London Borough of Redbridge (18 015 422)

Category : Planning > Building control

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 05 Sep 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr C complains the Council failed to issue a building regulations completion certificate for work to his property and he has spent unnecessary time and trouble in pursuing the matter and may have difficulty if he sells the property. The Ombudsman has found fault by the Council in some of its communication with Mr C but considers the agreed action of an apology and £100 are enough to provide a suitable remedy.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr C, complains the Council has failed to issue a building regulations completion certificate for work to his property. Mr C says because of the Council's fault he has spent unnecessary time and trouble in pursuing the matter and may have difficulty if he sells the property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
  2. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I read the papers provided by Mr C and discussed the complaint with him. I have considered some information from the Council and provided a copy of this to Mr C. I have explained my draft decision to Mr C and the Council and provided an opportunity for comment.

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What I found

  1. The government introduced Competent Person Schemes (CPS) to allow individuals and enterprises to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations as an alternative to submitting a building notice or using an approved inspector. A competent person must be registered with a scheme that has been approved by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
  2. An installer registered with a CPS is qualified to carry out specific types of work in accordance with Building Regulations and should notify the local authority of the work and issue the property owner with a certificate of compliance with Building Regulations either directly or through their scheme operator. These records are important when a person sells their home as certificates of compliance with the Building Regulations may be sought.
  3. All electrical work in the home in England must comply with Part P of the Building Regulations. In addition, those items described below are notifiable and are required to have a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate:
  • circuit alteration or addition in a special location (certain zones within a room containing a bath or shower or a room containing a swimming pool or sauna heater)
  • installation of one or more new circuits
  • installation of a replacement consumer unit (fuse box)
  • rewire of all circuits
  • partial rewire
  • new full electrical installation (new build)
  1. An electrical installer who is registered with one of the approved CPSs is authorised to arrange for the homeowner to be issued with the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate.
  2. The installer will be included in the electrical competent person register which provides a single place for householders to find registered electricians in their area. The National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) is one of the approved CPSs.

Key events

  1. Mr C’s agent made a full plans submission to a partner local authority (which is not the subject of this complaint) for a rear single storey pitched roof extension and loft conversion in July 2016.
  2. The Local Authority Building Control (LABC) partnership scheme allows an agent to become a partner with an authority. Under the scheme, the plans are administered by the partner authority and once they are satisfied these comply with the Building Regulations it will send an advisory note to the host authority (in this case the London Borough of Redbridge) to issue an approval. The works on site are administered by the host authority for compliance with the Building Regulations. A completion certificate is issued following the satisfactory completion of works on site and any other relevant documentation being provided including any electrical installation being registered with the relevant CPS.
  3. The Council’s records show building control inspections of works for the period July 2016 to November 2017 and a gap until October 2018 when it was noted electrical and gas safe compliance certificates were required.
  4. Mr C’s electrical installer provided Mr C with a a domestic EIC electrical certificate dated 8 December 2017 for electrical works to the rear extension and loft conversion to Mr C.
  5. Mr C forwarded the above certificate to the Council on 4 January 2018. The Council emailed Mr C on 9 January to advise him the domestic EIC electrical certificate from his electrical installer was not adequate and the installer needed to notify NICEIC (assuming he was registered) of the installation so they could issue the compliance certificate.
  6. Mr C complained to the Council on 11 December 2018 that it had still not issued his completion certificate. The Council replied to Mr C’s complaint on 10 January 2019. The Council explained it had not issued the completion certificate as it was still waiting for confirmation from the relevant CPS regarding the electrical and gas installations. The Council further explained Mr C would need to contact his installers to arrange this.
  7. Mr C escalated his complaint on 11 January. The Council replied at the final stage of its complaint procedure on 8 February. The Council apologised for the communication issues and delays Mr C had experienced in the Council not advising him why the completion certificate had not been previously issued. The Council confirmed this was not the normal standard of service it expected to deliver and apologised. This letter repeated that information was required from both Mr C’s gas and electrical installers.
  8. The Council has subsequently confirmed to the Ombudsman that a gas certificate was sought in error and is not required. The Council has confirmed there remains one matter outstanding which is the CPS notification about the electrical installation. These notifications are received electronically from the relevant CPS and transferred to the Council’s database. The Council has not received such a notification for electrical works at Mr C’s property.
  9. Mr C says his installer told him he had arranged the necessary notification to the Council. However, Mr C also says he has not been able to contact his electrical installer more recently about the matter.

My consideration

  1. The Council has already accepted there was communication issues and delay which constitutes fault. The Council has already provided an apology to Mr C which I consider largely provides a suitable remedy for Mr C’s injustice. However, there was further fault by the Council in wrongly advising Mr C twice that there was outstanding gas information required during its complaint procedure. I consider this action by the Council caused Mr C unnecessary uncertainty and time and trouble which does require a further remedy as set out below.
  2. I have considered that the Council did advise Mr C in January 2018 that his electrical installer had not provided the correct notification via the relevant CPS and explained what Mr C needed to do to obtain his completion certificate.
  3. These notifications are sent from the relevant CPS directly to the Council once a registered installer has provided the CPS with the information. I cannot say the Council failed through some fault of its own to receive the necessary notification from the CPS. It is the absence of this notification that has caused the delay in the Council issuing the completion certificate. In these circumstances, there are no grounds for me to recommend the Council take further action on this issue until it receives the required notification. This is a matter Mr C would need to pursue with his electrical installer and their CPS.

Agreed action

  1. The Council has agreed to:
      1. write to Mr C within one month of my final decision to apologise for wrongly advising him that further information was required relating to gas works; and
      2. pay Mr C within one month of my final decision £100 for the uncertainty and time and trouble he has suffered as a result.

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Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation. This is because although I have found fault by the Council, I consider the agreed actions above are enough to provide a suitable remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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