Polarity Community Safety Survey™

Community Safety Survey™.
Trustee-Ready. Hall Still Open.

Church halls, chapels and village halls run ageing installations on hire income they can't afford to lose. We survey the whole building against BS 7671 and the Electricity at Work Regulations without closing a single booking — then hand your trustees the evidence the Charity Commission and your insurer expect to see.

TRUSTEE-READY BS 7671 18TH EDITION INSURER-RECOGNISED NO HALL CLOSURE
Why it matters

The standards we survey to

Every Community Safety Survey™ is carried out and reported against the specific duties a church, chapel or hall committee is held to — the ones your insurer and the Charity Commission will ask about.

BS 7671 (18th Edition)

Wiring regulations

The IET's national wiring standard — the fixed installation, consumer unit and every circuit are inspected and coded against it.

Electricity at Work Regs 1989

Duty to maintain

Reg 4 requires electrical systems in a place of work — which includes a hall used by paid staff, hirers and volunteers — to be maintained to prevent danger.

Charities Act 2011

Trustee duty of care

Trustees have a legal duty to manage risk and protect people and property. A documented survey is the evidence that duty was discharged.

RRFSO 2005

Fire safety order

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order makes the hall's responsible person accountable for fire risk — ageing wiring findings feed straight into the fire risk assessment.

BS 5266-1

Emergency lighting

Assembly and public buildings need compliant emergency escape lighting; we check coverage, duration and monthly/annual test records.

BS 5839-1 / IET Code of Practice

Fire detection & PAT overlap

We review fire-alarm provision and inspect portable hall equipment for in-service testing under the IET Code of Practice.

Risk grading

Every finding gets a rating, every rating gets a plan

We grade each observation so trustees can see at a glance what must be actioned before the next booking and what can be budgeted into the year's maintenance — plain-English, no jargon.

C1

Danger present — immediate risk to hirers, made safe on site where possible

C2

Potentially dangerous — remedial action required without delay

C3

Improvement recommended — not a fail, but worth budgeting for

FI

Further investigation required, without delay

TRUSTEE PACK

Findings summarised in plain English for the committee and minutes

INSURER COPY

Report issued in the format Ecclesiastical and other insurers expect

Where we survey

Every community building carries a different duty

We scope the survey to how the building is used, who uses it and the duty its trustees or committee are held to — from a listed parish church to a scout hut.

5 YEARS

Parish Church

Nave, vestry and heritage-sensitive wiring surveyed with a conservation-aware approach

5 YEARS

Chapel / Free Church

Worship space, kitchen and meeting-room circuits inspected around the service diary

5 YEARS

Village Hall

Ageing installation and hall lighting checked without cancelling a single hire

5 YEARS

Town Hall

Public assembly space with emergency lighting and stage circuits under BS 5266

5 YEARS

Community Centre

Multi-use rooms, commercial kitchen and let offices surveyed as one report

ANNUAL PAT

Scout / Guide Hall

Fixed wiring survey plus in-service testing of the equipment volunteers rely on

TRUSTEE DUTY

Sports & Social Club

Bar, function room and floodlight supplies checked against the committee's duty of care

HERITAGE

Heritage / Listed Building

Faculty-aware, minimal-intervention survey that respects listed fabric and consents

Survey packages

One-off survey, budgeted plan or multi-site parish cover

Charities run on tight budgets and volunteer time. Pick the level of cover that fits your building and lets you spread the cost across the year rather than facing one large bill.

Level 1
Single Survey
£295/one-off per building

A full Community Safety Survey™ of your hall or church, coded to BS 7671 with a trustee-ready report.

  • Whole-building fixed installation survey
  • Emergency lighting & fire provision reviewed
  • Plain-English report for the committee minutes
  • Insurer copy in Ecclesiastical-ready format
Book a single survey
Level 3
Survey + Remedial Cover
£29/month per building

Survey, annual testing and C1/C2 remedial work built in — so an urgent finding doesn't blow the maintenance budget.

  • Everything in Trustee Safety Plan
  • C1 danger made safe on site, same visit
  • C2 remedial work included up to an allowance
  • Priority call-out for reported faults
Start remedial cover
Diocese / Parish Council
Multi-Site Programme
Customquoted per group of buildings

Scoped to the number of churches, halls and centres across your diocese, parish council or charity trust.

  • Multi-site survey scheduling
  • Consistent trustee-ready reporting across sites
  • Portfolio compliance dashboard
  • Direct reporting to your insurer or broker
Request a scope
Previous work

Surveys that kept the doors open and the trustees covered

A representative sample of recent community safety surveys. Full case studies and references available on request.

Grade II* Parish Church
Parish Church · Hertfordshire

Heritage-sensitive survey

Full nave and vestry survey carried out around the service diary; one C2 on perished vestry wiring resolved without touching listed fabric.

BS 7671Satisfactory — 1 C2 resolved
Village Hall
Village Hall · Essex

Survey with zero cancelled hires

Whole-hall survey scheduled around a full weekend booking calendar; ageing rewireable board flagged C2 for budgeted replacement.

EWR 1989Trustee pack issued
Methodist Chapel
Chapel · London

Emergency lighting review

Worship space and hall surveyed; emergency escape lighting found under-covering the rear exit and corrected to BS 5266.

BS 5266-1Coverage restored
Town Hall
Town Hall · Kent

Public assembly survey

Stage, function and public circuits surveyed ahead of a hire renewal; emergency lighting duration test passed.

RRFSO 2005Satisfactory — 0 C1/C2
Community Centre
Community Centre · Surrey

Multi-room survey & PAT

Commercial kitchen, let offices and multi-use rooms surveyed as one report, with in-service testing of hall equipment.

IET Code of PracticeSatisfactory — 2 C3 noted
Scout Hall
Scout / Guide Hall · Bedfordshire

Survey & equipment testing

Fixed wiring survey plus PAT of heaters, urns and craft equipment; one C1 on a damaged heater lead made safe on the day.

BS 7671C1 made safe
Sports & Social Club
Social Club · London

Bar & floodlight survey

Bar, function room and pitch floodlight supplies surveyed against the committee's duty of care; two C2 items resolved.

EWR 1989Satisfactory — 2 C2 resolved
Grade I Church
Heritage / Listed · Norfolk

Faculty-aware survey

Minimal-intervention survey of a Grade I listed church, reported to support a faculty application for rewiring works.

BS 7671Report supports faculty
Diocesan Hall Group
Multi-Site · Suffolk

Nine-building programme

Consistent trustee-ready surveys across nine parish halls for a diocese, reported to their insurer in one pack.

BS 76719 sites — 4 C2 scheduled

Representative examples — building names withheld for client confidentiality. Ask for references relevant to your parish or committee.

Coverage

Areas we serve

Accredited surveyors across London and the South East, with every report logged to your building's compliance record wherever your church, chapel or hall stands.

London — all 33 boroughs

Every borough, one service team

CamdenIslingtonHackneyWestminsterKensingtonChelseaHammersmithFulhamWandsworthLambethSouthwarkTower HamletsNewhamBarnetEnfieldHaringeyWaltham ForestRedbridgeHounslowEalingBrentHarrowHillingdonCroydonBromleyLewishamMertonSutton

Hertfordshire

WatfordSt AlbansStevenageWelwyn Garden CityHatfieldHertfordCheshuntPotters BarHarpenden

Essex

ChelmsfordColchesterBasildonSouthendBrentwoodHarlowEppingLoughton

Kent

MaidstoneCanterburyDartfordMedwayTunbridge WellsSevenoaks

Surrey

GuildfordWokingEpsomReigateCamberley

Berkshire

ReadingSloughWindsorMaidenheadBracknell

Buckinghamshire

Milton KeynesAylesburyHigh Wycombe

Bedfordshire

LutonBedfordDunstable

Norfolk

NorwichKing's LynnGreat Yarmouth

Suffolk

IpswichBury St EdmundsLowestoft

Cambridgeshire

CambridgePeterboroughEly
Ad-hoc pricing

Prefer to pay per visit? Fixed prices for that too

The plans above spread the cost across the year — but every survey is also available as a one-off, fixed price agreed upfront so trustees can approve it cleanly.

ServiceStandardFrom
Community Safety Survey™
Small hall / chapel survey (up to 10 circuits)BS 7671£295
Church or larger hall survey (up to 20 circuits)BS 7671£395
Community centre / multi-room (per distribution board)BS 7671£220
Listed / heritage building survey supplementFaculty-aware£120
Emergency Lighting & Fire Overlap
Emergency lighting inspection & duration testBS 5266-1£140
Fire detection provision reviewBS 5839-1£110
Fire risk assessment electrical inputRRFSO 2005£95
Equipment / PAT
Portable appliance testing (first 20 items)IET Code of Practice£65
Additional appliances (each)IET Code of Practice£1.50
Remedial & Certification
C1 — made safe (per item, same visit)BS 7671£45
C2 — remedial repair (per item)BS 7671£65
Consumer unit replacement (RCBO board)BS 7671£450
Multi-site diocese / parish council programmeBS 7671Custom quote
Book or enquire

Book a visit, or send us your enquiry

Single halls and churches — book a live slot instantly. Multi-site diocese, parish council and charity-trust work — send an enquiry and we'll come back with a fixed quote your trustees can sign off.

Book a live slot

Real-time availability via our booking system. Opens in a new tab.

If the calendar above doesn't load, open live booking in a new tab →

Send an enquiry

Sent securely to our team — no email app required.

We reply within one working day. For anything urgent, call 0203 908 4790.

Questions

Frequently asked

Will you have to close the hall or cancel our hires?

No. The Community Safety Survey™ is designed around the way halls actually run. We schedule around your booking diary and work room by room, so the survey happens without closing the building or turning away a single hire. Hire income is exactly what keeps these buildings going, and losing it to a survey defeats the point.

Is this the evidence our trustees need for the Charity Commission?

Yes. Under the Charities Act 2011 trustees have a duty of care to manage risk and protect people and property. We issue a plain-English report suited to the committee minutes that documents the condition of the installation, the findings and the actions taken — the evidence that shows the duty was discharged if anyone ever asks.

Will our insurer accept the report?

Yes. Church and community-building insurers such as Ecclesiastical expect a BS 7671 condition report and evidence that the fixed wiring, emergency lighting and portable equipment are maintained. We issue the survey in a format your insurer or broker will recognise, and can send it to them directly for a multi-site programme.

Our church is listed — will you damage historic fabric?

No. For listed and heritage buildings we take a minimal-intervention, faculty-aware approach: we survey what can be safely accessed, avoid disturbing protected fabric, and where remedial work is needed we provide a report that supports your faculty or listed-building consent application before anything is altered.

How often should a church or hall be surveyed?

There is no single legal interval for a charity building, but a five-year cycle is widely recommended and expected by most insurers, mirroring the fixed-wiring interval used elsewhere. Portable equipment used by hirers and volunteers is best tested annually. Our Trustee Safety Plan puts both on an automatic cycle so nothing lapses on the committee's watch.