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.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr B, complains about the way the Council has dealt with his application for building regulations approval. In particular, Mr B says the Council has delayed and/or failed to respond to requests for information and his request to change to an approved inspector.
2. Mr B says because of the Council’s fault he has spent unnecessary time and trouble and has not received the service he paid for.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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

5. I read the papers provided by Mr B and discussed the complaint with him. I have considered some information from the Council and provided a copy of this to Mr B. I have explained my draft decision to Mr B and the Council and considered the comments received before reaching my final decision.

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What I found

Background and legislation

6. Most building work, whether new, alterations, or extensions requires Building Regulation approval. The Building Act 1984 is the primary legislation under which the Building Regulations and other secondary legislation are made. The legislative framework of the 'Building Regulations' is principally made up of The Building Regulations 2010 and The Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations 2010.
7. The Regulations set standards for the design and construction of buildings to ensure health and safety for people in and about those buildings.  'Approved documents' give examples of how the Regulations can be met, but these examples do not have to be followed.
8. Building Regulations approval can usually be obtained in one of two ways:

• With full plans: drawings are deposited for approval. Building work is subsequently checked on site for compliance with the Regulations (not compliance with the approved plans).
• With a building notice: notice of commencement of building work is given prior to the commencement of work. The various stages of the work are then inspected and approved but no plans are checked.

9. Approved Inspectors are private bodies or individuals who may undertake building control functions. They must issue their "Initial Notice" (stating that the particular Approved Inspector is the building control body for the specified work project, at a specific address and/or building site) to the local authority before any controlled building work starts on site. The local authority has no part to play in work supervised by Approved Inspectors and so such matters do not fall within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
10. When carrying out their functions, local authorities will visit at various stages but they are not required to do so. The number and timings of any inspections may vary by local authority and type of development. Local authorities will be not be present for the great majority of the project and do not act as a ‘clerk of works’. On request and when satisfied after taking 'all reasonable steps' that the Regulations have been met, they must issue a completion certificate. This is not a guarantee that all works have been done to the required standard. Building Regulations provide a means for the local authority to maintain building standards in general, rather than imposing a duty to maintain standards in each particular case.

Key events

11. Mr B’s agent made a full plans application for building regulations approval to the Council in April 2018 for a single storey rear extension and internal alterations including wall removals, shower room, chimney breast and stack removals. There were also second floor works including staircase relocations and enlargement of an existing dormer with a Juliet balcony.
12. Mr B paid an initial fee of £499.20 in April for the validation of the application and a plans compliance check including structural calculations and subsequent rechecking as necessary to satisfy conditions or rectify design anomalies. The Council says there will be an inspection fee of £499.20 which is due after works start on site but it has not yet sent this invoice to Mr B. The Council provided a quote to Mr B’s agent ahead of the application and confirmed the fees payable to Mr B in April.
13. The Council issued a notice of conditional approval in May and advised Mr B the manufacturer’s design calculations were outstanding for the beam and block floor. The Council also advised Mr B the structural calculations provided required further information in June. The Council wrote again to Mr B in August to confirm there were no outstanding conditions.
14. The Council says works started on site in August when it carried out the first visit to inspect the foundations. Subsequent visits were made as follows:

• 15 October - steelwork
• 26 November - beam and block flooring
• 31 May 2019 - roof structure

15. The works are still ongoing and the Council has provided copies of the site inspection sheets. The Council anticipates there would be seven site visits in total. The Council’s building control service provides a next day service regarding site inspections. If a request is made before 4pm it will ensure a visit is made the following day. The Council says that on the morning of the visit each officer contacts the relevant person to advise the expected time of the visit having established their route.
16. The Council has explained that trainee or assistant building control officers are allocated works appropriate to their qualifications and experience. The Council says alongside day release at college, a period of shadowing a mentor is undertaken by a chartered surveyor, followed by the trainee carrying out supervised inspections before an assessment is made of the trainees’ abilities, allowing them to visit sites unaccompanied. If they encounter any difficulties, then they contact a more experienced officer for advice or to complete the site visit with them. In this instance the works were initially supervised by a trainee and a professionally qualified mentor. The Council agreed during the works that the mentor who is the Council’s Principal Building Control Officer would oversee the remainder of the project to provide Mr B with a single point of contact. The Council has additionally offered its Head of Building Control as an alternative contact should its Principal Building Control Officer not be available.
17. Mr B provided information about a new design for the extension floor in February and the Council suggested the proposed construction method would not meet the regulations. There was an exchange of correspondence about this issue in March and the Council confirmed subject to conditions it set out that it was satisfied with the proposed method at the beginning of April. The Council explained to Mr B that it was the responsibility of the designer and person carrying out the works requirement to show and achieve compliance with building regulations. The Council further explained that where a construction is proposed that is unusual or deviates from the approved plans it will request information to ensure compliance can be achieved. The Council says it will provide an immediate response where possible but in this case the design differed from what it had conditionally approved at the outset. The Council sought information to support the new design as it was not evident the proposed design would satisfy the Regulations.
18. Mr B also raised concerns the Council accepted photographic evidence of a soakaway rather than make a site visit. It is a matter for the Council to decide the evidence it requires to be satisfied about completed works.
19. Mr B asked in March 2019 for a partial refund so he could use an Approved Inspector following release of control by the Council. The Council has confirmed that once works have started on site an Initial Notice from an Approved Inspector cannot be submitted to it (as set out at paragraph 9 above). The Council does not appear to have provided this response to Mr B at the time. The Council says it advised Mr B he could not transfer to an Approved Inspector during a telephone call on 28 May and followed this up by email the same day. The Council has not provided a contemporaneous telephone record and the content of the email is general with no specific reference to an Approved Inspector. There was also a delay in providing this information to Mr B from his March request. However, as it was already too late for Mr B to engage an Approved Inspector, I do not consider this caused a particular injustice. Mr B does not dispute he was told in May 2019 that he could not transfer to an Approved Inspector but says he was not properly advised at the outset. It is not for the Council to advise about whether to use their building control service or an Approved Inspector - this would be a decision for Mr B and the agent acting for him at the time.
20. Mr B made a formal complaint to the Council in April but did not receive a response at Stage 1 of the Council’s complaint procedure. The Council does not provide its reasons why it failed to provide a response in line with its published complaint procedure. This is fault. I note the complaint was escalated to Stage 2 of the Council’s complaint procedure in May and Mr B did then receive a reply. However, the Council did not apologise for its failure to respond to his initial complaint.

Agreed action

21. The Council has agreed to:
1. write to Mr B to apologise for its failure to respond to his initial complaint at Stage 1 of its complaint procedure within one month of my final decision; and
2. pay Mr B £50 for his time and trouble within one month of my final decision (this amount can be deducted from any outstanding building regulation fees).

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Final decision

22. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault by the Council but consider the agreed actions above in addition to the action already taken by the Council of agreeing a single point of contact is enough to provide a suitable remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman