Summary: Mr X complains about a developer who has failed to comply with building regulations for a property he bought. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because he has a legal action available against the developer and the law does not hold councils responsible for financial losses caused by building regulation failure.

The complaint

1. Mr X bought a property which he says does not comply with building regulations.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The courts have held councils are not liable for ‘pure economic loss’. This principle was established in the case of Murphy v Brentwood District Council (1991) 1 AC 398, where the council failed to inspect the foundations of a building adequately and the building became dangerously unstable. Here it was held that where a defect was discovered but there was no injury to a person or property other than the defect itself, the expense incurred by the owner or a subsequent purchaser of the house in putting the defect right was pure economic loss and could not be recovered. This decision was partly based on public policy considerations.
3. The Ombudsman would expect that a person purchasing a property would have a full survey completed before completing the purchase. If a defect is discovered in work completed before the purchase he would expect the building owner to have a remedy against either the person who carried out the survey or the previous owner.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the complainant's and Council's comments. The complainant has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X bought a property from a developer which he says does not comply with building regulations. In particular, he says that there is insufficient sound insulation.
6. Mr X had a contract with the developer for the purchase of the house. If the developer has failed to build in accordance with this contract he will have a legal recourse to remedy the matter.
7. It is the responsibility of the person commissioning the works to ensure the work is to the required standard. Building control officers are not supervising the work generally when considering compliance with the Building Regulations. This is a contractual matter which should be resolved by civil action by the owner against the developer.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because this is a private legal matter and the Council is not responsible for any loss caused by its Building Control function.
    

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman