Using Facilities

An important issue related to lending or renting your organization’s facilities to employees or outside parties is that your organization may be held legally responsible (“liable”) for accidents or injuries occurring on your organization’s property. It’s important for you to take precautions to protect against damage to your facilities or the theft of your property.

If you allow employees (or other outside parties) to use or rent your facilities, we recommend you require them to sign a “Facility Use Agreement” before providing access to the property. Along with the agreement, some organizations find it helpful to include a list of key beliefs, with supporting Bible verses, that facility users must not violate.

You are encouraged to also include a facility use policy in your handbook. This may help limit your organization’s liability if an accident occurs on your property during an activity held on your premises.

Resources: 

• Guidelines for Lending Ministry Facilities 
• Sample Use of Facilities Agreement 

SAMPLE POLICY:
FACILITY USE

The facilities at (name of organization) are available to employees for business purposes. Employees needing to schedule a meeting room should contact (the business administrator) regarding availability. (Name of organization) also recognizes that there may be circumstances when it would be appropriate to allow our facilities to be used by employees for an outside organization’s use or for personal functions. Employees must be a part of the group using the building and be willing to perform cleanup, provide security, and be responsible for any damage resulting from the use.

Any employee wishing to host an event outside of normal business hours, or with an outside group during normal business hours, must formally make the request through (the business administrator), where eligibility will be determined. Generally, use of facilities will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The use of facilities for business purposes, however, will take precedence over personal functions.

(Name of organization) is a biblically based religious institution. No one may use (organization name’s) facilities for any purpose contrary to this organization’s mission, purpose, or beliefs.

Guidelines for use of facilities and the request for use of facilities forms are available from (the business administrator). All requests must be approved by (the business administrator) in advance of the requested date of use. The requestor must sign a Facility Use Agreement before using the property.

Guidelines

(The business administrator) will consider the following in determining whether to approve outside use of the facilities:

• The nature of the event or group, in order to maintain our image and philosophy.
• The commitment to exercise responsibility and maintain proper security at all times on behalf of our employees.
• The need to prevent any potential damage to our facilities and properties.
• The availability of facilities.
• The purpose of the event and the organization seeking to use the facility.

This is a sample handbook policy only. Your organization is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. Accordingly, this document should not be used or adopted by your organization without first being reviewed and approved by a licensed attorney in your area. Brotherhood Mutual assumes no liability in preparation and distribution of this sample document.

Working Together © 2022 Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. All rights reserved. www.brotherhoodmutual.com/working-together. Updated 9/2021.