How to Petition for Faculty

There are three main steps in the process of petitioning for faculty:

1. Consultation before submitting an application

• You can contact your professional advisors with a request to prepare a specification and early consultation with the DAC may be advisable in some cases. 
• You should check what other permissions may be needed for your proposal – eg planning permission may be required if you are making changes to the exterior of the church; further consents may be required if your church is in a Conservation Area.
• Discuss and minute all proposals fully within your PCC meeting. A PCC resolution will be needed, and the date entered on the Petition for Faculty form in due course.
• For larger proposals, it may be wise to request a site visit by the DAC before finalising your application. Consultation may be needed with Historic England, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, the Church Buildings Council and other amenity societies.

2. Consideration of proposal by the DAC

Applications for faculties or List B approval should be made via the Online Faculty System, which can be found here. List A works can also be recorded on the Online Faculty System.

When the PCC has agreed that a project will proceed, details should be submitted to the DAC via the Online Faculty System.

Before submitting your application, you will need to register, by clicking on the “Register” button at the top right of the home page. The PCC will need to agree who should register and apply. This may be a Churchwarden, or other responsible person, e.g. member of a Fabric Committee, or your professional adviser.

There are helpful User Manuals for each step of the registration and application process, which can be found via the "help" tab on the home page of the Online Faculty System. The DAC Secretary is also happy to help and talk you through the process.

Your application should be supported by the following documents:

• A statement of significance: This is a statement which summarises the historical development of the church and identifies the important features that make a major contribution to the character of the Church, or which may be impacted by the proposed works.
• A statement of needs: This sets out the reasons why the needs of the parish cannot be met without making changes to the church building and the reasons why the changes are regarded as necessary to assist the Church in its worship and mission.
• Details of the proposed works including plans, photographs, specifications, quotations and drawings as appropriate.(For larger proposals we may also request hard copies.)

You can complete the forms for the Statements of Significance and Needs on the Online Faculty System, or upload them as separate documents. Other supporting documents can be uploaded easily to the system.

Once all the relevant information has been entered on the system, press “Submit” to send the details to the DAC Secretary.

A list of meeting dates, with deadlines for the submission of information, can be found on the Diocesan website

3. After the DAC meeting

Once the DAC has considered the proposal, it will make a recommendation, which will be confirmed to you in a Notification of Advice, issued electronically via the Online Faculty System.

You then finalise the Petition for Faculty form, display public notices and submit your petition via the Online Faculty System to the Diocesan Registry.

At the end of the 28 day Public Notice period, the Certificate of Publication on the back of the public notices must be completed and signed, and a hard copy sent to the Diocesan Registrar.

Once the faculty is granted, the Registrar sends a copy to the parish with instructions about any actions to be taken, including returning the Certificate of Practical Completion of Works (Form 8) when the work is completed.