Summary: Mr X complains about the failure of the Council’s Building Control Inspector to note defects in his property. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the Ombudsman does not consider the Council liable for faults in a property.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the failure of the Council’s Building Control Inspector to note defects in his property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman considers that 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 builder.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

4. Mr X says that a Building Control Inspector inspected his property in January 2018 as part of his Building Regulations application. He says that the Inspector failed to spot roof defects which eventually cost him at least £25,000 to remedy.
5. The Council accepts there were some errors in the inspection and offered £1,254 compensation.
6. 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.
7. We will not investigate most building control complaints because primary responsibility for building work rests with those who commission it and those who do the work. 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.
8. For these reasons, the Ombudsman would not investigate a complaint about the quality of work carried out by a builder (even where that work has been inspected by the Building Control officer). Whilst the Council has offered some compensation that does not alter our position on liability for the damage.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the Ombudsman does not consider the Council liable for the damages.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman