Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about substandard building work to his property carried out more than 50 years ago. This is because we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed to properly inspect building work carried out to his property in around 1966. He says his wall is unstable and he wishes to claim compensation from the Council to cover the cost of repairs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint, shared my draft decision with him and considered his comments.

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What I found

4. Mr X’s property dates back to approximately 1966. He complains the Council’s failure to ensure building work was completed to the proper standard has resulted in the wall becoming unstable. He believes the Council was negligent in dealing with the matter at the time and wants it to pay him compensation.
5. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The building work Mr X complains about was carried out more than 50 years ago and pre-dates the current 2010 Building Regulations and the Building Act 1984. Mr X says the Council oversaw the building work but even if it did, caselaw has established it does not assume liability for substandard work carried out by third parties; primary responsibility for building work rests with those who commission it and those who do the work. We could not therefore achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X by investigating its involvement in this matter.

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Final decision

6. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman