Headstone and memorial safety inspection programme
East Dunbartonshire Council is to embark on a four-year programme of checks on headstones and memorials in cemeteries and churchyards across the area to ensure they are safe places to visit and work.
East Dunbartonshire has a combination of 11 cemeteries and churchyards which contain approximately 18,000 headstones and memorials, some of which are over 100 years old.
Although the headstones and memorials are not owned by the Council, it has a duty of care to ensure that they do not pose a health and safety risk to anyone working within or visiting these locations.
Each headstone and memorial will be inspected by trained operatives in a sensitive manner to make sure it is not at risk of falling over and injuring someone.
The Council has engaged a specialist contractor who will undertake a comprehensive inspection process. Work is due to begin in November 2024 at Old Aisle Cemetery in Kirkintilloch before moving to other locations over a planned four-year programme.
Signage will be placed at each entrance in advance of, and during the works, to alert visitors to the inspections. The Cemetery will remain open throughout this process.
The outcome of the inspections will determine the next course of action.
If the inspection confirms that a headstone is safe, then no action will be required.
However, if any issue is noted then the Council will attempt to contact the named lair owner to make them aware of the issue and ask them to take action to make it safe.
If a headstone or memorial is deemed as unsafe then the Council may need to take immediate action to make it safe and will make every effort to contact the lair owner to notify them of the action taken.
If you own a memorial headstone, or if you have any questions regarding any aspect of headstone testing, please check that we have the correct contact details for you by calling the Streetscene Technical Support team on 0300 123 4510 or via email cemeteries@eastdunbarton.gov.uk
A full list of Frequently Asked Questions has been prepared and can be found below.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
This is a personal preference and entirely up to the lair owner / family to decide on.
Permission to erect a headstone must be given by the registered lair owner and the lair certificate passed to the Monumental Mason carrying out the work.
Yes – all Monumental Masons who carry out work in our cemeteries are registered on our Memorial Mason Registration Scheme.
They are all accredited Memorial Masons and fully insured. View a full list of Memorial Masons.
You will need to approach a Monumental Mason who will then apply for permission to carry out the work.
Permission to carry out this work must be given by the registered lair owner and the lair certificate passed the Memorial Mason.
We have a list of accredited Monumental Mason who are registered on our Memorial Mason Scheme and are approved to carry out work within all our cemeteries.
The Lair Owner is responsible for the headstone. However, under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 we, as a Local Authority, have a duty of care to ensure that the Cemetery/Churchyard are a safe environment to work and visit.
No, many headstones/memorials are extremely dangerous. Members of the public are, therefore, asked not to carry out any work that may endanger them.
No. Permission to carry out any headstone work/repairs must be authorised by the Council. Once authorised a permit will be issued to Monumental Mason carrying out the work. Please note, the Monumental Mason must be Registered on our Memorial Mason Registration database.
Yes – the base is at least 75mm (3 inches) less in width than the width of the lair and does not exceed 300mm (12 inches) in depth from front to back of the base. There is no height restriction at the moment.
East Dunbartonshire Council is required by law to ensure that the Cemeteries/Churchyards are a safe place to work and visit.
Memorials are inspected by trained staff. Should a memorial be identified as unsafe then it is required to be made safe.
Lair owners are reminded that the maintenance of the memorial lies with them.
Any unsafe memorials require to be made safe. Once this has been done the Council will endeavour to contact the last known address of the registered lair owner. However, the Council wont attempt to contact any lair holder if the last inscription on the headstone is more than 30 years old – this is on the basis that many lairs have not been transferred or the lair owners have moved away from the original address registered or have sadly passed away.
No memorials or headstones will be removed from the site as part of this inspection programme. The ownership of the headstone or memorial remains the property of the lair holder.