The Diocese of Peterborough would like to provide more support for Churchwardens in caring for your buildings, and make the Faculty process easier to participate in and understand. Therefore, we have moved away from paper-based applications and onto the Church of England’s Online Faculty System (OFS).
The Building Management Portal is being upgraded
The Building Management Portal (currently known as the Online Faculty System) is being upgraded to deliver substantial improvements for users and the wider Church. The new system is currently being tested and is due to go live in mid-October. In the meantime, please continue to use the current system. More information about how to do this is below.
The portal manages applications to alter, repair, or add to a church building or its grounds and enables parishes to develop proposals for new works, obtain Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) advice, and apply for full Faculty.
The upgrade will reduce the amount of time spent by everyone involved in developing, advising, and approving submissions, as well as delivering improved system security and long-term cost savings.
All users will need to re-register to gain access to the new system when it goes live. Training on how to use the new system will be available from September.
Live and abandoned cases
All 96,000 live and historical cases and associated documents will be transferred from the current system to the new site.
Abandoned cases will not be transferred. The new system will only provide functionality for cases under the 2015 Rules if a Faculty has been granted and is awaiting a practical completion certificate. The conversion of open cases is being managed on a case-by-case basis.
Training and Support
Webinars for all system parish users will be provided in September. These are limited to 1000 people each. Each session will have the same content. A recording will be made available to users who can’t attend.
Additional support in the form of ‘how to’ video prompts will be built into the site to guide new users through the Faculty process.
Parish webinars:
• Tuesday 23 September, 13:30 – 14:30. Register on Teams
• Wednesday 24 September, 13:30 – 14:30. Register on Teams
• Thursday 25 September, 13:30 – 14:30. Register on Teams
Project information and FAQs are available during this test phase on the C of E website.
Get started on using OFS (the current system) by watching the videos below.
Introduction to the OFS: Church of England, Making the most of the Church Heritage Record and Online Faculty System:
Guidance for use videos, with grateful thanks to Lincoln and York Diocese for sharing their expertiseThe Diocese of Lincoln, Online Faculty System Guide: The Diocese of York, Online Faculty System Playlist. A step by step guide to using the system: .
Test Account Once you have received your training you will be set up with a test account to have a look at how the system works. Access: https://facultyonline.churchofengland.org/applications Email: test.petitioner@gmail.com Password: onlinesystem
User manuals and FAQs: https://facultyonline.churchofengland.org/help |