Presentation of the device
What is a historic monument?
A historical monument is a building (built or not built: building, work of art, garden, public square, ornate cave, archaeological site, etc.) or a movable object (art object, furniture, organ, boat, machine, etc.) receiving a legal status intended to protect it for its own benefit historical, artistic, technical or scientific so that it is preserved, restored and enhanced.
This “historic monument” status is a recognition by the Nation of the heritage significance of a property. This protection implies a shared responsibility between owners and the national community for its conservation and transmission to future generations.
There are two levels of protection for historic monuments: inscription and classification.
- Les listed historical monuments are buildings or of the movable objects including protection and conversation are of public interest from a historical or art perspective.
- Les listed monuments are buildings or of the movable objects who, without justifying a request for classification, are of sufficient interest to make their preservation desirable.
Would you like to know more about the special legal status of historical monuments? Go here:
Do you want to look for a protected property under the title of historical monuments? Consult the open heritage platform (Mérimée base for buildings and Palissy base for movable objects):
Do you want to geolocate a protected property under the title of historical monuments? Consult the Heritage Atlas:
What is aid for the study, maintenance, restoration and safety of historic monuments?
The owners can, under certain conditions, benefit from subsidies granted by the Ministry of Culture: the Ministry of Culture supports the owners of goods classified or registered under the title of historical monuments, responsible for the conservation of their immovable or movable object.
Applications for grants are submitted to/addressed to the decentralised departments of the Ministry of Culture (DRAC/DAC/DCJS) by the contracting authorities responsible for the work envisaged on properties protected under the title of historical monuments.
The decentralized department of the Ministry of Culture assesses the general interest of the operation, the priority of the work and the application of criteria of modulation of the rate to define the eligibility and the amount of the subsidy, taking into account the available appropriations.
Thus the average subsidy rates are as follows:
- 40% on a building classified as a historical monument
- 20% for a building listed as a historic monument
- 50 % for a movable object classified as historical monuments
- 30 % for a movable object registered as a historical monument
The allocation of a subsidy by the State, within the limits of the available appropriations, is a possibility and not a right.
The decentralized services of the Ministry of Culture, within the framework of scientific and technical control, help the owners, to define the adapted works and advise them on the choice of a project management qualified for listed buildings and organs.
In order to discuss the eligibility of the project and for the proper constitution of the dossier, it is recommended to consult, before the grant application, the decentralized service of the Ministry of Culture (regional conservation of historical monuments) the region in which the historical monument is located.
The operation must cover the conservation (maintenance, repair, safety) or catering a building or movable object registered or classified as a historic monument.
In accordance with the decree of June 25, 2018 on State subsidies for investment projects, no project can be started before the date of receipt by the decentralized service of the Ministry of Culture of the grant application. The commencement of implementation shall be deemed to be the first legal act passed for the implementation of the project.
Thus, for restoration work, it is advisable to attach the acknowledgement of receipt of the application for authorization of work, or even to file the application for grant concomitantly with the application for authorization of work.
To learn more about the authorization request, go here:
Objectives of the approach
State subsidies for the maintenance, repair, restoration or safety of historic monuments constitute a major lever of preservation of national heritage.
Every year, more than 6,000 transactions are undertaken on more than 3,500 registered or classified buildings. Nearly 1,000 operations are undertaken each year on movable objects, especially organs.
Government grants have a significant leverage effect (1.67 in 2021). The investment they generate enables many highly qualified companies (SMEs and SMEs) to maintain, develop and preserve their know-how and skills.
Private owners of historical monuments (buildings or movable objects) can also benefit from a special tax system.
To learn more about grants and tax schemes, visit here:
Sanctions
Infringements, such as the destruction, degradation or deterioration of a protected building or movable object, are sanctioned by the provisions of the heritage code, the urban planning code and the penal code.
Am I concerned by this approach?
- Associations
- Commons
- Departments
- Local public enterprises
- EPCI with own taxation
- Public institutions/ State services
- Research organisations
- Individuals
- Regions
Any owner of a historic monument may file a file, including:
- local authorities and their groupings within the meaning ofArticle L. 5111-1 of the General Code of Local and Regional Authorities
- individuals
- legal persons (associations, foundations, companies, etc.)
Buildings or movable objects classified or registered under historical monuments under the Heritage Code are eligible for State financial aid.
The owner (individual or public or private legal person) or the public assignee of a property protected under the title of historical monuments is responsible for its conservation. He is the owner of the works he plans. As such, it is up to him to apply for a grant from the decentralized department of the Ministry of Culture of the region in which the historical monument is located. If he delegates his project management to a third party, the agent must prove his legal link with the owner in order to apply for the grant.
The grants granted by the decentralized departments of the Ministry of Culture are not automatically paid to the owners of the project but depend on the available appropriations and take into account several criteria.
The works eligible for these State subsidies are those necessary for the conservation (maintenance, repair, safety) and restoration of the parts (external or internal) classified or listed as historic monuments of buildings or movable objects classified or listed as historic monuments.
Are concerned:
- maintenance work
- repair work
- the restoration work
- emergency works: site closure, shoring, consolidation, provisional cover, purging, removal of endangered elements, etc.
And also:
- project management assignments related to this work
- project management assistance
- evaluation and diagnostic studies prior to restoration work, including, where appropriate, historical, scientific and technical expertise, for buildings
- security works strictly necessary for the conservation of the building (fire safety devices, suppression or neutralisation of networks or technical installations posing a security risk, etc.)
- work to ensure the safety of movable objects protected under historic monuments preserved in a building protected or not under historic monuments (pedestal, fixing, display case, electronic protection, etc.)
- works for the repair, lifting and restoration of organs classified or registered as historical monuments
- studies prior to conservation and restoration work or interventions, including historical, scientific and technical expertise, as appropriate, for movable objects
Note
Reconstruction work (also known as “restitution”) is restoration work. However, their funding is not a priority, unless reconstitution is essential for the conservation of CBM (rebuilding a roof).
For buildings protected as historic monuments, are not eligible for modification work, modifications and maintenance, such as:
- renovation (refurbishment) of elements without heritage value (fit-up or decoration work)
- expansion and fit-up of additional spaces
- the creation of furniture
- artistic creation (where appropriate, these operations are covered by aid for artistic creation)
- the creation of liturgical furniture and musical instruments
- renovation of electrical systems, heating, plumbing, sanitary facilities, etc., if not required for building conservation security
- renovation or implementation of lighting systems
- periodic fluid checks, lighting, heating, etc.
- equipment or facilities related to accessibility (creation and maintenance of elevators, ramps, etc.)
On principle, work on unprotected parts of a building partially protected by historic monuments is not eligibleThere is an exception to this principle for work that is strictly necessary to preserve the protected part of the building.
Please refer to the project eligibility criteria.
Proceeding
The grant rate paid to beneficiaries depends in particular on the appropriations available, the nature of the work to be carried out and its complexity, and the financial capacity of the petitioner.
The base for the calculation of the subsidy is the amount of eligible work on the parts protected under the title of historical monuments only. The calculation is made excluding taxes (VAT) for public owners and companies, which recover VAT, and all taxes included (TTC) for private owners.
Local and regional authorities (with the exception of those located overseas) which are in charge of the investment work on their own historic monuments must contribute at least 20% of the total amount of public financing, unless the Prefect of Department agrees.
The Rural Territories Equipment Endowment (DETR) and the Local Investment Support Endowment (DSIL) cannot directly benefit from the restoration work of buildings protected as historic monuments, but can finance equipment works on these same buildings.
Les average rates grants are as follows:
- 40% on a building classified as a historical monument
- 20% for a building listed as a historic monument
- 50 % for a movable object classified as historical monuments
- 30 % for a movable object registered as a historical monument
In accordance with Article 7 of Decree No. 2018-514 of 25 June 2018 on State grants for investment projects, the competent authority has a maximum period of eight months from the date of acknowledgement of receipt of the grant application to process the application and award the grant.
In accordance with article 12 of the same decree:
- the payment of the grant is made on proof of the project’s completion and the conformity of its characteristics with those referred to in the award decision
- an advance may be paid at the commencement of the project. Save as otherwise provided in the European regulations on the structural and investment funds, this advance may not exceed 30 % of the maximum amount of the grant.
- Interim payments may be made as the project progresses but may not exceed 80 % of the maximum grant amount. This rate may be increased to 90 % for projects with a lead time exceeding 48 months.
File review and determination of the amount of the grant takes into account:
- the special features of the historical monument
- its current state (notably the emergency in terms of conservation)
- the nature of the proposed work (including its complexity)
- the efforts of the owner or any other person interested in the conservation of the monument
- the availability of budget appropriations
- the amount of any participation by other communities
- for movable objects, the existence of a development project with presentation to the public
The State’s contribution depends on the level of protection of the property (listed or classified) and the budget availability in the year in question. However, the grants granted by the decentralized departments of the Ministry of Culture can be combined with other sources of funding (grants from the Region, the Department, the European Union, patronage, donations, etc.).
Files are filed throughout the year.
The grant application file must, in the general case, be submitted in the year preceding that in which the project was carried out.
- To access the online form, click on the "Access form" button at the bottom of the page.
- Log in or create an account, then let yourself be guided.
After acknowledging receipt of the grant application file, the decentralized department of the Ministry of Culture has a deadline of 2 months to examine the documents provided in the application and declare the file admissible. If no reply is received within this period, the application shall be deemed admissible. During this two-month period, the administration may ask you to provide any missing documents.
Attention! The fact that the file is declared or deemed admissible does not prejudice the final decision on the grant.
Notification of the grant decision will take place within a maximum of 8 months. Failure to reply by the administration within 8 months of the date of acknowledgement of receipt of the grant application shall be deemed to constitute refusal to grant.
A draft agreement will be sent to the applicant when the amount of the grant requested exceeds €23,000.
If the application is accepted, a grant order shall be notified to the applicant or a proposal for an agreement shall be proposed to the contracting authority by the regional prefect.
No commencement of work shall be undertaken before the date of receipt of the grant application. It is advisable to wait for the signing of the agreement or the decision to award the grant before starting the work.
Examples of projects previously supported
Church of Saint-Yves - Minihy Tréguier (Côtes d'Armor)
Amount of the operation: €1.3 million subsidized up to 50% by the Ministry of Culture under the Incentive and Partnership Fund
The project carried out by the municipality of Minihy Tréguier accompanied by the DRAC Bretagne aims at a complete restoration of the building (facades, bell tower, interiors). Work began in 2020 and is expected to be completed in 2023.
Fort Cigogne - Fouesnant - Finistère
Amount of the operation: €2.9 million subsidized up to 25% by the Ministry of Culture under the Mission Patrimoine en Péril
Led by the town of Fouesnant - Les Glénans the project aims at the complete restoration and enhancement of this fort built in the second part of the eighteenth century. Work began in 2019 and is expected to continue until 2024.
Notre-Dame de l'Assomption Collegiate Church - Crécy la Chapelle (Seine-et-Marne)
Amount of the operation: €139,800 before tax 50% subsidized by the Ministry of Culture under the Incentive and Partnership Fund
The overall restoration of this 13th century building, which was phased in in five stages, began in 2021 with the renovation of the roof and in 2022 with the restoration of the interior siding.
A question?
The regional conservations of historical monuments in the decentralized departments of the Ministry of Culture are the contacts of the owners of historical monuments to accompany them and advise them in their projects of studies or works.
If you have any questions about the work on historical monuments (buildings, movable objects and organs), you are invited to contact the decentralized service of the Ministry of Culture, which is territorially competent:
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
- ROSIANE DE LIZARAGA: rosiane.de-lizaraga@spm975.gouv.fr
Please indicate in the title of your email the department and the municipality, as well as the name/denomination of the historical monument concerned.
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