Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program Definitions

Certified Historic Structure - a building (and its structural components) which is of a character subject to the allowance for depreciation which is either: individually listed on the National Register; or located in a registered historic district and certified by the Secretary as being of historic significance to the district .

Certified Rehabilitation - any rehabilitation of a certified historic structure which the Secretary has certified to the Secretary of the Treasury as being consistent with the historic structure and, where applicable, with the district in which such structure is located.

Duly Authorized Representative - a State or locality's Chief Elected Official or his or her representative who is authorized to apply for certification of State/local statutes and historic districts.

Historic District - a geographically definable are, urban or rural, that possesses a significant concentration, linkage or continuity of sites, buildings, structures or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development.

Inspection - a visit by an authorized representative of the Secretary of a SHPO to a certified historic structure for the purposes of reviewing and evaluating the significance of the structure and the ongoing or completed rehabilitation work

Preservation - is defined as the act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic property.

Property - a building and its site and landscape features.

Reconstruction - the act or process of depicting, by means of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific period of time and in its historic location.

Registered Historic District - any district listed in the National Register or any district which is:

• designated under a State or local statute which has been certified by the Secretary as containing criteria which will substantially achieve the purpose of preserving and rehabilitating buildings of significance to the district, and
• certified by the Secretary as meeting substantially all of the requirements for the listing of districts in the National Register

Rehabilitation - the process of returning a building or buildings to a state of utility, through repair or alteration, which makes possible an efficient use while preserving those portions and features of the building and its site and environment which are significant to its historic, architectural, and cultural values as determined by the Secretary.

Restoration - the act or process of accurately depicting the form, features, and character of a property as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of features from other periods in its history and reconstruction of missing features from the restoration period.