Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches (DAC)


The DAC's objective is to promote and enable church buildings and churchyards to be resources for the mission of the church, by ensuring that they are well maintained and cared for.

DAC members are experts in their field and are eager to help and advise in the process of obtaining a Faculty for major works.

Small groups of Committee members often visit churches where a project is proposed and work with the parish as the project develops.

The Church of England is exempt from certain demands of the secular planning system; this is a privilege worth striving to retain, but exemption from one set of demands means that those set by our own Faculty system must be at least equally high. To those we add our own view of the churchs calling and purpose.

Church buildings do not just belong to the congregations currently maintaining them and possibly developing them, but to a much wider constituency. They are the churches of the whole community in the parishes they serve, and they belong to past and future generations as much as to the present.

Primarily, they belong to God.

New Faculty Jurisdiction Rules

In January 2016, new Faculty Jurisdiction Rules were introduced to simplify the Faculty system and enable a wider scope of works to be carried out without the need for a Faculty.

Proposed work is classified as either being on 'List A', 'List B' or requiring a Faculty.

'List A'

There is a national List A of works which can be carried out on your church without a Faculty. This replaces the previous 'De Minimis' and 'Minor Works' lists.

'List B'

There is a new national List B of works which can be carried out once the written permission of the Archdeacon has been obtained. Most of these will be repairs and routine maintenance or small works identified in the Quinquennial Inspection report.

For 'List B' matters the Archdeacon will consult with a member or members of the DAC for informed informal advice. It is hoped that this will enable parishes to get on with the work without delay. The Archdeacon may, however, set conditions on the way the work is to be carried out.

All other works will still require a Faculty.

Effective from 1st July 2022, the Faculty Jurisdiction (Amendment) Rules 2022 have come into force, amending the previous Faculty Jurisdiction Rules.

Under the new rules, Lists A and B have been substantially revised and expanded. Various other amendments have been made to the rules to improve their operation.

The wording of the new Lists can be found here

If work is not on the list then please contact Lucy Burfield, DAC Secretary in the usual way. 

One additional change to the rules is the introduction of a parish to have due regard to advice from the Church Buildings Council (CBC) on net-zero carbon. The CBC have a list of the core net-zero carbon guidance required to fulfil this requirement on its Churchcare website here . To make the rules workable this section highlights core documents that must be given due consideration when they are relevant. There is other helpful guidance on the CBC’s net-zero carbon church page.

Trees, Bells and Organs

If you are proposing work to trees or to bells you will find some items specified in the Lists A and B, but in any event you will also need to refer to the Church Buildings Council Statutory Guidance which you can download below:.

New guidance - internet connectivity - The Chancellor of the Diocese of Newcastle has issued an Additional Matters Order under Rule 3.4 of the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules 2015 (and 2019 amendment) on the matter of broadband installations in church buildings. A faculty is no longer required for such installations provided they comply with the terms as laid out in the Additional Matters Order and have been authorised by the Archdeacon. Click here for more information. Any queries can be directed to the DAC Secretary, Lucy Burfield at dac@newcastle.anglican.org .

Newcastle Diocesan Scheme for the Inspection of Churches May 2021

Public notices for major works

Powered by Church Edit