Summary: X complained about how the Council dealt with his building regulations application. X said that the Council’s failures led to delay and significant financial losses. We did not investigate this complaint further as we are unlikely to find fault, recommend a remedy or reach any other meaningful outcome.

The complaint

1. The person that complained to us will be referred to as X.
2. X complained about how the Council dealt with their building regulations application. X said the Council:
• charged more than the price given in its original estimate;
• gave inconsistent advice;
• required work that was not required under building regulations; and
• failed to provide a detailed breakdown to show reasons for increased service charges.
3. X said this has caused delay and significant additional costs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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 may not start or continue an investigation we have already started if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, 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

5. I read the complaint and invited X to discuss it with me. I read the Council’s response to the complaint and considered documents from its files, including letters from the Council. I discussed the case with a building control manager.
6. I gave the Council and X an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Building Control

7. Councils have a very important role in ensuring buildings are safe for people to use. Their duty is to protect the public, rather than the interests of private individuals. They have extensive powers to protect the public, ranging from checking building works for compliance with Building Regulations, and requiring or carrying out emergency works to make buildings safe.
8. Most building work requires building regulation approval by a building control body (BCB). Building regulations set out requirements and guidance that builders and building owners are required to follow. The purpose of the regulations is to make sure buildings are safe for those that use them or live around them.
9. Building regulations approval can be granted by a BCB, either a council building control inspector or by independent ‘approved’ building control inspectors (BCIs).
10. There are two ways a building owner can get building regulations approval. These are:
• Full plans application. The owner or their agent submits plans. The plans are checked for compliance with building regulations.
• Building notice application. The owner or their agent informs the council or approved inspector of their intention to begin building work. The inspector will visit the site at various stages of the work to check compliance with building regulations.
11. There have been court challenges where owners of buildings have sought to hold council building control authorities liable for defects in building work they have inspected. The courts have decided that council building control authorities are not liable to ensure compliance with building regulations – the duty to comply with regulations lies with the building owner.
12. Owners of buildings may be able to take legal action for the consequences of poor/non-compliant work against their contractor, architect or builder. It has also been suggested that independent approved inspectors may be liable to their clients, and action may be taken through the contract of service between the parties.
13. Building control regulations inspections are a regulatory function but may also be provided as a commercial service. Commercial services are provided under a contract of service and disputes may be resolved in the civil courts.
14. A building regulations applicant can appeal to the secretary of state against a BCB decision if they believe the work is not covered by or in breach of regulations or if approval is refused. Details of appeal rights for building control matters are available at www.gov.uk.

What happened

15. A few years ago, X submitted a building regulations application to the Council. The Council wrote to X, and:
• confirmed receipt of the application;
• gave a price which was to cover predicted costs;
• set out what it expected inspections to include, which was for commencement and structure, drains, fire protection and completion; and
• warned that it makes supplementary charges for additional work which could include inadequate plans, abortive visits, and changes in the scope of the work.
16. In response to our enquires, the Council sent copies of its decision on the original application and another application relating to additional works. It also sent copies of invoices and details about time spent on these applications, which I forwarded to X.
17. In its response to X’s complaint, the Council explained:
• the role of the Council as a BCB;
• the right of the Council to charge more than it had originally estimated;
• that the original application was for the ‘base build’ and did not include construction drawings and specification details, for which further plans were expected;
• during construction it became evident that building units were fitted out in a way to depart from the plans, and so the project had developed beyond the original application plans;
• some of the work required a separate building regulation application;
• because of changes, additions and omissions, the increased number of visits and large number of emails, the time taken to deal with the project had exceeded original estimates, so increased charges were made;
• the Council did have discretion on fees, so while it would charge more, it would not charge for all the time and work it had spent on the applications – it provided an invoice for an increased charge;
• its view that the difficulties were caused by the absence of a professional architect to represent X’s interests;
• allegations made about the behaviour of individual BCIs were not upheld as there was no evidence to substantiate them; and
• it understood X was preparing a case against it in court over this matter.

My findings

18. We are not a building control appeal body. Our role is to review the process by which decisions are made. We look for evidence of fault causing a significant injustice to the individual complainant.
19. Before we begin or continue our investigations, we consider two, linked questions, which are:
• Is it likely there was fault?
• Is it likely any fault caused a significant injustice?
20. If at any point during our involvement with a complaint, we are satisfied the answer to either question is no, we may decide:
• not to investigate; or
• to end an investigation we have already started.
21. Our investigations need to be proportionate. We may consider any fault or injustice to the individual complainant in its wider context, including the significance of any fault we might find and its impact on others, as well as the costs and disruption caused by our investigations.
22. I should not investigate this complaint further, and my reasons are as follows:
• I am unlikely to find fault in the way the Council dealt with the applications. The Council did warn X that costs might increase if circumstances changed.
• The sums X alleges were caused by the Council’s failures are very large. Even if we were to use our discretion to investigate any part of X’s complaint and found fault, we are unlikely to recommend a large financial remedy.
• If X is unhappy with the service the Council provided, thinks that poor service has caused large losses or believes its fees are unreasonable, X can dispute the matter in the civil courts.
• If X believes the Council’s judgement relating to the requirements of building regulations were incorrect, they might have used their right of appeal to the Secretary of State. We are not an appeal body on the judgements of Council BCIs.

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Final decision

23. I ended my investigation as it was unlikely to result in a finding of fault, a remedy for X or any other meaningful outcome. X is claiming significant sums in losses, and disputes of this kind are better dealt with in civil courts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman