16
BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
17th annual edition
picker, you will need to be very precise about
timings, so that the QI consultant can make the
best use of the equipment without unnecessary
delay. Ensure that plenty of photographs
are taken while you have the opportunity
to get close to high level stonework, etc.
The log book
Te QI consultant will want to see the parish’s
log book, so this will be a good opportunity for
the wardens to check that it is up to date. Not
all parishes are equally conscientious in the
way they maintain this important document.
At its best, it can be a dossier of detailed
information, supplemented with photographs,
copies of repair paperwork from contractors,
and so on. It is more important that it is
comprehensively maintained than that it follows
any particular laid down format. It is of no use
whatsoever, of course, if it has been mislaid.
It is helpful if the report states clearly
whether the log book was produced,
and if it was, it should form the basis of
the customary list of works carried out
since the last inspection. Tis list should
indicate which (if any) of these works
were supervised by the QI consultant.
Apart from the log book, it may be helpful
to have the inventory available, together with
details of any regular servicing arrangements
such as boilers, fre extinguishers, etc. Tese
all have implications for the wellbeing of the
building, and the QI consultant should take
note of them. Te QI consultant should also
be made aware of any standing arrangements
with local builders, for example for gutter-
clearing or attention to minor repairs.
In the Gloucester diocese, a new
service known as ‘GutterClear’ is intended
to help the QI consultant’s work by making
available reports and photographs taken as
part of the maintenance exercise, and it is
hoped that similar schemes will gradually
start in other parts of the country.
Safety and security
If you have a ring of bells in your tower,
ensure that the bells are down on the day
of the inspection, and check with the tower
captain whether there are any issues which
need to be drawn to the QI consultant’s
attention. After the inspection is fnished,
make sure that all doors are locked and that
ladders have been stowed away properly.
Followup
Many QI consultants ofer to come to a
PCC meeting to discuss the fndings of their
report, this often being included as part of
the service. Tis is well worth taking up. It
enables people to ask questions and to meet
their consultant, who is otherwise only seen
by the churchwarden or fabric ofcer.
Te format and content of the report is
another area where standardisation has been
suggested over the years, but there is little sign
of it to date. Many QI consultants are now
including a ground plan and/or roof plan of
the church, which can be very helpful, and
annotated photographs also bring the report to
life and should be regarded as essential. For the
DAC secretary or archdeacon, a covering letter
drawing attention to any outstanding issues
can be very helpful, as there is not always the
time to go through detailed paragraphs in quite
the way that the recipient parish is likely to.
Te QI consultant is expected to
prioritise works. Typical categories
are ‘urgent/immediate’, ‘within 12 (or
18 months)’, or ‘within fve years or more’.
Some QI consultants attempt to put
budget prices against their recommendations
for dealing with defects. Tis too can be
extremely helpful to parishes, but one can
understand why some consultants are very
cautious about doing it. Without a detailed
exercise by a quantity surveyor (which is an
expensive proposition) one cannot be very
certain about the reliability of the fgures
quoted. But from the parish’s point of view, a
strictly broad brush indication is a tremendous
help. Are we talking about £1,000 or £10,000?
Some people regard the traditional style
of a QI report as rather ponderous, which is
understandable. We need to see the wood
for the trees: some reports have a bad habit
of expending the same number of words
on a minor matter such as a bit of scattered
woodworm or a loose door handle as they do on
the state of a major roof slope. Te PCC needs
to focus on the big issues which ultimately could
prove life threatening to their building, such as
the roof, the stonework, the drainage and so on.
To be fair to the QI consultant, it is
notoriously hard to say when, for example,
a given roof slope will come to the end of its
life – whether it can stagger on for another
fve, 15 or 25 years. Te wise PCC will want to
get the most accurate information possible on
the things that really matter, although this may
mean a more detailed exercise, perhaps with
a competent builder helping the consultant by
carrying out some investigative work, which
would otherwise be outside the scope of the QI.
Limitations of the QI
Too many PCCs make the classic mistake
of going to a builder with an extract from
the QI report and a request for a quotation.
Te difculty is that the QI report merely
sets out the defects and a general approach
to their remedy, and that is not the same as
a specifcation for the necessary remedial
works. It does not attempt to set out
the detail of methods and materials, nor
does it cover the essential preliminaries
which need to be agreed before work
starts, for the protection of the PCC.
Where major works are involved, such
as the relaying of a roof slope, there will
be no alternative but to obtain a formal
specifcation, which is a major document.
It is only fair that this work should be ofered
to the QI consultant, who in any case will
usually be best placed to undertake it.
Minor works arising from the QI are more
difcult, because as has been noted above,
the cost of formal paperwork may be out of
proportion to the cost of the works. Tere are
various compromise ways forward. For example,
the QI consultant might meet on site with the
PCC’s usual builder, and a clear understanding
can then be reached on a range of minor works.
Fit for purpose?
Te QI system has long since proved its
worth as an essential part of the proper care
of a church building. On the other hand far
too many parishes fail to take the simple
steps needed for proper preparation and
follow up. Without these, the QI’s potential
cannot be realised and its cost will be at
least partially wasted. Following the advice
above should help ensure that the parish
and its consultant will together make the
most of the opportunities presented.
Jonathan MacKechnie-Jarvis
FSA IHBC has
been Secretary of Gloucester DAC since 1986 and
a member of the Church Buildings Council since
2001. He is a lay canon of Gloucester Cathedral.
Another view from the cherry picker, closing in on an inaccessible central tower at St Peter’s, Cheltenham