Occasionally, churches have made costly mistakes because they committed to a building project too quickly, before doing the proper due diligence. A great property, an exciting church design, or an eager building committee can make it tempting to move rapidly towards the construction of a church building. But starting before you have answered some key questions can turn a project into an expensive lesson. Here is what to consider before making a commitment to a church building project.
Can the Site Actually Support Your Building?
Before anything else, find out whether the available infrastructure can support the church design that you have in mind. Can the property receive water, sewer, gas, and electric service sized for the building you want to build? Sanitary capacity matters too. These questions are not glamorous, but they are critical, and the answers can be very expensive to get wrong. A property that looks perfect on paper can turn into a costly surprise if the infrastructure underneath it cannot handle your plans.
What Is Your Property Actually Zoned For?
Zoning determines what you are allowed to build, and where. Church leaders do not want to end up in court fighting over whether their property or building can even be used for a church. Avoid that kind of fight entirely by finding the answer upfront. Zoning can involve conditional use restrictions, setbacks, height limits, lot coverage rules, and parking requirements, any of which could reshape or derail your church design. For a closer look at what to watch for, read our previous article on zoning due diligence.
Will Your Design Actually Meet Code?
It is easy to fall in love with a church design and forget to ask whether it meets applicable building codes. Not every architect runs a full code review before drawing up preliminary plans. Height restrictions, structural requirements, and fire codes all come into play. So do accessibility concerns under the Americans with Disabilities Act, along with restroom requirements that depend on the size and use of your building.
These details are not optional and discovering them after construction begins is far more expensive than discovering them before. We have covered these topics in depth in two articles: Church Building Due Diligence: Review the Building Codes and Church Building Due Diligence: More Building Codes to Review.
Powering, Watering, and Draining Your Building
Utility questions deserve their own close look, because the options available will shape both your budget and your building. Start with power. Will your church building run on gas, all electric, or propane? On the electric side, you will need to decide between three-phase and single-phase service. Three-phase power is more common in commercial settings and can run heavier equipment, and for larger buildings, it can actually be less expensive than single-phase, which is more typical of residential service.
Water brings its own set of decisions. If your church design includes a fire sprinkler system, you will generally need access to city water. Without it, you are looking at a storage tank, an emergency fire pump, and a generator to keep it all running, which adds real cost and complexity to a project.
Sewer works the same way. City sewer service is the simplest path, but if it is not available, you will need a septic system instead, which requires special permits from the EPA and your county health department. None of these are decisions to make after the fact. They belong at the very beginning of your planning, long before ground is broken.
Learn More at Our Free i3 Webinars
Due diligence takes time, but it is far cheaper than fixing a mistake after construction begins. Want to dig deeper into topics like this one? Sign up for our free i3 webinars covering ideas, insights, and innovations in church building and church design. See the upcoming lineup and register to attend by visiting our website.