A folder of headstone applications
A stonemason posts an application for a headstone on a grave in section C. It includes a drawing with dimensions, the inscription, the material, and the signature of the family member who holds the right of burial. The clerk has to check that the person signing does hold the right, that the dimensions and materials fit your cemetery regulations, that the inscription raises no concerns, and that the mason is one your council accepts. Then the fee is invoiced, and once paid, a permit is sent.
Some applications are missing a signature. Some have a drawing that does not show the base. One is for a grave where the right holder died last year and nobody has transferred the right. Meanwhile the mason rings to say the family are waiting and could the permit come this week. The clerk keeps a list in a notebook of which applications are waiting for what.
Why memorial approvals are slow
Every application needs checking against three separate records: your regulations, the rights of burial and the grave itself. None of these are to hand in one place, and the application arrives in whatever form the mason uses. The fee and permit are then separate steps, and whether the memorial was actually installed as approved is rarely recorded.
| Check | Where the clerk looks now |
|---|---|
| Applicant holds the right | Rights of burial book or folder |
| Size and material within regulations | Printed regulations and the drawing |
| Inscription | The application form |
| Mason accepted by the council | A list, or memory |
| Fee paid | The accounts package or bank statement |
| Installed as approved | Usually not recorded |
What the delay and the gaps cost
Families wait for permits at a hard time, and masons get frustrated with the council. Memorials are sometimes installed before a permit is issued, or differ from the approved drawing, and nobody notices until later. Fees are occasionally missed. When a memorial becomes unstable years later and the council needs to contact the right holder, the record of who applied and who installed it is hard to find.
Your regulations, what they allow and how memorial safety is handled are matters for your council and its advisers. The system records your process.
An online memorial permit process
- Masons apply through a web form: grave reference, memorial type, dimensions, material, inscription, drawing upload, and the right holder's details and signed consent as an upload or e-signature.
- The application is matched to the grave record, showing the right holder on file, so a mismatch is obvious at once.
- The size and material are checked against the limits you enter from your regulations, and anything outside them is flagged for the clerk.
- The clerk reviews on one screen: application, drawing, grave, right holder, and flags. Approve, reject or ask for more information, with the message sent to the mason.
- On approval the fee is invoiced to the mason with a payment link, and the permit is issued automatically when payment is recorded.
- The mason confirms installation with a photo through a link in the permit, and the photo is stored on the grave record.
- Masons can see the status of their applications without phoning.
- Approved memorials, their drawings and photos stay with the grave.
- Applications on graves with no current right holder are held for the clerk to resolve.
After it is running
The clerk opens a list of applications with the checks already done and flags shown. Most are quick approvals. The one on the grave with a deceased right holder is held, with a note to the mason that the family need to contact the council. Permits go out when fees are paid, and installation photos arrive afterwards. When a councillor asks about a memorial that looks different from its neighbours, the approved drawing is on the grave record.
Does this describe your memorial admin?
- Applications arrive by post with drawings and signatures.
- The right holder is checked against a separate book.
- Masons ring to ask where their permit is.
- Installation is not checked against the approved drawing.
- Memorial fees are sometimes missed.