calculations to estimate losses. These 
are followed by a Review Test to help you distinguish among the different types of costs 
involved in estimating losses. 


Evaluate Your Community 

Were you able to assess the costs of each potential hazard event for each resource on your inventory? Where will you look for missing information?

Did you determine the replacement value for unique historic properties?

Did you remember to estimate the replacement value for contents in museums, community centers, or 
historic sites?

Does your loss estimate include functional downtime and displacement costs? 


Review Test (Select one answer for each question.)
1.	Before you can calculate the estimated percent damage to a structure you must first 
determine the ___________ value. 
a.	expected.
b.	replacement.
c.	market.
d.	historic.

2.	To calculate losses due to displacement, multiply the displacement cost per day by 
___________.
a.	the number of customers who stop by. 
b.	the cost of all the utilities for one month.
c.	the number of days out of business.
d.	one month’s rent.

3	If you do not have loss estimation tables available it is acceptable to use historic data for 
your loss estimation.
a.	True.
b.	False.
c.	Only if you project the historic data into present value. 
d.	If FEMA gives you approval to do so.

4.	To determine the value of unique resources such as historic artifacts, antiques, or 
valuable art to calculate the content loss, you can:
a.	Consult an antiques appraiser.
b.	Check existing insurance policies.
c.	Both a and b.
d.	None of the above.

5.	Functional loss is:
a.	The cost of not being able to operate your business following a disaster.
b.	The measure by which a historic property fails to meet the standards of a modern 
building code.
c.	Damage to a structure caused by a natural or manmade disaster.
d.	Both b and c.

6.	Displacement cost is:
a.	The cost of moving your house out of a floodplain.
b.	The cost of putting a structure back on its foundation after it has been displaced by a 
flood.
c.	The cost for a business or service to be relocated to a temporary location after its normal 
location is damaged by a natural or manmade disaster.
d.	None of the above.

(Answers in Appendix D – Answers to Review Tests.)