Caring for your church building.
Caring for a church building through a well-planned maintenance regime is an excellent way to save money and to ensure your church remains an inviting place to spend time.
Caring for a church building through a well-planned maintenance regime is an excellent way to save money and to ensure your church remains an inviting place to spend time. Some specific guidance relating to regular maintenance matters can be found through this page. Other valuable sources of advice include the ChurchCare and Maintenance Co-operatives websites.
Many maintenance tasks can be carried out with archdeacon’s consent and do not require faculty consent. More information can be found here.
Articles on maintaining and protecting your building, and caring for your churchyard are available here:
Church buildings are inspected every five years by an appointed ‘quinquennial inspector’. The purpose of the inspection is to create a record of the building’s condition, and to identify all the maintenance and repair priorities which will require attention over the following five years.
The appointment of a quinquennial inspector to a parish is carried out by the DAC, though the process relies on the nomination of a preferred candidate from the PCC. Candidates are drawn from a list of approved inspectors, all of whom have been assessed at interview. All inspectors are either architects or surveyors with relevant experience in historic and/or ecclesiastical buildings.
The Diocese of London has been operating the Gutter Maintenance Programme since 2007. Members pay a set fee for gutter clearance and high-level maintenance. Because the programme has a large membership, we are able to operate an economy of scale which ensures these services are delivered at a low price. To avoid the high cost of damage caused by water ingress, every church should make sure its rainwater disposal system is kept clear. More information on the programme and how to join is available here.
