The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Ms X complains about inaction by the Council over the positioning of a neighbour’s new boiler flue. We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, says when she complained to the Council about the closeness of her neighbour’s new boiler flue to her property, it told her to contact the Approved Inspector appointed by her neighbour to oversee the building works he carried out. She wants the Council to tell her neighbour to move the flue.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
I gave Ms X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what she said.
My assessment
Following building works at her neighbour’s property, Ms X complained to the Council about the positioning of a new boiler flue which she says is too close to her window and should be moved.
The Council explained to her that as the work undertaken by her neighbour had not been supervised by the Council’s Building Control Team but by an Approved Inspector, she should contact the Inspector directly with her concerns.
Despite having been given the contact details for the Inspector, Ms X did not take this action because she said she did not know the Inspector and did not trust him. However, Ms X appears to have misunderstood the deregulated Building Control system now in place throughout the country. People carrying out building works can choose either the Council or an Approved Inspector to check the works. If an Approved Inspector is chosen, then the Inspector and not the Council is responsible for carrying out this function.
The Council gave Ms X appropriate advice and if she wanted to pursue the matter, she could contact the Approved Inspector directly. We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
Since sending my draft decision, Ms X has contacted the Approved Inspector who confirmed the boiler flue meets the Building Regulations minimum distance requirement as it is over 600mm away from the boundary. Ms X says that in confirming this, the Inspector also told her that if she was concerned that the work carried out by the neighbour did not conform to the original planning permission, she should speak to the Council’s Planning Department. However, Ms X has already raised this matter with the Council who investigated her concerns but found, while there were deviations from the plans, it would not be expedient to take enforcement action. This is a disappointing decision for Ms X but it is not our role to question the merits of it and I have seen no evidence to suggest fault affected the decision.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman