Service for your construction project

With the Cultural Property Act, a Cultural Property Register was newly introduced. This creates a comprehensive register of all cultural properties located in Liechtenstein that are part of Liechtenstein's cultural heritage and are of national importance. In principle, inclusion in the Register of Cultural Property takes place when a contract under public law has been concluded between the owner and the Office of Cultural Affairs in accordance with the principle of cooperation. Registration by means of an order for both movable and immovable cultural property can take place if no agreement can be found on the conclusion of a contract under public law.

The only effect or obligation associated with registration is that the owner has to notify the Office of Cultural Affairs of all intended and also unintended changes that have occurred to the cultural property. A change is understood to include a change of ownership or the transfer of the cultural property abroad.

On the basis of such a notification, the Office of Cultural Affairs has the opportunity to act primarily in the sense of public service in an advisory capacity, in order to influence the change, if necessary, so that the registered cultural property is placed under protection. If the Office of Cultural Affairs does not deem it necessary to place the cultural property under protection, the owner of the cultural property is subsequently free to carry out the intended change.

The preservation of historical monuments in the Office of Cultural Affairs will be happy to provide you with information about your cultural property.

You are planning to convert a house, are thinking of doing a renovation or are considering a change of use or even demolition of your property?

The preservation of historical monuments advises clients and municipalities on the conversion and renovation of historic buildings, accompanies building projects from the point of view of preservation of historical monuments and deals with applications for contributions for protected objects. It also approves permissible changes to a protected object, arranges for expert opinions on the preservation of monuments, prepares expert reports and acts in an advisory capacity on commissions, juries and for municipal authorities (building and planning issues, specialist issues relating to the preservation of monuments).

The preservation of historical monuments is active within the building permit procedure for all conversion projects within the village core zones and for all conversions of objects in the register of cultural property as well as the village inventories. It examines whether the building in question will be adversely affected by a conversion and, if necessary, submits an application for the protection of a listed building.

Construction measures on registered or protected cultural property are prohibited according to Cultural Property Act requires notification and approval. In any case, the preservation of cultural heritage must be involved in a construction project at an early stage. This is to ensure that any applications for the granting state monument grants or financial contributions can be dealt with in a timely manner.

On the pages of the Office of Building Construction and Spatial Planning you will find information on how to proceed with a building application and what documents are required.

Historic preservation follows the following principles

• Conservation instead of restoration: In principle, conservation and safeguarding measures have priority over comprehensive reconstruction and restoration measures.
• Financial argument: In economic terms, the most effective and efficient use of funds is sought. Guiding are the criteria of historic preservation significance as well as the extent and sustainability of the effect.
• Witnessing: "Important witnesses" are also time-typical objects, if the rarity or even uniqueness is missing. Justification for this: The authority cannot wait with protective measures until only a few - then especially possibly poorly preserved - objects remain. In addition, each additional object in the course of time increases the knowledge gain, also thanks to new techniques and procedures.

Cultural heritage is important for the identity of a society. Preserving, maintaining and protecting the existing cultural property as undiminished as possible are important tasks of the public sector. However, a great responsibility lies with the owners. It is only natural that those are the best guarantors for the care and protection of their cultural property.

Therefore, the Cultural Property Act is built on the principle of cooperation. This means that all measures required by the law are settled by mutual agreement by means of a contract under public law between the owner and the country as far as possible. 

Registration of cultural property

Registration and documentation of cultural property represents the central basis for appropriate and proportionate care and protection measures. For the owner as well as for the Office of Cultural Affairs and the general public it is important to have as much knowledge as possible about the respective cultural heritage, regardless of whether or not special protective measures are needed beyond that. Finally, there are also numerous cultural property whose significance does not justify formal protection, and for which it is sufficient to provide adequate documentation.

In the Cultural Property Register, according to Cultural Property Act included:

• cultural property that is part of Liechtenstein's cultural heritage, is of national importance, and is located in Liechtenstein; 
• cultural property within the meaning of obligations under international law, provided that the owner applies for inclusion in the register of cultural property; as well as
• other cultural property whose registration is requested by the owner and approved by the Office of Cultural Affairs after detailed examination. 

To facilitate the registration or to relieve the cultural property register, collections consisting of several cultural objects can be included with the consent of the owner with a summarising single entry in the register of cultural property.

The primary purpose of including a cultural object in the register of cultural property is the informational and documentary purpose. Inclusion of the cultural property in the register of cultural property creates an obligation for the owner to notify the Office of Cultural Affairs of any intended changes to the registered cultural property at least 14 days in advance, or to notify the Office of Cultural Affairs immediately of any changes that have occurred without the owner's involvement.

Protection of cultural property

The purpose of placing cultural property under protection is twofold: on the one hand, to preserve them for posterity in the longer term and as unimpaired as possible, and on the other hand, to ensure that the purpose of cultural property protected under the Cultural Property Act to secure financial contributions aligned. To be - consensually or, if necessary, compulsorily - placed under protection, a cultural property should already be recorded in the register of cultural property as a registered cultural property or to be recorded in the register of cultural property at the same time as it is placed under protection. There is also a corresponding note in the land register as a public-law restriction on ownership. 

If cultural property has been placed under protection, all changes are not only subject to notification - as is the case with registered cultural property - but also require the approval of the Office of Cultural Affairs. The approval must be applied for at the Office of Cultural Affairs at least four weeks before the intended change is carried out. 

Monument subsidies are granted by means of Ordinance on the Alignment of Financial Contributions under the Cultural Property Act. The Ordinance regulates not only the amount of the financial contributions, but also the entire procedure related to the application and the payment of such financial contributions. 

The Guidelines for determining the chargeable costs regulates the conditions for the payment of financial contributions by the country to the chargeable costs of the necessary measures for the protection and preservation of cultural property placed under protection.

Application for Contribution

Before submitting an application for financial contributions, the owner of the protected cultural property must contact the Office of Cultural Affairs to find out the conditions for granting any financial contributions.

The application must be submitted in writing to the Office of Cultural Affairs using "Form Application for Contribution" before the necessary measures are carried out. The application must be accompanied by:

• Estimate of costs, in the case of immovable cultural property with the numbers of the construction cost plan (BKP numbers) of the Swiss Central Office for Construction Rationalization (CRB);
• Project description of the planned measures including the materials and working techniques used;
• Date and detailed planning with start of execution;
• Extract from the land register (for immovable cultural property);
• Project plans;
• Photographic documentation on the condition of the cultural property before the start of execution work; 
• Information about any services provided by third parties in connection with the execution of the necessary measures;
• Bank details.