Building control

Recent statements in this category are shown below:

  • Canterbury City Council (19 012 724)

    Statement Not upheld Building control 20-Mar-2020

    Summary: Mrs X complained the Council's building control officer gave her incorrect advice, which led to her builder carrying out unauthorised works on a drain owned by the local statutory water undertaker. We ended our investigation because we are unlikely to find fault or recommend a meaningful remedy for Mrs X.

  • North Devon District Council (19 011 067)

    Statement Not upheld Building control 24-Feb-2020

    Summary: There was no fault by the Council in a complaint alleging it failed to protect the public from an unsafe building and failed to prosecute the building's owner because he did not make the building safe after a fire.

  • Cheltenham Borough Council (19 006 795)

    Statement Not upheld Building control 11-Feb-2020

    Summary: Ms C complains the Council wrongly issued a Building Regulation completion certificate. Ms C says the developer failed to install thermal insulation and damp-proofing or adequate noise insulation which means the property has issues of damp and is difficult to keep warm which exacerbates those issues which will be costly to remedy. The Ombudsman has found no fault by the Council.

  • Copeland Borough Council (19 011 554)

    Statement Not upheld Building control 11-Feb-2020

    Summary: Mr C complains the Council has not properly exercised its building control functions. The Ombudsman has not investigated Mr C's complaint further, because it is unlikely that he would find fault and Mr C has not suffered significant personal injustice.

  • London Borough of Hounslow (19 006 952)

    Statement Upheld Building control 28-Jan-2020

    Summary: Mr X complains about unreasonable delay before the Council issued a regularisation certificate for building works at his home. There was unreasonable delay by the Council. The Council agreed a financial remedy to account for the unnecessary time and trouble Mr X was put to in pursuing matters with the Council.

  • Sheffield City Council (18 019 532)

    Statement Not upheld Building control 28-Jan-2020

    Summary: Mr X complains the Council issued a building control completion certificate in 2003 for an industrial unit his company bought shortly after. He says the building had a flaw that led to cracking after a storm in 2017, for which the company has been refused an insurance claim. We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

  • Cheshire East Council (19 006 894)

    Statement Not upheld Building control 21-Jan-2020

    Summary: There was no fault in how the Council concluded that an extension to Mr C's property, was not exempt from fees to certify compliance with the Building Regulations.

  • 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.

  • 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.