Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council wrongly issued a completion certificate for substandard work carried out on a property he has since purchased. This is because he has taken action against the Council through the courts.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council issued a completion certificate for works which do not comply with the Building Regulations. He purchased the property after the works were completed and must now pay for repairs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court but cannot investigate if the person has already been to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response.

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What I found

5. Mr X bought a property in 2018. Soon after he moved in he noticed issues with works carried out by the previous owner which the Council signed off. He says the Council’s building control officer admitted issuing a completion certificate in the knowledge works were not complete and, when the Council refused to pay him compensation, he took it to court. The Judge dismissed the case and Mr X referred his complaint to the Ombudsman.
6. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. Mr X has taken action against the Council in court and we cannot now consider the same issue considered by the court.
7. However even if we retained jurisdiction in this matter it is unlikely we would investigate it. This is because caselaw has established that primary responsibility for substandard work lies with those who commission it and those who carry it out.
8. When carrying out their functions under the Building Regulations, local authorities may visit at various stages but the number and timings of any inspections vary by local authority and type of development. Local authorities are not present for the great majority of the project and do not act as a ‘clerk of works’. 
9. A completion certificate is not a guarantee that works have been done to the required standard. All the certificate can and does state is that, as far as the Council could tell at the time, building work complied with the Building Regulations.
10. When purchasing a property it is for the buyer to satisfy themselves that any work has been completed to a satisfactory standard; they should not rely on a completion certificate alone. Mr X was not the owner of the property at the time the Council issued the completion certificate and he is only affected by the matter now as a result of his decision to purchase the property. The courts have decided the Council is not liable for the cost of putting right substandard work carried out by a third party and we cannot say its decision was wrong.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has taken court action against the Council.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman