SELECTION CRITERIA
In order to be eligible for a blue plaque:
• a figure must have been dead for 20 years, or have passed the centenary of their birth, whichever is the earlier.
• a building associated with the figure being proposed must survive in London.
Nominated figures must also meet the following criteria:
• be considered eminent by a majority of members of their own profession or calling.
• have made an important positive contribution to human welfare or happiness.
• be recognisable to the well-informed passer-by OR deserve national recognition.
• have resided in London for a significant period, in time or importance, within their life and work.
In the case of overseas visitors, candidates should also:
• be of international reputation or significant standing in their own country.
It should also be noted that:
• plaques can only be erected on the actual building inhabited by the nominated figure, not the site where the building once stood. However, consideration may be given in cases where reconstructed buildings present an exact facsimile frontage on the identical site.
• buildings marked with plaques must be visible from the public highway.
• unless a case is deemed exceptional, each figure may only be commemorated with one plaque in London.
• suggestions will not be considered for figures already commemorated by a plaque erected by the Royal Society of Arts, the London County Council, the Greater London Council or English Heritage.
• proposals will not be considered for the commemoration of individuals still living.
• proposals will be considered for the commemoration of sites of special historical interest.
• a building shall not be marked solely because it figures in a work of fiction.
• although most plaques are erected on the former residences of famous people, the erection of plaques on blocks of flats is not excluded, nor are significant places of work.
• unless a case is deemed exceptional, plaques shall not be erected on educational buildings or Inns of Court.
• plaques can only be erected on buildings, not on boundary walls or gate piers.
• the City of London and Whitehall are ruled out for consideration under the blue plaques scheme.
Source: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1498