THE DUTCH PRACTICE: MONUMENTENWACHT

The Dutch “Monumentenwacht” network, with a history of 40 years, assists the owners of monuments in performing their tasks. The Monumentenwacht Nederland Foundation was established in 1973 by a construction company dealing with monuments, and started working step by step in Friesland. Since the initiative serves public purposes, the state has provided support, in principle and financially as well, since the beginning. By establishing pro vincial units and a national umbrella organisation, the Monumentenwacht net work was set up within a few years.

Currently, there are ten Monumentenwacht organisations in twelve provinces of the country. Altogether, these organi sations inspect 20,000 monuments regu lar ly. This amounts to a quarter of the country’s cultural heritage, but 90% of the churches, for example, are included in that number. Since it was launched, Monu men ten wacht has carried out about 300,000 inspections.

The main purpose of the Monumen tenwacht service is to monitor the condi tion of monuments and to do minor repair work. The work is done by a team, usually constituting of two specialists who inspect the buildings at a previously arranged time. Their work takes half a day or a whole day, depending on the size of the building, and

is thoroughly documented in their report. The inspectors do not deal with major renovations; they only call the attention of owners to the problems, and the owners sub sequently carry out the preventive renovation by commissioning designers and specialists.

It is an essential feature of this approach that it serves the interest of the owners, first and foremost. The Monumen tenwacht is neither an official authority – though it has good connections with the authorities – nor a designer or contractor. It is based on three principles: expertise, impartiality and independence, and it is a non‐governmental organisation. The credibi lity of the organisation creates trust among the customers – the building owners – by the counseling work that it does, and among the provincial authorities by the thorough knowledge of the heritage stock.

The service provides substantial help in shaping governmental public policy related to the subsidy system for monu ment conservation in the Netherlands, a complex system which favors owners who regularly carry out preventive renovation works.

The inspectors, called “Monumentenwachter”, are experienced craftsmen of various kinds. Their original profession may be carpenter, roofer, or tinker, etc.; however, the tasks of a “monument watch dog” require an attitude of an “all‐rounder”. As there is no vocational education for the maintenance of historic buildings, the inspectors receive continuous training. A proficient Monumentenwachter is familiar with the materials of historic buildings, their quality and age, as well as the methods of construction and maintenance. Some of the work has to be done on rooftops, which requires adequate skills. One of the two members of the team is responsible for the administration and management of the inspection, while the other is more proficient in fieldwork, i.e. smallscale repair. The fieldwork is monitored by engineers and experts of special kinds of building – e.g. windmills.

As the benefits of the Monumen tenwacht service became clear, special teams were assembled for certain special tasks. Since 1991, a team has been working on the archaeological heritage; since 2010, another team has been responsible for historic gardens and parks. In North Brabant, a special team has been taking care of historic interiors from 2006.

The financial background of the services is ensured partly by the owners, and partly by the subsidies granted by the provinces and other organisations. The owners pay an annual affiliation fee – 60 EUR on average – as well as an hourly rate for on‐site inspections. The rate for one inspection is 500 EUR on average, depending on the size of the monument. The provinces pay for the wages of the inspectors, while other organisations support the purchase of equipment.

After the success of the Dutch model, several other countries – e.g. Belgium, Austria, Scotland, Germany, and Slovakia – have also launched a similar service, and other countries are planning to implement this model. The method was honoured by several prizes, e.g. Europa Nostra prize.