According to statistics published by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) of the People’s Republic of China, by 2024, approximately 63,500 historic buildings have been officially recognized. Historic buildings not only possess unique historical, cultural, economic, and social value but also reflect a nation's historical significance on the international stage. Given the uniqueness, regional characteristics, and resource constraints of historic buildings, it is necessary to establish a standardized evaluation framework. This study focuses on integrating the concept of circular building design to enhance functionality and promote innovative restoration, enabling historic buildings to align better with sustainable development goals. Based on the building lifecycle, historic buildings are categorized into four dimensions: planning, design, construction, and operation and maintenance. Through a review of relevant literature and case studies, combined with a project group decision-making model and open-ended semi-structured expert interviews, this study establishes an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) evaluation framework (comprising four dimensions and 20 criteria). The proposed evaluation criteria framework, validated through case studies, can serve as a reference for selecting optimal solutions during the Front-End Planning (FEP) stage of historic building protection and circular transformation projects.