Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s delay identifying non-compliant building work under the building regulations. This is because an investigation would not achieve a meaningful outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains the Council delayed identifying work which was not compliant with the building regulations when inspecting his building project. Mr B says the Council only identified this issue at completion which has caused him avoidable stress and costs.

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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 an investigation if we decide:

• 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 Mr B.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council has offered a full refund of Mr B’s building control fee. But, the Council has not agreed to Mr B’s request for a contribution towards his costs putting right the defective building work.
6. We will not investigate this complaint.
7. The primary responsibility for building work and compliance with the building regulations rests with building owners and builders.
8. Significantly, the courts have held that local authorities are not responsible for the cost of putting right defective building work which does not meet the building regulations.
9. This means even if an investigation found the Council was at fault, we would not ask the Council to make a payment which the courts have decided local authorities are not required to pay.
10. So, an investigation would not be a good use of our limited resources or achieve a meaningful outcome for Mr B.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because an investigation would not achieve a meaningful outcome for Mr B.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman