The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council wrongly issued a completion certificate for substandard work to a property she has since bought. This is because we cannot hold the Council responsible for the work and we cannot therefore achieve any worthwhile outcome for Miss X by investigating the matter further.
The complaint
The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council issued a completion certificate for works to a property she has since bought which have now been confirmed as substandard. She would like the Council to accept liability for the substandard work, which requires extensive remedial work.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Building regulations set standards for the design and construction of buildings to ensure the health and safety of people in and about those buildings. A completion certificate for building work is not a guarantee that all works are completed to the necessary standard. All the certificate can and does state is that, as far as the Council could tell at the time, building work complied with the building regulations. Building Regulations provide a means for the local authority to maintain building standards in general, rather than imposing a duty to maintain standards in each particular case.
While Miss X believes the Council should accept liability for the issue with her property caselaw has established that primary responsibility rests with those who commission the work and those who carry it out. The courts have determined that even where a local authority issues a completion certificate in error it does not take on liability for substandard work. We cannot therefore say the Council should pay for the cost of putting right the issue with Miss X’s property and we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for her by investigating the matter further.
If Miss X feels her case should be treated differently and that the Council should be held liable it would be reasonable for her to argue the matter at court.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Miss X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman