Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council incorrectly signed off building work that did not comply with building regulations. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome for the complainant.

The complaint

1. Ms X has complained about the Council’s building control service. The Council’s building control service was used during the construction of Ms X’s property. Since purchasing the property, Ms X has discovered the building does not comply with regulations. She believes the building control officer failed to properly inspect the work and did not gather sufficient evidence before issuing the completion certificate.

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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 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

4. 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.
5. The Council will normally visit the site at various stages of the build. But 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. A completion certificate is also not a guarantee that all works are completed to the necessary standard.
6. Ms X says the Council should not have issued the completion certificate and it should compensate her for the costs she incurred repairing the defective work. 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 Ms X by investigating her complaint.
7. We would also expect any person purchasing a property to have a full survey completed before the purchase. If a defect is discovered in work completed before purchase, we would expect the building owner to have a remedy against either the person who carried out the survey, the previous owner or the contractor who carried out the work.
8. Ms X has complained about the Council’s complaint handling. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the substantive issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor matters such as complaint handling.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would achieve a worthwhile outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman