More on Fine Art Storage

On November 17th I posted on the AW Blog a story from the Financial Times on fine art storage (Click HERE to read). Fellow appraiser Judith Vance sent me a follow-up article that was recently posted on the Chubb Collectors website about art storage as well. The Chubb article is about the development of standards within the storage industry for the proper and safe storage of fine and decorative arts.

The Chubb article states Fine art warehouses play a critical role in safeguarding cultural property belonging to private collectors, museums and galleries world-wide. While the insurance industry has been inspecting fine art warehouses for quite some time, a group of fine art storage companies has been working together to create a set of guidelines intended to raise the bar within their warehouses.

The primary factor contributing to the need for regulation is the escalating market values for art; as market values increase, the art market is stimulated. This increase in the market and in market values has lead to rapid growth within the fine art storage business. There are also increasing physical risks for warehouses, including theft, terrorism and, in some locations, a tendency towards increasingly severe and frequent weather events such as hurricanes and typhoons.

Many industry professionals, from museums, to insurance underwriters to storage trade associations were involved with writing the standards From the input of these groups nine basic standards with over 200 guidelines for storing fine art was developed.

The nine main categories are:

1. Facility – provides specifications for proper building construction, use, location and proximity to public emergency responders.

2. Security – delineates the correct procedures, alarms and access controls to secure the warehouse and storage rooms against external theft.

3. Fire – diagrams the precautions, warning and suppression systems and tests that should be observed in order to prevent fire.

4. Climate Control – summarizes how a facility should regulate heating, cooling, humidity and ventilation systems for various types of storage.

5. Water – defines the best protocols for controlling water within a facility from floods, plumbing, HVAC and sprinkler systems. This section also reviews the best methods of protecting artwork against water damage.

6. Infestation – presents an integrated plan and testing checklist to protect against vermin.

7. Inventory Control –describes in detail the documentation and protocol required to actively keep track of in-coming and out-going inventory and protect against internal theft.

8. Human Resources – covers proper hiring and training procedures and policies, with specific notes for hiring security and art handling personnel.

9. Emergency Planning - documents how to formulate a facility emergency plan and how to stabilize artwork in the case of an emergency.

As I have mentioned in the past on the AW Blog, professional appraisers need to be aware of various ancillary services to offer our clients. If a fine art collection is going to be stored, appraisers need to know the proper protocols and standards in order to make the proper recommendations.

To read the full Chubb Insurance article, click HERE.