A Quinquennial Inspection is a detailed survey conducted every five years, and it is a formal requirement for church buildings in the UK under the 1955 Inspection of Churches act. The inspection assesses the condition of the building, identifies any health and safety issues, highlights maintenance needs and suggests opportunities to improve energy efficiency.
These inspections are essential for identifying issues requiring the church’s attention, helping the church in their responsibility of managing and maintaining these important historical, cultural and social buildings. These reports help by where relevant identifying decay and defects, safety issues and providing a detailed impression of the condition of the church at the time of inspection. The reports conclusions provide a prioritised list of actions to carry out over the next quinquennium. They are an important tool in helping preserve the historic and architectural significance of the building for future generations.
Quinquennial Inspections are non-invasive visual inspections of all accessible areas of the church to provide a thorough report for the church’s attention. We use our professional judgement and experience of working with historic buildings to assess the current condition and deduce potential causes of observed decay or defects – with recommendations arising from this. We find that surveys that rely on invasive or technological approaches can be useful in their place but without intelligence behind their application and analysis are wasted money for a client and potentially cause harm to a historic building to no helpful conclusion.
We have built up a network of specialist consultants, conservators and contractors among others we can draw upon to carry out surveys and work arising from our survey recommendations.
At Marsh:Grochowski, we have extensive experience conducting Quinquennial Inspections. Our team understands the history, behaviour and maintenance needs of churches and other heritage properties.
Our Quinquennial Inspection Services
We provide comprehensive Quinquennial Inspection services, drawing on our AABC accredited Architect’s years of experience working for a variety of Diocesan Advisory Councils across the country, including Leicester, Southwell & Nottingham and Derby. Our services include:
Internal Fabric and Fixtures
As part of the Quinquennial Inspection we examine the building’s interior to identify issues such as evidence of damp, structural movement, decay, wear and tear or other management or safety concerns. Both the interior and exterior of a church are inspected during the Quinquennial Inspection to give a full picture of the existing state of the building and is essential in assessing the likely causes and extent of areas of decay – issues in occurring in the interior may be reflected by clues in the building’s exterior and vice versa.
Our findings may result in further investigations, attendance of specialist conservators or works to be carried out to the church address concerns we identify.
Safety and Compliance Checks
Safety and compliance checks help highlight to the PCC/church wardens areas for attention to ensure that the building is safe for occupants or visitors and meets legislative requirements for public buildings.
Checks include fire safety systems, electrical installations, asbestos, accessibility, structural integrity, water systems, environmental health and compliance with heritage legislation where applicable.
Maintenance and Repair Priorities
We produce a detailed list of maintenance and repair priorities to ensure the building remains safe and in good condition over the long term. The task are assigned priority levels from ‘urgent’ to ‘low’ as well as items for ongoing maintenance to avoid overloading the church wardens and members of the PCC in their important work.
We use our experience and professional judgement to determine a priority for the issues or works we identify need to be addressed, creating a practical five-year maintenance plan that can be used by a PCC to plan their works without being overloaded by multiple tasks all at once.
Quinquennial Inspection Report
Site observations are compiled into a comprehensive Quinquennial Inspection report. This report serves as both an assessment tool and an actionable plan for the responsible long-term
care of churches and other places of worship– both listed, historic and more recently constructed ones.
proach allows for predictive maintenance rather than reactive fixes, reducing long-term expenditure.
Does your building need support? Book your quinquennial inspection today
If your church requires a Quinquennial Inspection, we can provide expert guidance and advice. Contact us today to arrange a survey.
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Contact Us
If you would like to know more about our services or projects, please get in touch. Let us know how we can help.
marsh:grochowski architects
37a Sneinton Hermitage, Nottingham, NG2 4BT
email: simon.smith@arcontext.com
phone: 0115 941 1761