What is the DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee)?
A committee made up of around 15 people who are experts in their own fields, who offer their services to advise parishes on what they want to do to change or enhance their churches. It considers applications from parishes as the initial stage of the process for approving changes by a faculty.
What function does the DAC perform?
Bristol Diocese has 212 church buildings, varying from tiny saxon chapels through to modern 20th-century worship centres; 74% of which are listed by English Heritage as being of architectural significance. The buildings are exempt from the usual local authority planning and listed buildings control because of the special nature of their use in worship but the law requires the diocese to have a formal process to control work on the buildings. A faculty, which is the formal permission to carry out work, can be granted by the chancellor of the ciocese or the archdeacon, depending upon the level of the work involved, but in most cases, the advice of the DAC is a necessary part of that process. The expertise gathered together in the DAC can also be of enormous help to parishes as they consider the changes or repairs that they want to carry out.
Who is the DAC?
The members of the DAC include architects, bells and organ specialists, heating experts and people who have spent their live dealing with stained glass, liturgical fabric or marble busts! The members include people elected by the diocesan synod and also representatives of the working clergy.
How can I contact the DAC?
Click here to contact the DAC. But please first review the guidance and additional information found on our Church Buildings page:
Where do I find further information about doing work on our church?
Various information sheets are available on this site through the Church Buildings page.
There is also a huge amount of information to be found on the Churchcare website which is provided by the Churches Building Council, part of the Church of England.
Raising a complaint
If you wish to raise a complaint about the conduct of the Chancellor or Deputy Chancellor during a faculty process, these are dealt with through the Ecclesiastical Judges Complaints Procedure.
By reason of the independence of the judiciary, any complaint concerning them must relate to misconduct in the performance of their office, and not to the substance of the decision made.
DAC Awards
Each year the DAC recognises a number of projects via its awards scheme. DAC awards are given when a parish has completed a project to an exceptional standard of workmanship, or where a project has been key to that parish's growth and mission. To find out more about the scheme please see our information leaflet.
Anyone can nominate a project by filling the DAC Awards nomination form. Nominations must be sent to governance.support@bristoldiocese.org by 31 December.