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We have been taking over our church from the builders after extensive works. What should we be mindful of, other than ensuring that all the “snagging” items are listed for the architect?
GIVING UP your building for an extensive repair programme for a long time (and I happen to know that in this case it was for more than a year) presents its own challenges, not least that the building is mostly in working order, and, when you gave it up, mostly it was not.
With the handing over from the builders comes a large and daunting technical handbook on all the electrical and heating services. For my church, it was in the form of two very fat, mostly impenetrable ring-binders. Despite this, someone must go through them, and find the pages that show the churchwardens how to operate the systems: the audio loop (with the correct signage near the entrances); fire alarms; heating; electrical meters and fuse boxes; burglar alarms; lift controls; water stopcocks; and everything else.
Operating controls are only the first step. While the builders were in, your annual servicing contracts with heating engineers and fire protection may have gone into abeyance. You now need to re-establish all the necessary maintenance contracts to ensure that what is working well now carries on working well.
In particular, remember that you must not use the lift, and must not allow anyone access to it, until you have a maintenance contract in place. If you are stuck in the lift when the building has no maintenance company to address the emergency, you might be there for several days. Equally, you must have the correct insurance to cover use of the lift.
You will probably now have a fire-officers’ emergency cut-off switch for use in a fire emergency. It should be clearly identified and labelled. Your new disabled lavatory will have an emergency alarm. If the emergency red cord is pulled, where does the alarm ring, and who will address the problem?
One disadvantage of having all this nice new equipment is that it must be maintained. In my own church, we are planning to sit down with the architect and run through a list of what we have in place, and how we are operating it.
The churchwarden of the refurbished church should work with the treasurer to ensure that money is put into a “sinking fund” to repair items as they wear out. For instance, within 15 years you will need a new boiler: set aside one-fifteenth of the cost of a new boiler each year.
Make the same calculation for the life-cycle of the lift, the electrical wiring, the lead on the flat roof, the redecoration of nave and chancel, and so on. The architect, quantity surveyor, and electrical and mechanical engineer from your design team can give you figures for the replacement of all these items.
So, for the repaired building, understand all the controls and how to get the best out of the fixtures and fittings; ensure that what works stays working; and, lastly, set aside an annual sum to ensure that in future repairs can be undertaken as they arise.
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