ABSTRACT
Most historic buildings were designed and constructed before level and inclusive access was considered important. Ensuring long-term beneficial use for a building and easy public access will often require major intervention, but it is a challenge that should be met with creative enthusiasm. Fire compartmentation and fire detection, alarm and suppression systems, together with the fire engineering required to achieve safe means of escape, need to be finalised at this stage. The conservation plan needs to be brought to a conclusion so that it can be submitted as part of the planning/listed building consent application, but it should remain a live document, to be updated during later work stages and when the building is in use. Salvage proposals in particular need careful thought, and it is worth considering retaining salvage items for disposal by the client rather than leaving it to the contractor and then being embarrassed by items potentially appearing for sale online.
