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Documenting Historic Buildings: Methods, Standards, and Practice

Tuesday, April 7th | 10am-1pm Pacific

Why do we document historic buildings—and what makes documentation meaningful beyond regulatory compliance?

For preservation professionals, documentation often appears as a required step in environmental review. Yet at its best, documentation does far more than satisfy a mitigation measure: it captures places at moments of transition, informs design and rehabilitation decisions, and creates lasting records that future researchers, owners, and communities can use long after a project is complete.

This seminar explores how historic building documentation functions in real preservation practice. Using examples from projects conducted under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the program examines how documentation is developed, what agencies and consulting parties expect, and how preservationists translate field observations, archival research, and photography into meaningful records of historic resources.

Participants will explore the core methods that have long defined preservation documentation—measured drawings, field surveys, historical narratives, and documentary photography—alongside rapidly evolving digital tools such as laser scanning, LiDAR, photogrammetry, and other forms of reality capture. The session will discuss when these technologies are most effective, where they fall short, and how they can complement traditional documentation practices rather than replace them.

The program also considers what makes documentation truly useful over time: clear standards, thoughtful interpretation, and formats that remain accessible long after a project concludes. From HABS/HAER-influenced recording practices to emerging uses of immersive visualization and archival print documentation, the seminar explores how documentation can serve as both a regulatory deliverable and a lasting preservation resource.

Blending practical guidance with broader preservation insight, this program offers a deeper look at how documenting historic buildings helps us understand, steward, and interpret the places that define our communities.

Speakers

Alan White, APT-RP
Alan is a founding partner at AQYER in Los Angeles, CA. His company specializes in non-destructive evaluation for historic preservation, performing field data collection, analysis, interpretation, and delivery of 2D and 3D documentation. Alan's 25+ years of preservation experience ranges from hands-on restoration of medieval properties in the UK to his current role deploying emerging technology for evaluating and documenting existing structures. Alan is a recognized professional with the Association for Preservation Technology International (APTI) and currently serves as President of the Western Chapter. With a unique insight into preservation technology, Alan enthusiastically educates members of the architecture, engineering and construction community.

Stephen Schafer (AKA: Schäf)
Stephen is an architectural photographer documenting the work of dead architects for our grandchildren’s grandchildren. He specializes in the documentation of historic buildings, engineering and cultural landscapes, and his work meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standers for documentation and follows the rigorous requirements of the Historic American Buildings Survey. His archival, large format photographs are archived in the HABS, HAER, and HALS collections at the Library of Congress, contributing to the world’s most significant public archive of historic places. Over the course of his career, Stephen has documented our inherited environment across twenty states and the island of Guam. Stephen also teaches architectural photography at the USC School of Architecture, serves as president of the San Buenaventura Conservancy for Preservation, and is driven by a commitment to preserve and record America’s cultural heritage with precision and permanence.

Posted in: California Environmental Quality Act, Laser Scanning & Digital Documentation, Secretary of Interior Standards, Section 106, Webinars, Workshops