Church Buildings FAQs

To do that, we need full details of the work to be carried out – at the very least, a quote from a contractor and usually a specification and a schedule of works. We may also need a plan of your church and/or churchyard and photographs of the area concerned. A PCC resolution is a mandatory requirement. We will always explain what we need, but before contacting us do please check that through e-mails from the Church Buildings Support Team about your application and ensure that you have acted on any requests for information.

It’s good practice to obtain independent advice and that is what we are doing on your behalf. We don’t want to cause unnecessary delay, we just want to be sure that everything goes smoothly and that the money you spend will procure you something to see you right for years if not decades to come. Sometimes details need to be revised or precautions implemented to ensure that that happens. We also have a duty of care to you and your building. In the past, work was sometimes carried out at historic churches that in the long run caused more problems than it solved. It was done with the best of intentions, but without understanding the difficulties that could arise from, say, using materials incompatible with traditional construction, such as cement mortar. We want to make sure something like that won’t happen to you.

No – they’re only required for an application that will have a physical or visual impact on a listed church (i.e. something that would require listed building consent in the secular system). They’re not usually required for applications like fabric repairs or for works at unlisted churches, so please check with us if you’re unsure before you risk spending lots of time and effort on something that might be surplus to requirements. You can find guidance on writing Statements of Significance and Needs here.

Whether an application is classed as a List B matter or faculty doesn’t necessarily depend on the scale of the works. As a general rule, it is an automatic requirement for any permanent alteration or addition to a church, whether that is a change to the fabric or the introduction of some item that will remain in the church on a permanent basis. It’s usually mandatory for anything involving below-ground excavations, and it’s also necessary for any proposal that involves entering into some kind of commercial agreement, such as installing telecoms equipment, or running a business on church premises. It’s required if a proposal might be contentious and could attract comment from the wider community. Felling healthy trees, for instance, always requires a faculty. The process includes a public notice period so that the Chancellor can receive and address any objections that might be raised. That means that you don’t have to act as arbiter.

A faculty includes a grant of listed building consent where that would be required for equivalent works to a secular listed building. But listed building consent and planning permission are two separate systems. Churches have no permitted development rights (i.e. there are no external works that they can undertake without the need to obtain planning permission), so almost any change to the exterior of the building or alteration to the grounds requires it. The PCC needs to apply for this separately through the secular planning system. The Chancellor will wish to see at the very least a positive response to a request for a pre-application consultation in order to process your application. But any works inside the church require only a faculty, which is why we’ll often encourage you to give prime consideration to options that don’t involve alterations to the exterior.

The only way to find out whether the DAC supports an application is to ask us to take it to a meeting. Trying to second-guess the Committee’s response is a risky game, so we try not to do that. Occasionally a proposal comes to us which we can be pretty sure will be opposed and it wouldn’t be a sensible use of anyone’s time to take it to the Committee, but such cases are very rare. There is no rule book that describes every kind of proposal for works at an historic church and states whether it is acceptable or not. Generally, provided the justification is sound, the DAC will want to support it. Each church is unique and each proposal is unique, which it why it is vital that we hear directly from you about your reasons for putting it forward. Sometimes we may need to suggest doing it a different way before we’re in a position to support it, but the application will only get stuck if you don’t act on the Committee’s advice. Once we’ve encourage further development of a proposal at an initial discussion, we will be consistent and maintain our support. We won’t change our mind and ask you to scrap a proposal in which you’ve already invested time and money.

The DAC carries out site visits so we can hear directly from you about what you want to do and why, and understand your proposal in context. Committee meetings are always busy and there just isn’t the time to discuss every application in detail. But a visit is primarily a fact-finding exercise and it’s important to note that the advice is given ‘without prejudice’. That means that anything you hear at the visit doesn’t represent the Committee’s formal position and it also doesn’t constitute permission to proceed with the work. The visiting party’s findings are discussed by the full committee at its next meeting and after that you’ll receive a written response from the DAC Secretary, which will set out the formal position and the steps you need to follow in order to obtain a faculty. Please note that formal permission can’t be given at a site visit.

You don’t have to use the on-line system to approach the DAC. Information like the names and addresses of the petitioners are legal formalities that are required only at the next stage. What the Committee needs is details of what you propose to do (working drawings, a specification and schedule of works, data sheets for equipment, etc). It needs to understand why it’s being done and it needs to be able to assess what the impact on your church will be. It’s fine to use e-mail to send us this information.

There is no formal requirement to obtain three quotes for a faculty application. It is simply promoted as good practice to ensure that you are getting a competitive quote for the work. Churchwardens are effectively trustees of a charity, so are obliged to ensure that they are getting good value for money. That is why there is space for three quotes in the application form.

We will always reply after the meeting with a written response by e-mail, explaining the outcome of the discussion and the next steps. This happens as a matter of course and you don’t need to request it. Please be aware that each meeting generates a lot of work and it isn’t possible to reply straight away. If you don’t hear back instantly, that is simply because we are still working our way through other cases reviewed at the meeting.

The Notification of Advice certifies that your application has been reviewed by the DAC and doesn’t constitute legal permission. The only person who can provide that is the Chancellor, the judge of the diocese and its chief legal official. The DAC’s role is to advise the Chancellor whether a faculty ought to be granted on the grounds that fall within its remit – principally the care of historic church buildings, although also commemoration of the dead, liturgical matters, building services, artworks in churches and so on. Following review of your application by the DAC, there are legal formalities to complete, such as the public notice period. You can only instruct a contractor to begin work once you are in possession of a document marked ‘faculty’. If you’re unsure whether you have that permission, please contact the Church Buildings Support Team to check.

Proceeding without a faculty is illegal. You can apply for one retrospectively and we try to be lenient in the case of a genuine oversight, but at the very least you will need to write a letter to the Chancellor apologising for the situation and explaining how it came about. If he is not satisfied by the explanation and/or complaints have been received from third parties, the Chancellor may decide to call a consistory court to investigate and it will not be difficult for him to ascertain whether the work was done in breach of the faculty jurisdiction. You will be required to rectify the situation to his satisfaction, which may well involve carrying out expensive additional work on your building. You will also be awarded the costs of the hearing, which could also be substantial. The situation could take months to resolve and invariably causes a lot of stress. Please save yourselves the trouble and expense of a consistory court hearing – there are so many better things you can do with the time and money!

If you have reached the public notice and petition stage then your application is now with the Registry. That means that it is outside our remit and we can’t comment – the Registry is a completely separate department located on a different site. It is operated by Birketts, a legal company which is not part of the Diocesan Board of Finance. You need to address all enquiries to our Registry Clerk, Angie Long (angie-long@birketts.co.uk) instead, but do first check that you have paid the Registry fee, because if you haven’t then the faculty will be withheld until that is done. Do also check that you indicated the name of your church (not just the dedication, but also the location) with the payment reference, as otherwise they may not be able to match it to your application. That can also cause delays. You can find more information about the Registry here.

The standard term of validity is 12 months from the date of issue. That is to say, the work authorised by the faculty needs to be completed within a period of 12 months from the date when the faculty was granted. We recognise that that often isn’t possible, and if you think that that amount of time might not be adequate then upload a letter to your application asking the Chancellor to make the faculty valid for a longer term.

Please contact our Registry Clerk, Angie Long (angie-long@birketts.co.uk) and ask her to put a request through to the Chancellor to grant an extension. That can usually be sorted out very quickly, but only the Registry can do that. The Church Buildings Support Team has no such powers.

The works listed in a quinquennial inspection report are not legally binding. No one is going to come after you if you don’t carry out everything! Though help obtaining grant aid is at hand (and please ask us if you need it) we all understand that a parish’s resources can often fall well short of the expenditure required. The important thing is to distinguish between what’s urgent or a legal requirement and what may be a counsel of perfection – nice to do, but not essential. The recommendations will be grouped by order of urgency. Concentrate on anything that is causing imminent decay to the fabric. There’s nothing to be gained by postponing it – the longer you leave it, the more expensive it will be to sort out. If need be, you could carry out a holding repair instead and we’re always happy to advise on whether that might be a more realistic option in the circumstances. Do also pay close attention to anything that has health and safety implications. The only situation where you might bear legal liability is if the report warned you of a threat and you didn’t address it. That includes matters such as having an asbestos survey of the building (you don’t necessarily have to remove any asbestos-containing materials, but you do have to be able to warn contractors about places where they might encounter them), and getting an up-to-date electrical safety certificate and acting on any recommendations in it.

There is a statutory requirement for the inspecting architect to carry out a condition survey of your church every five years. The PCC instructs the architect to proceed with it, not the Church Buildings Support Team, and the Diocese pays the fee for the inspection and report. But in all other respects the relationship is between the PCC and the architect, and the former is liable for paying any other fees incurred for work commissioned from the latter. Though we believe the architects named on the list are competent to carry out inspections and related work, that doesn’t mean that consent can be taken as read for repairs or any other proposals arising from a quinquennial inspection. Everything is dealt with on a case-by-case basis and architects cannot grant permission for work to be carried out. You can find more information about appointing an inspecting architect here.

No, because it’s not necessary – usually it doesn’t make practical or economic sense to carry them out one at a time with a separate application for each item. It’s better to group together related recommendations from the report, such as stonework repairs to a particular area, and to carry them out in a single cycle on the basis of a single application. Equally, if you need scaffolding for a high-level job, then it makes sense to carry out as much as you can at the same time while you have access to that area. Please contact us if you are unsure – we will advise the most efficient way of obtaining the necessary permissions.

No, because we don’t keep one. Sometimes, when property is managed centrally, as is the case with clergy housing, you will be asked to commission work from a set list of contractors. But that’s not the case with churches because each one is managed by its PCC and if any work is carried out then the commercial agreement is between the contractor and the PCC, not the diocese. It’s difficult to maintain lists of contractors in all the numerous specialised fields that the form the basis of faculty applications and to ensure that all the information remains up to date. We are in no position to guarantee that the service providers listed will always be available or deliver work to your satisfaction. Occasionally we will suggest contractors in very specialised fields, such as stained glass conservation, but with the important proviso that these are simply people we believe to be competent to carry out the work. Passing on names doesn’t imply any liability or prejudice any faculty applications. If you’re looking for a builder to quote for fabric repairs, it’s much better to ask your inspecting architect for advice as he/she will have the direct experience of work with firms that we don’t.

We aim to answer all enquiries promptly, but please be aware that we are a small team, with just two full-time staff dealing with faculty casework from over 470 churches across the entire diocese. Emergencies and other urgent situations arise on a regular basis, so we often have to readjust our priorities. At certain times, especially either side of a DAC meeting, we are very busy. Please be patient if you do not hear back straight away.