Whether you're working on a barn as a restoration specialist or an owner, the Barn Coalition recommends following a few important preservation principles known as the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Often referred to as the "Standards" for short, they were developed by the National Park Service (NPS) as an underlying philosophy to guide preservation planning. The Standards recommend maintaining distinctive features, repairing rather than replacing and, when deteriorated beyond repair, replacing historic building fabric with in-kind materials.

Secretary of the Interior's Standards

1. The property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment.
2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided.
3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.
4. Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.
5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a historic property shall be preserved.
6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.
7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible.
8. Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.
9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment.
10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.
    

For those projects that are beyond the capabilities of the average barn owner, the Barn Coalition has assembled a list of professionals organized geographically by county. Some people on this list are specialists in barn restoration; others are general contractors who are capable and willing to work on barns. An individual's presence on this list does not constitute the Barn Coalition's endorsement of their experience or skill. Before contacting anyone on the list for help, or beginning a project on your own, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Standards by reading the NPS's Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings. Any consultant or contractor hired should be familiar with the Standards, or at least be willing to employ them. Your own knowledge of the Standards will enable you to interview the contractor and then work with him or her to achieve preservation-oriented results. Barn owners should also note that most state or federal preservation incentives or grants, like the New York State Barn Restoration and Preservation Grant Program, require your project to meet the Standards.

Albany

Allegany

Broome

Cattaraugus

Cayuga

Chautauqua

Chemung

Chenango

Clinton

Columbia

Cortland

Delaware

Dutchess

Erie

Essex

Franklin

Fulton

Genesee

Greene

Hamilton

Herkimer

Jefferson

Lewis

Livingston

Madison

Monroe

Montgomery

Nassau

Niagara

New York City

Oneida

Onondaga

Ontario

Orange

Orleans

Oswego

Otsego

Putnam

Rensselaer

Rockland

Saratoga

Schenectady

Schoharie

Schuyler

Seneca

Steuben

St. Lawrence

Suffolk

Sullivan

Tioga

Tompkins

Ulster

Warren

Washington

Wayne

Westchester

Wyoming

Yates

Pennsylvania