Getting listed

Why National Register nominations get rejected, and what to do next

John HarrisonUpdated October 2026

Nominations fail for a short list of reasons: the property has lost too much of its historic fabric, the case for significance is thin or unsupported, the owner objects, the documentation is incomplete, or the boundary is wrong. Most failures happen at the state office, before the National Park Service, which keeps the Register, ever sees the file, and most are fixable.

This guide covers each reason and what to do about it, as of October 2026. The rules are in 36 CFR Part 60 and National Register Bulletin 15.

Where nominations fail

There are three gates. The SHPO screens the property informally (Virginia’s Preliminary Information Form, North Carolina’s Study List, a first conversation in New York), and most properties that cannot qualify are turned away here with no nomination written. The state review board then votes on a complete nomination, and the SHPO decides whether to forward it; North Carolina’s office says it will not submit substandard nominations to Washington. Finally the Keeper reviews it; Georgia’s office says returns for more research are rare and denials very rare at that stage. The realistic failure point is the state.

1. Loss of integrity

The most common reason, and the one that usually cannot be fixed. Bulletin 15 says a property must retain the essential physical features that convey its significance, and that properties either retain integrity or they do not. The specific killers:

• Replacement of defining materials. Bulletin 15 says a property must retain the key exterior materials from its period of significance. New siding, replacement windows in different configurations, a rebuilt porch and a new roofline together can take a house out of contention.
• Concealment. A building whose exterior is hidden under a modern false front or curtain wall does not qualify under Criteria A, B or C. It can be re-evaluated if the covering is removed and the original fabric survives.
• Relocation. Moving a building breaks location and setting. Criteria Consideration B allows a moved building only if it is significant mainly for its architecture or is the surviving structure most closely associated with a person or event. The Goleta Depot in California cleared that bar as the last of eight Southern Pacific depots in its county; most moved houses do not.
• Lost interiors, when the significance lives inside. Bulletin 15’s example is a concert hall valued for its auditorium.
• For districts, too many intrusions. A district is not eligible if it contains so many alterations or new buildings that it no longer conveys a historic environment. Bulletin 15 says the majority of components must retain integrity.

Integrity is not condition; the NPS sample-nominations page makes that point explicitly. What to do: get the SHPO’s read before writing anything, and if the problem is reversible (siding, a false front), consider removing it first.

2. Significance that is asserted rather than shown

A nomination has to place the property in a historic context and show why it is significant within it. Bulletin 15 calls for comparison with related properties, and the Park Service publishes sample nominations on comparative analysis and significance statements because this is where drafts go wrong. Typical weaknesses:

• “Oldest house on the street” with no explanation of why that matters to the community’s history.
• Criterion B claims for people who were locally prominent but not individually significant, or for a house the person owned but did not live in during their productive years.
• Criterion C claims for a common style with nothing to distinguish this example from dozens of others nearby. Compare the Colfax Passenger Depot nomination, which counts the 14 surviving depots of its type out of 25 built and explains why Colfax is the intact one.
• Recent properties without the explicit exceptional-importance argument Consideration G requires; see the 50-year rule.

What to do: more research, a real context, and a comparison. North Carolina’s office says staff cannot make major revisions or provide detailed critiques of inadequate nominations, so the work is on the preparer.

3. Owner objection

This one is procedural and absolute. Under 36 CFR 60.6, every private owner must be notified in writing 30 to 75 days before the state board meets. An owner who objects submits a notarized statement certifying ownership and objection (Texas also accepts an unsworn declaration under 28 U.S.C. 1746). Then:

• For a property with a single private owner, that objection stops the listing.
• For a district or a property with multiple owners, the listing is stopped only if a majority of private owners object. Each owner has one vote regardless of how many parcels they own. If fewer than a majority object, Texas’s fact sheet notes, the objections are recorded and the district is nominated in its entirety.

Owner means the holder of fee simple title; tenants and easement holders have no vote. New York’s office adds that it tries to avoid listings with significant objections even when the count is short of a majority.

What to do: the objection converts the nomination into a request for a determination of eligibility (below). For a district, the practical answer is outreach before the notices go out; the regulation itself suggests a public information meeting where a nomination has more than 50 owners.

4. Determined eligible is not listed

When an owner objection blocks a listing, the SHPO forwards the nomination anyway and the Keeper decides within 45 days whether it is eligible. The regulation defines a determination of eligibility as a finding that the property meets the criteria even though it is not formally listed, and states that it does not make the property eligible for benefits that require listing, such as grants, loans or tax incentives.

What it does do is give the property standing in federal project review under Section 106, because agencies must consider effects on eligible as well as listed properties. For a sponsor who wanted the listing, it is a half-measure: the honor and the incentives require the owner’s consent. See our guide to Section 106 review.

5. Incomplete documentation

Virginia’s office says nominations not meeting requirements are returned to the author for revisions, and its step-by-step document says incomplete packets are returned by regional staff before central review. The usual gaps:

• photographs that miss elevations, additions or the setting, or that do not follow the NPS photo policy (TIFF files, minimum two megapixels, a photo log);
• no sketch map for a district, or photographs not keyed to it;
• no verbal boundary description or boundary justification in Section 10;
• a bibliography of secondary sources only;
• a description that does not record alterations.

What to do: use the SHPO’s checklist and read how to nominate a property. This is the easiest category to fix.

6. Boundary problems

Boundaries fail in two directions. Too tight, and the nomination excludes the setting or outbuildings that carry the significance. Too loose, and it takes in unrelated land or buildings, which for a district dilutes the contributing count and adds owners who may object. Bulletin 16A requires both a verbal boundary description and a justification, and reviewers test the justification against the significance claimed.

Boundaries can be changed after listing, but 36 CFR 60.14 treats a boundary change as a new nomination with the same procedures and allows only four justifications: professional error, loss of integrity, additional significance, or additional research. The NPS’s national list contains 1,530 entries whose names include boundary increase or decrease, so revisions happen, but each is a full process. Expect staff to push back on a boundary drawn to avoid an objecting neighbor.

7. Returns from the Keeper

The last gate. Under 36 CFR 60.6(r), the Keeper lists a property within 45 days of receipt unless it is disapproved, appealed, or blocked by an objection, and nominations that are technically or professionally inadequate are returned for correction and resubmission. Georgia’s office describes a return as a request for more research. The SHPO and preparer address the written reasons and resend, and the 45-day clock restarts.

Separately, 36 CFR 60.15 lets a listed property be removed if it loses its qualities, if new information shows it never qualified, or for professional or procedural error, so a weak listing is not permanent either.

8. The SHPO declines to forward

Sometimes the board recommends listing and the SHPO disagrees, or the SHPO declines to nominate at all. 36 CFR 60.12 lets any person or local government appeal to the Keeper in either case. The appeal includes the nomination and the state’s correspondence; the Keeper answers in writing within 45 days and, if the appeal succeeds, asks the state to submit the nomination within 15 days. The Keeper’s decision is final. Virginia says its staff will explain the appeal route if the board does not recommend forwarding.

What to do next, in order

1. Ask the SHPO, in writing, for the specific reason. Staff comments and board minutes usually name it.
2. If it is integrity, ask whether anything is reversible. If not, consider whether the property could contribute to a district instead of standing alone.
3. If it is significance, commission or do the comparative research and resubmit for the next board cycle.
4. If it is an objection, confirm whether the SHPO forwarded the file for a determination of eligibility, and keep the door open with the owner.
5. If it is documentation or boundary, fix it; these rarely need a new argument.
6. If the SHPO will not forward a nomination you believe qualifies, use the 60.12 appeal.

To confirm what is already listed near you before any of this, use the address lookup.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Researched from the sources above and drafted with AI assistance; published under the editor's name, corrections welcome. See the editorial policy.