Building Management Portal

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.

The portal will replace the Online Faculty System. It will be used for List A, List B, and faculty applications. It has been designed to make the application process easier to follow and to improve consistency in the way casework is managed, providing clearer information about application stages, supporting documents and the actions needed as an application progresses. The system is intended to support both day-to-day application management and the wider stewardship of church buildings by improving how information is recorded, shared and used.

The new portal is set to go live on 6 October. The Online Faculty System will be closed on 30 September to allow time for a final export of data to the new portal before it goes live.

The national church has created a short introductory video to explain more about the Building Management Portal. 

What is changing – and what is not

The legal process itself is not changing: the existing faculty, List A and List B processes remain the same. The new portal simply provides a new online 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.

How to access the Building Management Portal

Users will access the Building Management Portal through the CofE Portal. 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. 

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. If you are involved in an ongoing case, further information will be provided about how this will be handled and what, if anything, you need to do.

What you need to do now

Please continue to use the Online Faculty System as normal until 30 September 2026. You do not need to register for the new Building Management Portal at this stage.

Training and support

Training and guidance will be built up during rollout. Current video guidance is available to help users understand key parts of the Building Management Portal. These will be hosted on the Church of England website in due course.

Further information

More information is available on the national church website, Building Management Portal | The Church of England