It is the responsibility of the clergy and the parish to keep the property properly decorated. In Lichfield we provide a fund to help them with the savings.The fund operates as follows:
- Each year parishes pay into the fund 250 for each house
- After 12 months the Diocese adds a 25% bonus
- The scheme therefore for each house accrues 250 plus 62.50 (312.50) each year to decorate.
- Over a 5-8 year period obviously 2,000 or so should accrue.
- The clergy need to secure prior written approval of their PCC before committing to any reasonable expenditure on materials/decorations, which they then subsequently intend to seek reimbursal from the IDS. Should a decorator be engaged then a minimum of two quotes are to be obtained.On requesting reimbursal, a copy of the PCCs prior agreement is required.
- Should at any stage the fund be insufficient to pay a decorator, then we recommend that they have:-
- A DIY working party from the parish
- Prioritise the decorating on a room-by-room basis
- Getting in a professional decorator to do some of the work
- The incumbent and their spouse doing the decorating themselves
- The Diocese strongly recommends that areas that require working at height, e.g. halls, stairs, and landing, must be carried out by a suitably, competent, experienced decorator.
- If the parish or an occupier does employ persons to decorate, they would be deferred as a client under CDM 2015 (Construction and Design Management Regulations 2015).
- If a DIY job is undertaken the clergy/PCC are asked to send in their receipts for materials only.(These have to be checked to make sure they do include materials only, we do not pay for paint brushes, ladders, rollers, roller trays).It is preferable to have this collated on a balance sheet.Once this has been checked and authorised, the cheque can only be sent to the PCC Treasurer or directly paid to the contractor.
Andrew Mason Director of Property
Original policy wef. 2.8.09
Revision wef. 15.3.16