Where a PCC is seeking to undertake emergency works to one or more boilers in a church building, the two-part procedure below should be followed.
Temporary heating
The following is reproduced from the Church of England guidance on Temporary Heating Solutions (2025), which is applicable to managing emergency works in the Diocese of Lichfield.
When a heating system breaks, rushing to replace a broken gas boiler with a new gas boiler may solve the immediate problem, but it is often a missed opportunity.
Employing a temporary solution instead could give you time to plan more thoughtfully, and come up with a better long-term heating solution that will enable your church to move towards net zero carbon.
The PCC will need time to think about how the building is used, how it should be heated, and whether there is scope for reducing the building's carbon emissions.
During this period, a temporary heating solution is likely to be needed.
For further advice on this first stage in responding to a heating emergency, please see the following Church of England guidance (2025):
Interim faculty
Following consideration of temporary heating (above), the parish should seek consent for the implementation of a temporary or permanent solution under emergency conditions.
An interim faculty allows works normally requiring a faculty to be undertaken without waiting for the full procedures of the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules to be applied. An interim faculty is usually only granted where there is insufficient time available for those processes to be followed.
Where a boiler – but not including the wider heating system (e.g. radiators) – has completely failed and there is no heat in church, parishes can apply for an interim faculty for emergency works permission.
However, in accordance with the Faculty Jurisdiction Rules (from 2022), parishes and the DAC are required to have 'due regard' to guidance on net zero carbon issued by the Church of England, for those proposals where it applies. This requirement is also applicable to interim faculty schemes.
From these Rules, the Church of England has directed that the following key pieces of guidance must be given due regard for heating proposals (including boiler replacement). This guidance was updated and reissued in 2025, as follows:
- Practical Guide to Net Zero Carbon for Churches
- Heating Principles
- Heating Checklist (editable Word file)
- Heating Options Appraisals
The Practical Guide to Net Zero Carbon for Churches (previously the 'Practical Path', in a different format) is included in the guidance and this must be given due regard for all proposals, as it provides the context to show that the proposal is part of a wider understanding by the parish of its route to net zero carbon.
In the case of every interim faculty application for boiler replacement, the Diocesan Chancellor requires a DAC Heating Adviser to appraise the parish's submission, in relation to whether the parish has adequately had due regard to the key guidance above. Parishes are therefore advised to factor this additional requirement into their planning and timings.
- Please see the emergency works (interim faculty) procedure for how to apply for and submit the necessary application for permission
Please note: It is not possible for an Archdeacon to issue emergency List B permission, or to issue retrospective List B permission for works undertaken (a confirmatory faculty would need to be sought).