Questions about burials

Whilst the burial authority is responsible for maintaining the cemetery in a safe condition you have a responsibility to maintain your memorial in a safe condition throughout the period of the right to erect and maintain a memorial.

If you fail to do this, the cemetery staff may take action to make the memorial safe. Cemetery staff carry out routine inspections of memorials in the cemetery and when one is identified as being unstable and likely to fall and injure someone it might be cordoned off, laid flat or have a temporary support installed.

You will receive a letter in these circumstances and it will be your responsibility to arrange suitable repair. Should your memorial still be under guarantee, the memorial mason will be responsible to carry out repair at no extra cost to yourself.

Should you ignore the notice sent to you, your memorial may well be laid flat and when the lease expires you will not be allowed to renew it until repairs are made. Should no repairs be carried out and after further notification, the memorial may be lawfully removed from the cemetery.

Your memorial mason also has a responsibility to provide a memorial of merchantable quality and to erect it in a safe manner. You should insist that the memorial is erected in accordance with British Standard 8415 and the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) recommended code of practice and seek a guarantee of conformity from your memorial mason.