Our diocese has been chosen as one of four dioceses to pilot the new Buildings Management System (BMP) to be launched this year.
The new system will replace the Online Faculty System and will need to be used from mid-April onwards when applying for permission to make changes to your church buildings and churchyards. It is hoped that this system will make applying for Faculties more straightforward and user-friendly for all those involved in the process.
From mid-April, anyone trying to access the new system will need to use the new links that will be shortly provided to all active users. Anyone trying to log-in to the existing system will receive a message saying their login is invalid, with a reminder on the log-in page that pilot dioceses need to use the new system. The portal will feature short tutorial videos showing users how to use the key features, upload documents, and proceed to the next stage of their applications.
Director of Church Buildings and Net Zero, Mark Carter said:
“We’re pleased to be launching the new Building Management Portal in the diocese this Spring. Many people will remember the training we ran on the new system last year and, despite delays in the launch, it will be a welcome replacement for a system which is now over ten years old.
“Please don’t worry if you have an ongoing application, this will be automatically transferred, and all active users of the current system will be contacted over the coming weeks with more information about registering on the new portal. There will be a period of a few days of ‘downtime’ in early April whilst the systems are changed, but we can manage any urgent matters offline for that short period.”
There is no need to register with the new system immediately, but just keep any information sent out to hand for when your church needs to progress an application or start a new one.
As part of the pilot, there will be an opportunity for users to offer feedback on the system and let the national church developer team know what works and what doesn’t: the National team will provide more information on how to submit this at a later stage.
There will shortly be more information available on the Church Buildings pages of the diocesan website as well as emailed directly to users, including specific dates on when it will go live and any period of downtime in the existing system before this.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Church buildings team in the diocesan office: churches@cofe-worcester.org.uk.
