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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 These are the Membership Guidelines referred to in Section 3 of the Constitution of the Association. They establish the criteria for membership of the Association. Any changes to the spirit and meaning of the adopted Standards for Membership can only be made on approval of a majority of the voting members of APHP as set out in section 7 of the constitution of the Association.

1.2 The examination of the credentials of all prospective professional or candidate members shall be the responsibility of a Committee of the Association, as established in the Constitution, for such purpose.

1.3 There are five categories of membership: Professional, Candidate, Associate, Friend and Institution.

2. CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP 

Consideration shall be given to that spectrum of professions and practitioners currently engaged in heritage resource management particularly as it pertains to applications specified in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999 (NHRA), and includes practitioners in private practice and in the employ of industry, all three spheres of government and NGOs. This primarily includes making, or assessing applications required in terms of sections 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 48, 49 and 51 of the NHRA.

Members of the Association shall be categorised as Professional Heritage Practitioner, Candidate Heritage Practitioner, or Associate Members.

Provision is also made for any person to join the Association as a Friend, subject to their support for the aims and objectives of the Association; or any Association or Body may join the Association as an Institutional Member, subject to their support for the aims and objectives of the Association. Neither of these categories have professional status and nor do they have voting rights.

3. MEMBERSHIP OF THE ASSOCIATION - PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS

Professional Heritage Practitioner members shall satisfy the following core requirements for professional member status:

3.1. Academic Qualifications

3.1.1 Formal academic training in the form of a four year University Degree or Honours equivalent in one or more of the following fields:

Architecture

Planning

Archaeology

Social, Oral and Urban History

Landscape Architecture

Visual and Cultural Landscape Analysis

Urban Design

Palaeontology

Heritage Law

Other relevant disciplines and

3.1.2 Formal specialist training in conservation or heritage resource management including degrees, diplomas and specialist occasional courses (as defined; see Para. 4.) and

3.2 Professional experience

Regardless of the academic qualifications, for membership at least two years of subsequent appropriate professional experience in managing applications pertaining to sections 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 48, 49 and 51 of the NHRA related to at least two of the activities listed below are required.

In other words, experience in the application of said sections of the NHRA and in one or more of the following activities in a heritage resource-related context:

Conservation of the built environment

Landscape and visual analysis

Historical research including heritage related indigenous knowledge systems and archival research

Site research, including measuring and excavating

Heritage surveying / conservation studies of sites or regions

Assessment of cultural significance in terms of legal parameters

Development of heritage-related informants or design indicators

Heritage impact assessment Construction and supervision of construction as it relates to heritage resources

Design in a heritage sensitive context

Regulating and drafting heritage related legislation

Heritage resource management; or

Other appropriate heritage-related activities and

3.3 Working knowledge of current heritage resource, planning and environmental policy, principles and legislation. [This may need to be demonstrated in an oral or written examination.] This refers in particular to sections 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 48, 49 and 51 of the NHRA. The Association recognises that its members will include both Professional Members who are expert in and responsible for narrow specialist parts of assessments, and Professional Members who have a broad experience and who take overall responsibility for comprehensive integrated assessments. Recognition as a Professional Member, however, does not distinguish within this range of skills and experience.

3.4 Special Cases

Practitioners who do not satisfy the required combination of academic qualifications, but who have been engaged in the field of heritage conservation and heritage management in terms of sections 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 48, 49 and 51 of the NHRA, etc in South Africa for at least five years, and who are acknowledged by professionals in the field and by the general public, can be deemed to satisfy or be exempted from the requirements if their work is judged to be of a sufficient standard by the appropriate Committee of the Association. An absence of either or both formal training and formal specialist training in any of the fields listed in paragraph 3.1 above may be compensated for by proven and relevant professional standing in heritage management and/or public recognition and/or experience in the field of heritage management as described above, In terms of the NHRA.

The Association also recognises that there will be persons who do not qualify for membership as Professional Heritage Practitioner Members but who are active in the field and would like to be members of the Association.

There are two categories of membership in this regard:

4. CANDIDATE MEMBERS For those practitioners who are engaged in obtaining either the necessary academic qualifications or the relevant professional experience for Professional Heritage Practitioner membership status, such members must already have passed the formal academic requirements recognised by APHP (3.1) and additionally must be actively engaged in completing such further requirements as may lead to Professional Membership. These members shall be known as Candidate Members.

A Candidate Member is a practitioner who does not satisfy the requirements for professional experience (3.2 and 3.3), but who works in the field and who wishes to be a member of the Association. Candidate Members must work towards achieving the requisite experience within a period of 4 years, after which they may apply for assessment for Professional Membership.

A Candidate Member will not have voting rights in the Association (as per the Constitution).

Candidate Members will not be recognised as Professional Heritage Practitioners but will be listed simply as Candidates.

5. ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

This category is for those individuals involved in the heritage field, but who do not routinely manage heritage applications in terms of sections 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 48, 49 and 51 of the NHRA. For example, these members will satisfy the requirements of section 3.1 above, and are active professionals in their own field, such as museology, social sciences, architecture, engineering, etc. These members are not recognised to undertake heritage applications on their own; however they can participate in heritage applications within their specific fields of interest, alongside Professional Members. These members enjoy access to the heritage network afforded by APHP and remain involved in advances and changes in the heritage industry through the organisation. An Associate member will not have voting rights in the Association (as per the Constitution). Associates will not be recognised as Professional Heritage Practitioners but will be listed as Associates.

6. FRIENDS OF THE ASSOCIATION Friends of APHP are not accredited by the Association to undertake heritage works such as HIAs’, Section 27 applications and the like, or any heritage work that requires detailed heritage skills. Should they wish to do so, they are unsupported by the Association.

7. DEFINITIONS

"appropriate specialist degree or training" or "appropriate occasional courses" means specialist heritage resource-related training. This can include heritage resource-related courses completed within the member's degree. "post-graduate diploma" means a full-time diploma offered by a university, tertiary training institution or conservation institution (recognised by the Association).

"four-year (Honours) degree" means a four-year Honours degree offered by a university or tertiary training institution (recognised by the Association).

"specialist occasional course" means an occasional short course offered by a university or tertiary training institution or conservation institution (recognised by the Association). Examples of such courses include those offered by ICCROM, the University of York, and the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses offered by the University of Cape Town. For accreditation purposes, the candidate must have completed the course (usually by examination) rather than simply having attended the course.

"three-year degree" means a three-year undergraduate degree offered by a university and shall include equivalent qualifications such as four-year Bachelor of Technology offered by a South African university of technology.

(approved changes adopted by quorum dated May 2018)

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