The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a building control matter. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome for the complainant.
The complaint
Mr X used the Council’s building control service when he extended his property. Mr X says the Council failed to tell him about problems with the building and issued a completion certificate. Mr X has since discovered defects with the work and incurred significant costs repairing the issues.
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 impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Most building work will require building regulation approval. The regulations will set the standards for design, construction and ensure the health and safety of the people living in or around the building.
While the Council will normally visit the site at various stages of the build, it does not act as a clerk of works or a site manager and the responsibility for compliance with the regulations rests with the building owners and builders. The council’s role is to maintain the building standards for the public in general rather than protect the private interests of an individual.
Mr X says the Council should not have issued the completion certificate for the defective work and should have told him there were problems with his extension. The Council has said that while the extension was not being built in line with the plans, this did not mean that regulations were not complied with, and the inspector issued the completion certificate based on the information received.
Mr X says the Council should reimburse the costs he has incurred repairing the defective building works. However, caselaw has established that where a council has issued a completion certificate and the work is later found to be substandard, liability for any defects rests with those that commission the work and those that carry it out. We therefore cannot hold the Council responsible for substandard work by the builder and it is unlikely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome for Mr X by investigating his complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would achieve a worthwhile outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman