The Church of England is introducing the Building Management Portal, a new national online system for managing applications relating to works on churches, their contents and churchyards. The Building Management Portal will replace the current Online Faculty System and has a planned release date of 6 October 2026.
The new portal will be used for List A, List B and faculty applications, as well as associated casework, consultation, documents and decision stages. 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.
You can watch an introduction to the Building Management Portal below.
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 is happening to the Online Faculty System?
The Online Faculty System will close on 30 September 2026 to allow time for a final export of data to the new portal before it goes live.
Preparing for the national rollout
The portal has already been tested by four pilot dioceses. Learning from the pilot has strengthened the national rollout approach, identifying where users need clearer guidance and stronger support, and specifically in areas such as imported case data, role-based access and issues reporting.
Training and support
We are providing three online training sessions to help you prepare for the move from the Online Faculty System. Please sign up for one of these sessions using the links below:
- Monday 21 September 2026, 14:00 – 15:00, Building Management Portal (BMP) system orientation - Diocese of Salisbury Learning Hub
- Tuesday 22 September, 10:00 – 11:00, Building Management Portal (BMP) system orientation - Diocese of Salisbury Learning Hub
- Thursday 24 September, 19:00 – 20:00, Building Management Portal (BMP) system orientation - Diocese of Salisbury Learning Hub
Further guidance will be shared over the coming weeks.
If you have any questions about the Building Management Portal, we are here to help. Please email the Church Buildings team with your queries.
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.
The Building Management Portal will be accessed through the CofE Portal, which provides a secure login route and includes two-factor authentication. If you do not already have a CofE Portal account, you will need to create one before you can use the Building Management Portal. Please go to CofE Portal and follow the on-screen instructions to register. If you n
Key dates
- 21 September 2-26: Training session one
- 22 September 2026: Training session two
- 24 September 2026: Training session three
- 30 September 2026: Online Faculty System closes
- 6 October 2026: Planned release date for Building Management Portal
Further information
More information and FAQs are available on the national church website, Building Management Portal | The Church of England