Watford Borough Council (19 005 824)

Statement Upheld Building control 13-Jan-2020

Summary: Ms F complains on behalf of her father, Mr D, about the actions of the Council’s building control team. There was no fault by the Council in its inspections or in issuing a completion certificate. The Council wrongly offered a refund of fees, raising Mr D’s expectations, and delayed dealing with the complaint. It has already apologised to Mr D, which remedies the injustice caused.

Vale of White Horse District Council (19 008 303)

Statement Upheld Building control 06-Jan-2020

Summary: Ms X complained that the Council sent her copies of building control site visit notes that were factually incorrect. Ms X says she relied on the notes before seeking legal advice, and this is a cost she might have avoided. Ms X would like the Council to pay her legal costs. The Council accepts the notes are incorrect and it apologised to Ms X, but refused to pay her legal costs. There was fault in the way the Council acted because its site visit notes were incorrect. However, we cannot show the fault caused Ms X to incur legal costs, so we do not recommend a remedy.

Sedgemoor District Council (19 009 320)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Building control 02-Jan-2020

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to properly deal with building regulations inspections for a property he purchased. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the law does not hold councils responsible for financial losses caused by building regulation failure. The Council is not responsible for the faults of the contractor who carried out the work.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (19 014 012)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Building control 02-Jan-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about building work carried out to his property and signed off by the Council. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

Eden District Council (18 018 747)

Statement Not upheld Building control 30-Dec-2019

Summary: Mr X complains about the actions of the Council’s building control officers in issuing a completion certificate for his house before he bought it. He says recently events caused him to conclude the drainage system did not comply with building regulations. The Ombudsman decided to discontinue its investigation into this matter. We have a presumption against investigating building control complaints and there is no good reason to depart from that in this case.

London Borough of Bromley (19 012 194)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Building control 19-Dec-2019

Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council’s Building Control Inspector considered his Building Regulations application. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the law does not hold the Council responsible for any financial loss caused by its Building Control Inspectors and he will have a right of appeal to a Planning Inspector against any enforcement action.

Coventry City Council (19 012 298)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Building control 16-Dec-2019

Summary: Mr X complains the Council’s negligence caused him to lose the buyer for his home. He also says the Council failed to provide information under the Freedom of Information Act. The ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as he cannot determine liability for negligence. Mr X can ask the Information Commissioner to consider his complaint about access to information.

London Borough of Bexley (19 002 965)

Statement Upheld Building control 12-Dec-2019

Summary: Mr B complains about the way the Council dealt with his application for building regulations approval and says he spent unnecessary time and trouble and did not receive an acceptable service. The Ombudsman has found some fault in the Council’s communication with Mr B but considers the actions already taken by the Council of agreeing a single point of contact with the additional action of an apology and £50 are enough to provide a suitable remedy.

East Devon District Council (19 008 161)

Statement Not upheld Building control 09-Dec-2019

Summary: Mr B complains that the Council has not properly providing building control oversight on his development. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint further, because the Council has withdrawn its requirement for disputed works and Mr B has not suffered sufficient injustice to warrant investigation by the Ombudsman.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (19 010 859)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Building control 09-Dec-2019

Summary: Mr X complains the Council’s contractors charge excessive fees for work at his property. And the Council failed to follow its complaints procedure. The Ombudsman does not intend to investigate this complaint because he could have applied to the magistrate’s court if he believed the costs of the Council’s contractors was excessive. And because we do not consider he has suffered a significant personal injustice because of failings in the complaint procedure alone, which warrants investigation.