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.
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About the Building Management Portal
The new Building Management Portal is set to go live on Tuesday, October 6 2026.
The portal will replace the Online Faculty System. It will be used for List A, List B, and faculty applications, and will provide a clearer and more structured way for applicants, parishes, DAC teams, archdeacons, registrars, chancellors, and consultees to work through the application process.
The Online Faculty System will be closed on Wednesday, September 30 2026 to allow time for a final export of data to the new portal before it goes live. The final DAC meeting under the old system will take place on Tuesday, September 22 2026 (with a deadline Monday, September 7 2026).
The legal process itself is not changing. The Building Management Portal provides a new digital route for managing the same permission framework, with clearer workflow stages, improved case visibility, and role-based access.
Users will access the system through the CofE Portal. This provides a secure login route and includes two-factor authentication. Some users may need to complete a one-time registration process so that their role, diocese, and church access can be assigned correctly.
Existing and some historic cases from the Online Faculty System will be migrated into the Building Management Portal. As part of onboarding, dioceses will be asked to review imported information and test representative cases so that any data or access issues can be identified before the final transition. You will be notified when your infomation has been imported to the new system so please check your new church profile carefully when you receive notification.
Not all cases will be transferred across to the new portal, particularly those which have been inactive for many years. As good practice, users of the Online Faculty System may wish to check any oustanding historic cases as soon as possible and consider whether any should be re-submitted before the current system closes at the end of September. After Friday, October 30 2026, we will no longer be able to restore cases, but the DAC team may have a historic offline record of case files which we can send you to re-start your application.
Although existing cases will be migrated, PCCs who do not meet the deadline of Wednesday September 9 2026 for the September meeting are encouraged to delay commencing any new faculty applications until Tuesday, October 6 2026.
Training material, FAQs, and guidance will be made available during rollout and there will be training sessions provided by the diocese after the launch in October.
If you have questions about a current or future application, please contact, DAC Secretary, Suzannah Meade.
Further national information is available on the Church of England website.
Training on the Building Management Portal
National level
Training videos, written guidance, frequently asked questions and other support materials are being developed to help users understand and use the Building Management Portal.
Diocesan level
Registering with the CofE Portal
Online training sessions sessions post-rollout have been arranged with Suzannah Meade, the DAC Secretary, and links to these will be posted here soon.
Monthly drop in sessions for ongoing questions and comments have also been arranged and links to these will be posted here soon.
Next steps: What you need to do in preparation for the new Building Management Portal
1. Note the dates for the OFS shutdown
2. Register for the Cofe Portal
You can register for the Cofe Portal at: cofeportal.org/register
3. Login for the Building Management Portal
Users will access the portal through the CofE Portal
4. Attend a DAC drop in session
A link to drop in sessions will be added shortly
FAQs
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What is the Building Management Portal?
The Building Management Portal is the Church of England's new national digital platform for managing applications relating to church buildings, their contents and churchyards.The new Building Management Portal will be easier to use, saving you time on your church faculty applications.
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What is the CofE Portal?
The CofE Portal brings together a number of really useful websites and system across the Church of England. Its purpose is simplify access for you and to bring together all of the sites and systems under just one username and password. Thr Building Management Portal is just one 'gateway' within this Portal.
The CofE Portal is located here: cofeportal.org
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Why do I have to register for the Cofe Portal and not the Building Management Portal?
The CofE Portal provides the single sign-on. The Building Management Portal uses this for authentication, and so users must be registered with it.
For users who already have a CofE Portal account, this connection process is straightforward. For this reason, it is recommended that as many users as possible are registered on the CofE Portal in advance, as this will simplify onboarding and ensure that two-factor authentication is already in place. This reflects current security requirements and is necessary to meet cybersecurity standards.
More FAQs can be found by visiting the Building Management Portal page of the Church of England website.
