Buildings and maintenance / Applications for Faculties
DIOCESE OF BRISTOLAPPLICATIONS FOR FACULTIES
INTRODUCTION
1 This leaflet gives a brief outline of the procedure which applies in most cases for obtaining a faculty (that is, a permission) from the consistory court (that is, the Church court of the Diocese).
The current legal requirements as from 1 March 1993 are laid down in the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991 and the latest Faculty Jurisdiction Rules, effective since 2001. They are explained in more detail in the Code of Practice, published by Church House Publishing, obtainable from booksellers or by mail order from Church House Bookshop, Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BN (Tel: 0207 898 1300/2). Church House Bookshop is also able to supply copies of the Measure and Rules. References in this leaflet to § nos are to the relevant paragraphs in the Code.
2 Faculties are granted either by the Chancellor (that is, the judge of the consistory court) or by the Archdeacon. A faculty is normally needed for repairs, alterations or additions (including disposals and other transactions) to Church of England churches, their contents and the churchyards and land belonging to them. Works arising from the quinquennial inspection may well require a faculty. Additions or changes to the fabric or contents of the church will certainly require a faculty.
The term “church" as used in this context includes all parish churches (including their curtilage) and many other churches and places of worship, as well as some other Church property such as consecrated burial grounds (§ 138).
If there is any doubt as to whether a faculty is needed, you should consult the Diocesan Registrar or the DAC Secretary before starting the work.
3 There are a few exceptional cases where a faculty is not required.
a Some very minor matters - sometimes called “de minimis” matters - which the Chancellor has directed do not need formal authorisation. A list of these is obtainable from the Diocesan Registrar. If there is any doubt as to whether a particular matter is covered by the list you should again consult the Diocesan Registrar before starting the work.
b Temporary re-ordering. If certain detailed conditions are satisfied, the Archdeacon can authorise temporary re-ordering of a church for up to 15 months, to allow time to see whether the arrangements work satisfactorily and are generally acceptable before a faculty is applied for (§ 210-212).
c The Chancellor has delegated to incumbents certain authority in regard to tombstones etc. This is set out in the Churchyard Rules, obtainable from the Registrar or DAC Secretary.
STAGE 1: PRELIMINARY CONSULTATION, PCC RESOLUTION AND CONSENTS FROM NON CHURCH BODIES
4 The first step should be informal consultation about the proposals (§ 121-129). As well as the minister (the rector or vicar, or in some cases a team vicar or priest-in-charge), the churchwardens and parochial church council and the parish as a whole, the people and bodies to be consulted include: the parish’s architect or surveyor and other professional advisers, the Archdeacon, and the DAC (the Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches). Contact with the DAC can be made via the Secretary. Before considering the proposals, the DAC may need to send a sub-committee to visit the church in order to gather on-site information. The Secretary can also advise if prior consultation with one of the DAC’s consultants would be helpful (eg on organs, bells or clocks).
5 It may be necessary to consult certain non-Church bodies in order to obtain their formal consent at the faculty petition stage (§ 124, 132-5). Preliminary consultation should begin with them at a very early stage of planning the works. For example:-
a The local planning authority may need to grant planning permission or some other permission or consent. This applies in particular to new buildings, to work affecting the exterior of churches or churchyards, or work affecting trees subject to tree preservation orders or in conservation areas. You should always consult the Diocesan Registrar and the local planning authority itself as to whether any consent of this kind is needed.
b English Nature needs to be consulted if the church has bats or a history of roosting bats and the proposals (eg structural repairs or timber treatment) may affect the bats or their roosts.
c English Heritage will need to approve the proposals if it is to give a grant for them or (normally) if it or its predecessors have given a grant in the past for work to the church. It also has a statutory right to be consulted in certain cases as listed in para 21 below. See also para 22 below.
d One or more of the National Amenity Societies (such as the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) may have the statutory right to be consulted. See also para 22 below.
e The Council for the Care of Churches may have the statutory right to be consulted. See para 23 below.
f The Commonwealth War Graves Commission should always be consulted if the proposals may affect graves or burials or monuments or memorials. (Some of the graves and monuments for which it is responsible are not readily identifiable, except through its records, as war graves).
6 Then:-
a the necessary faculty forms (see below) should be obtained from the Diocesan registry; and
b the PCC should be asked to pass a resolution supporting (or expressing any other views on) the proposals. The voting figures should be recorded.
STAGE 2: OBTAINING FORMAL ADVICE FROM THE DAC
7 The Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches (DAC) (§ 92-120) is the advisory body on matters affecting places of worship in the Diocese. One of its main functions is to give advice to the Chancellor, the Archdeacons and intending applicants for faculties on such matters as:-
a the grant of faculties;
b the architecture, archaeology, art and history of places of worship;
c the use, care, planning, design and redundancy of places of worship;
d the use and care of the contents of such places; and
e the use and care of churchyards and burial grounds.
8 Once the preliminary steps in Stage 1 above have been completed, the intending petitioners (that is, the people who will be applying for the faculty) should apply to the DAC for its formal advice (§ 141-146).
You should begin by asking the DAC Secretary whether she wishes you to complete an application form to the DAC. In any event, full details of the proposals, together with drawings, plans, designs and specifications and other documents (which should be listed), the name of the architect and the person or firm who will carry out the work, and a draft of the completed petition form (see para 12 below) should be sent in duplicate to the DAC Secretary. (NB In cases where the parish considers it desirable to consult a planning authority, a national Amenity Society or English Heritage, further copies of the drawings etc should be prepared.)
The DAC will also need to know whether the church or churchyard is in a conservation area, and whether the proposals affect a listed building or structure (eg a tombstone) other than the church itself.
For works involving significant changes to a listed church the PCC will also need to supply a Statement of Significance and a Statement of Need. Guidance on preparing these documents is available from the DAC Secretary.
9 The DAC meets ten times a year, and the Secretary will advise the latest submission date for items.
10 After the DAC has considered the proposals:-
a One copy of the plans and other documents will be returned to the applicants. The other copy will be retained for record purposes.
b The applicants will receive the DAC's certificate relating to the proposals. This will contain a full description of the proposals and indicate whether the DAC has decided to recommend the proposals, or to raise no objection to them, or not to recommend them. (In the first two cases its decision may be subject to provisos.)
c The certificate will also indicate whether or not the DAC considers that any of the special cases set out in para 21 below applies. These points will be relevant when the Diocesan Registrar comes to decide whether to allocate the case to the Archdeacon or the Chancellor (see para 18 below), and also to determine whether any non church bodies should be notified of the proposals (see paras 22 - 23 below).
11 If the DAC decides not to recommend the proposals, it is still possible to apply for a faculty. However it will normally be advisable to try to modify the proposals in order to meet the DAC’s concerns, and then re-submit them to the DAC before going any further.
STAGE 3: THE PETITION AND CITATION
12 The next stage is to lodge the completed petition (that is, the formal application for a faculty) with the Diocesan Registrar (§ 147-150).
The petitioners are normally the incumbent and churchwardens. If anyone else is to be a petitioner, the Diocesan Registrar should be consulted first. The petition form can be obtained from the Diocesan Registrar, and it is the petitioner’s responsibility to see that it is carefully and correctly completed. A separate form is used for works to trees.
In the petition form the schedule of the proposed works must set out, clearly and comprehensively, the works or purposes for which the faculty is required, following the description in the DAC certificate (see para 10 above). In order to avoid confusion and delay, the works or purposes should be identical to those the DAC has already considered.
13 The following documents must be submitted with the petition:-
a the DAC certificate;
b a certified copy of the PCC resolution;
c the drawings, designs, plans, specifications, estimates etc giving full particulars of the proposed works. These should be the same documents as were submitted to the DAC and should bear the DAC’s endorsement. These documents will normally be retained in the Diocesan Registry and should be on thin paper to enable them to be folded;
d all other correspondence or other documentation referred to in the answers to the questions in the petition (including any letters from the insurers stating that the work has their consent, and any correspondence with English Heritage).
NB If a petition is presented without consultation of the DAC, time will be wasted as the Chancellor always consults the DAC before deciding whether to issue a faculty.
14 Currently (in 2008) the total fee payable, including VAT, is £200.80 for the Chancellor’s faculty and £121.03 for an Archdeacon’s faculty .
If there are any objections made to the proposals, or if correspondence is protracted, additional fees will be payable in accordance with the annual Ecclesiastical Judges and Legal Officers (Fees) Order.
15 On receipt of the petition, the Registrar will issue a form of public notice (that is, notice to the public of the petition for the faculty).
16 The public notice will be sent to the correspondent for the petitioners and must be displayed:-
a inside the parish church, on a notice board or in some other prominent position;
b outside the parish church on a notice board or (if there is one) on or near the principal door and in some other prominent position; or
c if the application relates to another church or place of worship in the parish, inside and outside that church or place of worship also.
d in other places as well, should the Registrar or Chancellor give additional instructions.
The public notice must be displayed for a continuous period of not less than 28 days including at least one Sunday when the church is used for worship. (In certain circumstances the Registrar may direct that the display period should exceed the normal 28 days.)
After this has been done the citation should be sent to the Registrar with the “certificate of execution” on the form duly completed.
17 Anyone who wishes to object to the proposals (§ 160, 178-179) should send the Diocesan Registrar and the petitioners a written letter of objection. Within 14 days the Registrar will inform the objector of the alternative courses of action open to him or her.
STAGE 4: ALLOCATION OF PETITION, CONSIDERATION BY ARCHDEACON OR CHANCELLOR, AND GRANT OF FACULTY
18 The Diocesan Registrar will allocate the petition either to the Archdeacon or the Chancellor depending on the nature of the proposals and the other circumstances. (§162-166).
19 Further details of the subsequent procedure are contained in § 167-187 of the Code. If the Archdeacon or the Chancellor is satisfied that a faculty may be granted and makes order to that effect, and provided that no objections are received and no special procedures apply (see below), the faculty will be issued after the certificate of execution of the public notice (see para 16 above) is received by the Diocesan Registrar. The faculty will set out the timetable by which the works should be completed and require the petitioners to send in a certificate of completion to the Registrar within that period.
20 If the matter is allocated to the Archdeacon and he is not willing to grant a faculty, the matter (if the petitioners wish to pursue it) must then be referred to the Chancellor.
SPECIAL CASES
21 Special requirements apply if the works for which a faculty is sought
a are likely to affect the character of the church as a building of special architectural or historic interest; or
b affect the archaeological importance of the church or archaeological remains existing within the church or its curtilage; or
c involve demolition affecting the exterior of an unlisted church in a conservation area (§ 163, § 172) (see also para 24 below).
22 In these cases special rules apply as regards notifying external bodies because the Chancellor is obliged to ensure that each of a number of bodies listed in the legislation is made aware of the works unless it has already been notified.
The bodies concerned are English Heritage, the local planning authority, and also any relevant National Amenity Society which the Chancellor considers to have an interest. (The National Amenity Societies are the Ancient Monuments Society, the Council for British Archaeology, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, the Georgian Group, the Victorian Society and the 20th Century Society.)
The Registrar will give notice in writing, on an individual basis, to each of the relevant bodies unless there is correspondence clearly showing that it is fully aware of the proposed works and has no objection to them. Consequently, it is likely to save time if they have been approached at an early stage (see para 5). The Diocesan Registrar is always ready to advise petitioners when this special provision is likely to apply.
23 In particular cases regarding demolition, or relating to an article or matter of historic, architectural, archaeological or artistic interest, or involving alteration, extension or reordering, or where he considers its advice would be useful to him, the Chancellor will also direct the Registrar to serve full details on the Council for the Care of Churches.
24 In the case of demolition of a church or parts of a church, disinterment or reinterment, and reservation of grave spaces, special rules apply. In these cases and in cases of church extensions and sale of church goods, applications should be made in the first place to the Registrar, who will give instruction as to the procedure to be followed.
Useful Addresses
Secretary to the DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee)
Mrs Celia Gibbons
Church House
23 Great George Street
BRISTOL
BS1 5QT
Tel 0117 906 0100
Fax 0117 925 0460
E-mail celia.gibbons@bristolDiocese.org
Diocesan Registrar
Mr Tim Berry
Diocesan Registry Office
14 Market Place
WELLS
BA5 2RE
Tel 01749 674747
Fax 01749 834060
E-mail tim.berry@harris-harris.co.uk or gill.hawkings@harris-harris.co.uk
Do not hesitate to contact them if you need advice.
DAC/January 1996
Reviewed: July 1997, January 1998, August 1998,
January 2000, October 2000, May 2001, August 2001, July 2002,
August 2003, August 2004, November 2005, August 2006, November 2007
This document is issued under the authority of the Bristol Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches. It may be copied by parishes for use by clergy, churchwardens, the PCC and other proper officers. Permission to copy for other users must be obtained from the Secretary of the DAC.