Wokingham Borough Council (19 005 898)
Category : Planning > Building control
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Sep 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council assisted him with his building control application. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the way the Council assisted him with his building control application.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the complainant's and Council's comments. The complainant has commented on the draft decision.
What I found
- Mr X says that he asked the Council for advice about complying with building regulations for a hot water system he was installing but has not received an adequate response.
- The Council says that the installation of gas systems requires the approval by Gas Safe and not the Council. The Council says it understands that Mr X has agreed to become a member of the Competent Person Scheme regulated by Gas Safe and the Health and Safety Executive. It says, therefore, that it has no jurisdiction over the project. It adds that it is not required to offer advice and it is up to Mr X to satisfy the regulations to standards set by Gas Safe.
- I am satisfied that the Council has not acted with fault in the way it has dealt with Mr X’s request. Mr X needs to deal with Gas Safe (not a body within our jurisdiction) to resolve any disputes.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman