The companies

  • Conservation-restoration
  • Historical monuments and heritage sites
  • - France as a whole -
  • Students or looking for work
  • Cultural professionals
  • All audiences

The companies involved in the field of cultural heritage and more particularly in historical monuments are highly specialized and possess irreplaceable skills and very rich know-how, traditional or particularly innovative, acquired through academic training or offered by the structures of the craft industry, or from professional experience. Present throughout the country, they contribute greatly to local economic development through their prominent role in preserving cultural heritage. Many of these professions are recognized in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Neither approval nor authorisation

The services of the Ministry of Culture, and in particular the regional cultural affairs directorates, do not issue any approval or authorisation concerning undertakings likely to operate on buildings classified or listed as historic monuments, on buildings situated in a remarkable heritage site, on buildings identified by local town planning plans (PLU), under the article L. 151-19 of the Urban Planning Code or movable objects classified or inscribed under historical monuments.

Qualification criteria: certifications and references

Depending on the nature of the work, its complexity and the sensitivity of the interventions, the undertakings requested by the contraaing authorities are invited to demonstrate their technical capacity by indicating the certifications they have at their disposal and by presenting references of achievements comparable to the proposed operation.
In the case of work carried out by a public person in accordance with the texts relating to public procurement, invitations to tender may contain, in the rules for consultation, criteria for qualifications adapted to the nature of the work and its complexity.

As such, the procedure takes into account the examination of the certifications and references of the candidate companies for the realization of work sites on protected or not protected properties under the title of historical monuments. The qualification criteria must be proportionate to the purpose of the contract and not lead to an excessive restriction of competition.

Certifications and quality labels

Professional certifications are registered within the National Directory of Professional Certifications (RNCP), a department of the Ministry of Vocational Training. Information is available on the France Compétences.
In specialties such as masonry, stone cutting, framing and roofing, qualifications known as "works on historical monuments" or "works on ancient heritage" are issued by theQUALIBAT interprofessional qualification body.

For works of conservation-restoration of paintings or wall paintings, gilding, textiles, stained glass or sculptures, the reference to a degree level (and not at a training school) is justified and motivated by the technicality and complexity of the planned intervention.

Professional directories

Companies can be located through directories of groups or associations of professionals, also listed on the Conservation and Restoration Portal of the Ministry of Culture.

Discover the heritage professions

In order to inform young people looking for work about the value of these trades, which are essential for the conservation of cultural heritage, the Ministry of Culture provides information on heritage trades.

These pages send the user to the site of theNational Institute of Crafts, which presents the 281 craft trades and proposes a online directory as well as to the French Association of Historical Monuments Restoration Companies, which provides training for 12 heritage trades and awards the professional certificate of stone cutter.

CAPEB (Confédération de l'Artisanat et des Petites Entreprises du Bâtiment) also provides individuals and communities with a built heritage site and presents some companies.

The Ministry of Culture contributes to the Heritage Portal, online platform of the Heritage Foundation, which disseminates information related to heritage, essentially built, and to actors in this field (associations, public services, trades).