Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s building control services. This is because the complaint does not concern an administrative function of the Council Mrs X has complained about.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council failed to identify defects in the build of her home, a new-build, when monitoring the build for compliance with the Building Regulations. She considers the Council is partially responsible for her home being structurally unsound.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about actions which are not the administrative function of the authority complained about. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Relevant local authorities are responsible for providing building control services. These services involve considering plans and monitoring building work for compliance with the Building Regulations. Developers and home-owners may choose to instruct a local authority’s building control department or a private building control company.
6. Some local authorities have created joint partnerships to provide building control services within their areas. Where such an arrangement exists, responsibility for their services lies with the local authority which covers the location of the building work itself. This is because it is the administrative function of that authority to provide the services; any other local authority involved in the partnership is considered to provide services on their behalf.
7. This complaint is against Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC) as one of the local authorities involved in such a joint partnership which oversaw the construction of Mrs X’s new-build home. But the property is not within the Council’s area and the complaint does not therefore concern an administrative function of Gateshead MBC. We cannot therefore investigate the matter further as part of this complaint.

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Final decision

8. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it does not concern an administrative function of the Council which is the subject of the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman