The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a building control matter. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome for the complainant.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, used the Council’s building control service during the construction of his conservatory. Mr X has recently discovered issues with the works and says the conservatory will need to be demolished and rebuilt. Mr X believes the Council failed in its duty of care and signed off works that were not fit for purpose. He says he will incur significant costs and has been caused stress because of the Council’s incompetence.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
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.
While the Council will normally visit the site at various stages of the build, 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.
In this case, the Council says its building control inspections did not relate to the conservatory as building regulation approval is not needed for conservatories. It says the completion certificate issued was for additional work connected to the construction of the conservatory. Mr X disagrees and says the building control officer inspected the conservatory’s foundations before signing off the works and he will now incur significant costs remedying the defective work.
However, even if the Council inspected the conservatory as Mr X believes, I cannot say it is responsible for the repair costs. 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 cannot hold the Council responsible for substandard work by the builder and it is therefore unlikely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome for Mr X by investigating his complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would achieve a worthwhile outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman