Historic Building Reconstruction Costs - Learnings From Notre-Dame

Ensuring buildings are correctly valued for insurance purposes can be challenging for owners of historic buildings as seen by the vast cost and restoration complexities for the Notre-Dame.

When fire ravaged the Notre Dame de Paris on 15^th April 2019, it was clear from the subsequent reaction and emotions of Parisians and the wider world that this beautiful building was more than just a historic building or place of worship. Rebuilding this historic landmark is estimated to cost over $1 billion, with the restoration complexities associated with the Notre Dame incredibly vast and challenging.

Historic building valuations: reconstruction risks, costs and timeframes

Ensuring buildings are correctly valued for insurance purposes can be difficult for owners of new buildings, but is even more complex for owners of historic buildings. An independent valuations specialist can assist through the implementation of an insurance valuation program to not only determine the reconstruction costs, but also the cost implications of potential increased approvals and construction periods when working with historic buildings.

Insurance valuations of historic buildings typically involve thorough analysis on reconstruction and material costs in the event of a disaster causing total or partial damage. This extends to obtaining information from third party trades such as stonemasons, stained glass specialists and bell foundries. Additionally, a key focus of valuation work is understanding the likely reconstruction timeframes associated with these complex and unique historical structures, so that assets and owners are correctly insured and all risks associated with the building reconstruction are acknowledged and included within the valuation.

Experts weigh in on Notre-Dame’s “unrealistic” reconstruction timeline

Following the devastating fire at Notre-Dame de Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron targeted the completion of the highly complex and sensitive reconstruction to be before Paris hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics.

This timeline has been generally considered unrealistic by experts, who have suggested the restoration could take decades, especially when considering the numerous political complications associated with such a significant and ambitious project. Although full restoration will unlikely be completed by mid-2024 as planned, public access will be granted to some of the restored sections of the building progressively throughout 2024 and subsequent years.¹

From start to finish, Notre-Dame took 182 years to fully construct and although there has been almost 700 years of technical advances, some of the materials and finer techniques required in the reconstruction will be much the same as in the 1200s.²Notre-Dame has the advantage that some core elements of the structure such as external walls and the intricate stained glass survived the fire, but regardless, the task is enormous.³

Australia’s reliability on import of specialist trades and materials impacted by COVID-19 restrictions

In Australia, the availability of master craftsmen for trades associated with the restoration of historic buildings could be a further issue locally when compared to those more widely available to the French Government where such trades within France and the wider European Union are more common.⁴

Currently, historic building reconstruction and refurbishments in Australia often involve small scale importing of many trades such as Italian marble experts. Importing or training trades takes time and is impacted further by the restrictions imposed following the COVID-19 pandemic. The limited availability of materials such as bluestone and sandstone, along with Welsh slate or bells from European foundries which are commonly used in Australia’s historic buildings, increases this timeline further.

Political and funding considerations for historic restorations

Notre-Dame had been in a poor state of repair for decades with little done to improve the situation due to ongoing political debates about restoration funding.⁵ In Marsh’s experience, similar issues have been witnessed when inspecting some of Australia’s historic and iconic buildings and structures. Owners of these sites frequently encounter challenges in funding repairs, acknowledging responsibility, finding adequate master craftsmen and gaining consents, thus delaying and sometimes preventing the required restoration from progressing.

The general public often give much less consideration to the future of these historic buildings, and assumes that the building is protected as long as it is on a State or National Heritage Register, without consideration for the willingness and availability of funding for the upkeep of the building. In reality, delays in progressing repairs and restoration greatly increase the risk of disaster, which has unfortunately lead to some owners of historic buildings to consider their heritage assets as a burden. However, if correctly managed, maintained and utilised, these unique buildings and structures can be of value and a flagship asset in an owner’s property portfolio.

Many building owners may not be fortunate enough to have the political support and financial donations to reconstruct or restore buildings as was the case with Notre Dame. However, those who may have a legal responsibility to rebuild could also face political, moral, civic and cultural pressures to swiftly and sensitively undertake repair works on historic buildings regardless of cost.

It is important for owners of Australia’s historic buildings to work closely with an independent valuation specialist to carefully consider the general historic building reconstruction costs, associated risks, and the duration of any reconstruction or restoration in the event of partial or complete destruction.

Marsh Valuation Services

Marsh Valuation Services is a specialist valuation practice with dedicated valuers providing advice and guidance to some of the region's leading organisations across various sectors. From general buildings to major infrastructure, we value more than 10,000 assets annually with a value in excess of $70 billion globally. This includes some of Australia’s largest organisations, independent asset owners and over 1,500 projects for local government and across the country – many of which have historic and heritage listed assets

Our team also provides reports tailored to the insurance market, which can be utilised by the insurer’s loss adjuster to validate insured values and substantiate location, ownership and existence of assets.

If you have any questions about this article, or would like to discuss your unique situation and needs, please contact us here.

¹ https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/two-years-later-heres-latest-notre-dames-restoration

²https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/world/europe/notre-dame-cathedral-facts.html

³ https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210415-two-years-after-blaze-notre-dame-still-awaiting-resurrection

⁴ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/20/notre-dame-fire-uk-ready-to-share-conservation-expertise

⁵ https://www.theepochtimes.com/notre-dames-long-history-of-damage-and-repair_2891358.html

Published by Marsh Pty Ltd (ABN 86 004 651 512, AFSL 238983).

The information contained herein is based on sources we believe reliable, but we make no representation or warranty as to its accuracy.