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Posted: 28 November 2002

Accreditation for Conservator-Restorers. Big Deal?! A Personal View by Ylva Player-Dahnsjö, Chief Conservator, Library Conservation Unit, University of Dundee

Reproduced with the kind permission of the National Preservation Office from the NPO Journal, Issue 11, Oct 2002.

The subject of accreditation for conservator-restorers (C-R) stirs a range of responses - from enthusiasm and pride to indifference and even aggression! Myths and misconceptions abound, and to be brutally honest, it has been talked about for so long that it is sometimes difficult to summon the enthusiasm to read yet another article. However, in these days of outsourcing, short contracts and re-structuring; of best value and compulsory competitive tendering it is a tool with enormous benefits in many of situations. And there are new developments afoot, so an update is timely.

'Accreditation' is used here to mean a system of assessment, independent of any training programme or formal qualification. It is designed to establish the point where an individual practitioner is deemed by his/her respective professional body as ready to start independent professional practice, without supervision. Outside the UK and Ireland, the term “accreditation” is used more in the sense of “validation” eg of courses and services.

Who accredits?
There are currently five systems of accreditation run by professional bodies in conservation-restoration in the UK and Ireland (British Antique Furniture Restorers' Association (BAFRA), Association of British Picture Restorers (ABPR), Institute for the conservationof Historic and Artistic Works in Ireland (ICHAWI) and the joint Professional Accreditation of Conservators-Restorers' (PACR) scheme) plus the British Horological Institute, which operates a scheme not specifically geared to conservation-restoration. The details differ, but the aim of the exercise is the same - to produce a professional qualification that attests to a practitioner’s proficiency in an area of C-R, as well as his/her ability to manage his/her work and ongoing professional development. The individual practitioner achieves professional status by formal peer review rather than being defined by the post he/she occupies.

Paper and book conservators are awarded accreditation under the PACR scheme, which is owned by the National Council for Conservation-Restoration (NCCR), awarded by its Professional Standards Board (PSB), and administered by the individual participating bodies (currently Institute of Paper Conservation (IPC), United Kingdom Institute of Conservation (UKIC) and the Society of Archivists (SoA)). Accreditation has been available since 2000, and was preceded for one year only by the Fast Track system, for established C-Rs who had at least 10 years' experience. This provided the system with a pool of accredited professionals from which to choose assessors to train.

Under the PACR system, the conservator submits a written application supported by two accredited sponsors/witnesses who know their work well. This is followed by a one-day assessment by two assessors (one in the same discipline as the applicant, and one from another C-R discipline), also accredited themselves, who will require to see evidence of both practical and intellectual skills, a thorough understanding of the work, and professional judgement. The evidence is measured against a set of 'Standards' drawn up by the profession. The assessment procedure is thorough and robust and often complex, as conservation problems are discussed in detail.

Other schemes also inspect the premises and facilities for the purpose of registration of a practice, although this is distinct from the assessment of the skills of an individual practitioner. Importantly, the accredited status has to be maintained by responsible practice, professional membership, and CPD.

Why is it needed and who is it for?
Owners and commissioners (public or private sector) want to see a good job, and practitioners want a universally recognised way of proving that they can do it.

The standards within the profession have been patchy, which is not strange when one considers the background. Until the mid-twentieth-century, training for C-R’s had either grown from the on-going collection care activities of museums, libraries and archives (both private and public), or from the parallel artistic and crafts traditions of maintenance, improvement, repair and restoration. As the aims of c-r became more defined, the introduction of materials science and a deeper understanding of the agents and processes of deterioration separated it from these related activities.

The education and training available in the UK is now very diverse - at the last count, there were 22 courses in c-r at Higher Education level and many more vocational ones. But there is no core curriculum, no required length of training, or Standards set for course outcomes. Some C-R disciplines still have no formal training programmes, and some programmes are by necessity so short that they do not equip their graduates to practice independently upon graduation.

In recognition of this diversity in education and training, PACR has no formal training pre-requisite. It should however be noted that many c-r disciplines now have training only at Higher Education level (undergraduate degree course as minimum, and often a Master’s degree). This is likely to become the norm in the future, in line with national and international efforts at establishing equivalence in education. In practice, a graduate should be ready for accreditation assessment after a minimum of 3-5 years appropriate post-graduation experience in C-R.

What use is it?
In an age of 'buying-in' services, accreditation has huge importance. It is one of the safeguards when assuring that like is compared with like when considering service providers, for instance when writing a brief for competitive tendering or when considering best value.
It is increasingly used by funding bodies as one of the main criteria when approving service providers in funded projects.

The system can be useful in many ways for the institutional employer. For example, it has advantages when recruiting new staff. A knowledge of the PACR Standards (accessible on UKIC/IPC websites: www.ukic.org.uk and www.ipc.org.uk) can give benefits when detailing exactly what a fully-fledged conservator should know and be able to do, not just in terms of practical work, but also in terms of understanding and professional judgement. This is enormously useful when drafting job descriptions, formulating job adverts, grading posts, and the interviewing. For managers who are non-conservators, it defines the professional conservator. Moreover, the very act of making reference to accreditation in a job advert proves to the outside world that the employer is up to date and supports national standards. Employers with an existing workforce can use accreditation in all kinds of accountability exercises; to quantify the skills base, to demonstrate to trustees and other stakeholders that standards are maintained, to define CPD needs and to structure staff development.

Why bother?
It may seem to established practitioners in employment that it is hardly worth jumping through yet another hoop. If they are in the public sector, they may now wish to consider the current round of cuts at major institutions around the world. Conservation-restoration has always been a mobile profession, and has in recent years become a project-led, short-contract one. Being able to prove one’s ability and worth in the marketplace can become imperative overnight.

Private sector C-Rs may think that they can rely on their existing client base. They may now wish to consider the fact that it is already a prerequisite for new practices to have an accredited head of studio in order to be included on the Conservation Register, and that it will soon become compulsory for all the existing practices on it too. Or indeed that such listing is already a requirement for most external funders (which the clients of private sector C-Rs may wish to apply to), and that large commissioning bodies are increasingly insisting on it, which will clearly impact directly or indirectly on everybody’s activities.

It may not even be helpful to think in terms of C-Rs under private/public sector headings at all any more - the boundaries are breaking down as the outsourcing trend continues, and new collaborative partnerships transcend traditional barriers. Nationally and internationally shared standards and codes of ethics are ensuring a common approach to differing circumstances among professionals, whatever the circumstances of their work.

What’s new?
The accrediting bodies within the NCCR are currently working to develop a common framework for all accreditation systems for C-Rs in the UK and Ireland. The intention is to ensure a universally recognised, personal qualification that can be championed across the entire domain (public and private), achieved through an assessment of proficiency and professionalism that is credible, robust and fair. In the coming year, NCCR is putting in place a PACR route for those active in preventive conservation, and the opening of a route for conservation scientists is being explored.

There is no point in having standards if they are not accessible or used. Developing the Conservation Register is a key element in ensuring that anyone with a need for conservation-restoration can quickly find the service they need. Preparations are also underway for a one-stop Collection Care Portal, which will link all of the existing information.

Accreditation for C-Rs is for the good of practitioners and employers, and ultimately for the good of the Heritage. And that means for the good of everyone, which is quite a Big Deal.

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