ABSTRACT
14This chapter looks at the input that may be required from a conservation viewpoint in defining the strategy for a project. The principal activity is to identify the existence of any heritage assets, establish whether or not they are designated (for buildings this usually involves determining whether are they listed) and gain an overview of their quality or significance. In the case of buildings or built sites, it is also important to identify whether the assets are at a point of challenge or major change (the presumption being that they are if a project is being considered) and to outline opportunities for sustaining and enhancing the heritage elements and determine whether or not any harm that may arise from the proposals can be balanced by a greater public good. For buildings, a key concept is that of beneficial use. The approach taken to a building in use, which can be regarded as a functional tool, will differ from that taken when dealing with a museum artefact, an archaeological find or other heritage assets which no longer have a function. Beneficial use is defined as a use for a building which generates the resource stream necessary to sustain that building and its significance in good order for the next generation. This will inevitably require change, and conservation is the effective management of that change.
