Permission for Construction Work

Permission for Construction Work

You must submit applications for construction work on a preserved house through the Greenland National Museum & Archives (Grønlands Nationalmuseum & Arkiv). Here, you can read about the requirements for permission and the obligations of the Greenland National Museum & Archives.

What requires permission?

All construction work on a preserved building requires permission from the Greenland National Museum and Archives if the work involves components covered by the preservation order and goes beyond ordinary maintenance. The Greenland National Museum and Archives may impose conditions on the permission.

The Greenland National Museum and Archives maintains a list of all preserved buildings, including a note of the conditions for their preservation. The Greenland National Museum and Archives supervises all preserved buildings. Upon application, the Greenland National Museum and Archives may also decide to cover the expenses for maintenance or construction work on a preserved building entirely or partially from the grant provided in the Finance Act.

How to apply for permission?

You must submit your application for permission to the Greenland National Museum & Archives. We recommend that you prepare your documentation before contacting them. You can see examples of applications by clicking here.

You can attach the following documents to the application:

• A description of the work or changes you wish to carry out.
• Drawings or photos of existing conditions.
• (Drawings of future conditions).
• A work description to explain the project, including information about the materials and work methods you plan to use.

Ordinary maintenance does not require an application

Generally, you do not need permission from the Greenland National Museum & Archives for ordinary maintenance. This refers to work that:

• Does not change the building's colors, surfaces, materials, extent, or fittings.
• Does not involve the actual replacement of material.

You can read more about ordinary maintenance here What can you do, what should you do?.

Examples of ordinary maintenance on a preserved building include:

• Ongoing maintenance using paint of the same color and type as the existing paint.
• Whitewashing in existing colors.
• Replacing individual roof shingles.
• Plaster repairs.
• General interior restoration, such as touch-up painting a window.