The Church of England is introducing the Building Management Portal, a new national digital system for managing applications relating to works on churches, their contents, and churchyards, with a planned release date of 6 October 2026.
The new portal has been designed to make the application process easier to follow and to improve consistency in the way casework is managed. It will give users clearer information about application stages, supporting documents and the actions needed as an application progresses.
The portal will replace the Online Faculty System. It will be used for List A, List B, and faculty applications, as well as associated casework, consultation, documents, and decision stages.
The legal process itself is not changing. The Building Management Portal provides a new digital route for managing the existing permission framework. It is intended to make the process clearer, more structured, and easier to follow for applicants, parishes, diocesan teams, archdeacons, registrars, chancellors, and consultees.
Accessing the Building Management Portal
Users will access the Building Management Portal through the CofE Portal from 6 October 2026. This provides a secure login route and includes two-factor authentication. Some users will also need to complete a one-time registration process so that their role, diocese, and church access can be assigned correctly.
Please note that the Online Faculty System and the Building Management Portal will be unavailable between 29 September 2026 and 6 October 2026 as data is migrated by the national team.
Existing and historic cases
Existing and historic cases from the Online Faculty System will be migrated into the new portal. As part of onboarding, dioceses will be asked to review sample cases, test key workflows, and check imported case information. This will help identify any access, document, workflow, or data issues before the final transition.
Preparing for the national rollout
The portal has already been used by four pilot dioceses. Learning from that pilot has helped strengthen the national rollout approach, particularly around imported case data, registration, role-based access, CMS integration, user guidance, and issue reporting.
Training and support
Training videos, FAQs, and guidance will be made available during rollout with some training videos already available below.
James Miles, Project Manager for the Building Management Portal, said:
“We appreciate that moving to a new national system will require some adjustment. The pilot phase has helped identify where users need clearer guidance, stronger support routes, and more time to check imported information. The national rollout has been shaped by that learning so that dioceses and users have a more structured transition from the Online Faculty System to the Building Management Portal. Thank you for your support as we prepare for this change.”
Training Videos
To prepare for the new Building Management Portal, please ensure that you have registered for a CofE portal account: https://cofeportal.org
If you are involved in a current or future application, your diocese will provide more information about what you need to do and when. For local support, please contact Emily or Kieran (email addresses below).
Further national information about the Building Management Portal is available on the Church of England website at www.churchofengland.org/BuildingManagementPortal. Information about local support arrangements, contacts, onboarding, and any action needed for current or future applications will be provided by the Diocese.
If you need to make an urgent List B or Faculty application during the migration period between 29 September 2026 and 6 October 2026, please email Emily Elliott: Emily.Elliott@peterborough-diocese.org.uk or Kieran Gleave kieran.gleave@peterborough-diocese.org.uk