Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a building control matter. This is because the complaint is late and we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Ms X by investigating the matter further.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains the Council confirmed a loft conversion she had carried out in 2012 was compliant with the Building Regulations but did not issue a completion certificate. Years later, when Ms X requested a completion certificate, the Council raised concerns about the quality of the work and refused to issue one. Following a further visit in 2022 the Council confirmed it was happy to issue a completion certificate but Ms X believes further insultation is required. She believes the Council should pay for this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The 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.
7. The Council’s building control officer visited Ms X’s property in 2012 and confirmed that in their opinion, the work carried out by Ms X’s builder complied with the Building Regulations. There were however other outstanding issues which meant it did not issue a completion certificate immediately.
8. The Council inspected the work again in 2020 when Ms X requested a completion certificate but Ms X suggests the building control officer was not satisfied the work complied with the Building Regulations. At that point she may have complained to the Council and referred the matter to us. But she did not, so her complaints about the original visit and all further actions by the Council until 7 January 2023 (12 months before she came to us) are therefore late.
9. I note the Council visited Ms X’s property again in 2022 and confirmed it was happy to issue a completion certificate for the work but Ms X says she refused this on the basis she was still having issues with it; specifically, she feels the loft conversion remains inadequately insulated and as a result the room is too cold to use over the winter.
10. But although the building control officer confirmed they were satisfied with the work in 2012, and offered to issue a completion certificate in 2022, the courts have decided the Council does not take on responsibility for it. Ms X had concerns about the quality of the work from the outset and her remedy for this lay in a claim against the builder. This is regardless of whether the Council had issued a completion certificate or not.
11. Because we cannot hold the Council responsible for any issues with Ms X’s loft conversion we cannot say it must pay to put them right. Ms X had the option of requesting a completion certificate from the Council and it was her choice not to do so.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and we cannot hold the Council responsible for the issues with her loft conversion. We cannot therefore achieve any worthwhile outcome for her.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman