Church facility management software

Church facility management (or church building maintenance) is, as the expression itself suggests, the maintenance of religious and places of worship buildings.

We normally tend to think that the maintenance of a church, or of a religious building more generally, stops at simple repairs of the roof, cleaning of the facades or recovery and reinforcement of the internal vaults.

But the cult buildings are living buildings and for this reason they continue to use equipment and systems to serve kitchens, bathrooms, heating, etc. This means that they require continuous maintenance, both routine and emergency and this is what church building maintenance deals with.

Similar to the maintenance of other structures, there are three possible methodologies to maintenance management of religious buildings:

• corrective: consisting in intervening when a certain damage event has already occurred;
• preventive: consisting in scheduled and periodic maintenance in order to prevent the occurrence of damage, breakages or malfunctions;
• predictive: consisting in monitoring the structure thanks to specific sensors or devices. Based on the data collected through these devices, an evaluation becomes necessary as to whether an intervention has to be arranged, in what time and how.

The ultimate goal is to ensure that these precious and fascinating buildings are also functional and safe.

In the case of religious buildings, you can define a checklist to keep the structure performing throughout its entire life-cycle. It should contain at least the following points:

• Roofing structures:
  As with all buildings, even for religious buildings, maintaining the roof structures in perfect condition is essential for the health of the entire structure. In the case of old churches and therefore buildings of historical heritage, the roof structues often become weak elements and may have already undergone damage processes. That's why they need careful and continuous maintenance in order to keep the entire building safe from infiltrations and atmospheric agents. The situation must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but in general, it;s always useful to control:
  • roof tiles;
  • any roof layer composite elements;
  • presence of accumulated debris;
  • presence of animals or plants;
  • corrosion of any metallic elements;
  • presence of moisture accross supporting joists or beams.
• Rainwater drainage systems:
  rainwater drainage is certainly an important water management aspect and if not taken care of adequately, may often cause critical issues due to serious structural damage. That's why it's important to carry out periodic checks according to the time of year, verifying that the gutter channels and downpours are not clogged and that they can guarantee the perfect removal of rainwater.
• Walls:
  when we are in the presence of churches belonging to the historical architectural heritage, the walls are among the parts of the building less reworked and therefore more tell the original construction techniques. They often tend to show the effects of degradation or damage due to mechanical actions deriving from the internal pressure from the roof tops. Maintaining the integrity of these elements is absolutely a priority but in doing so it is likely that the collaboration of various professional roles is necessary – historians, experts in art history, structuralists, architects. A multidisciplinary team will be able to maintain both the security and the historical identity of the building.
• Windows and doors:
  even in this case, if they are historic churches, it's likely that the windows are still the original wooden and decorated glass elements, so careful maintenance means preserving these small treasures of architecture over time. For their correct maintenance, it's always useful to check:
  • opening and closing mechanisms;
  • presence of condensation, infiltration and humidity;
  • the state of the wooden elements and the possible presence of xylophages;
  • the condition of the metallic parts;
  • the correct operation of the fire doors.
• Equipment and systems:
  Churches are living and practiced buildings and for this reason, they also use electrical, plumbing and HVAC equipment and systems. It's therefore essential to carry out regular maintenance of all parts of the systems in order to keep them safe and fully functional.
• External relevance:
  Very often churches are also surrounded by land plots that must therefore be included in the list of checkpoints. Taking care of outdoor spaces includes:
  • keeping pedestrian paths clean and safe;
  • taking care of plants and trees;
  • cutting branches that may obstruct pathways;
  • checking that water outflows are kept efficient;
  • checking the good condition of any statues;
  • keeping parking spaces safe.
• Furniture:
  To keep the church usable and in total safety, it may also be useful to add elements which are functional to the church to the checklist. For example, checkpoints for verifying the good condition of any benches and presence of wood chips.

Religious structures are buildings subject to large flows of people, visitors or churchgoers and to an equal degree of wear and tear. That's basically why it's very important that their management and maintenance is carried out as accurately as possible, correctly analysing intervention time-periods together with all the parts of the building that need to be monitored. The main aim is to maintain the originality, usability and safety of these buildings.

These are often large buildings but above all peculiar constructions, both from an architectural-constructive point of view and from a historical point of view. That's why it's necessary that maintenance tasks are managed using a precise maintenance plan that takes into account all aspects characterizing these valuable structures of built heritage.