Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to ensure builders carried out work to his mother’s property to the correct standard. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as we are unlikely to find fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X says in 2015, the Council failed to ensure builders carried out work on his mother’s home to the correct standard.
2. Sadly, his mother died last year, and the problems have recently come to light following a survey carried out by prospective buyers.
3. Mr X wants the Council to arrange for a qualified building surveyor to inspect the property and pay for any required remedial work.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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
• 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

5. I considered the information provided by Mr X, his complaints to the Council and its responses.

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What I found

6. In 2015, Mr X’s mother obtained a grant from the Council to repair her roof. The Council put the work out to tender and the contract was awarded to a building company.
7. Following his mother’s death in 2019, Mr X is trying to sell her house. After a survey, a prospective buyer pulled out of the purchase because the survey found the roof was not sufficiently strengthened to support new concrete tiles.
8. Mr X complained to the Council. He says as the Council arranged the work it is responsible for ensuring it was carried out to the correct standards.
9. The Council says it provided grant funding for the work in 2015 and awarded the contract. However, the contract itself was between Mr X’s mother and the builder. It confirmed the Council was not involved in any manging the work. Therefore, any complaint about the quality of the work should be directed to the builder or the builder’s insurers.

Assessment

10. Mr X believes the Council is responsible for the quality of the work carried out because it awarded the contract and paid the builder. He says the Council has refused to provide a copy of the quote it received from its chosen contractor or a receipt for the amount paid.
11. However, the Council is clear that while it awarded the contract and paid the monies, the contract for the work is between the homeowner and the builder.
12. Mr X is unsure as to whether the Council acted as the building control inspector for the work.
13. When carrying out their functions under the Building Regulations, local authorities will visit developments at various stages. But they will be not be present for most of the project and do not act as a project manager or ‘clerk of works’.
14. The Courts decided that you cannot hold a council responsible for economic loss for the cost of correcting a defect that resulted from its failure to ensure that a building complied with the building regulations. (Murphy v Brentwood District Council (1990)).
15. The House of Lords held that it is up to the owner to ensure the building was erected according to those Regulations. (Governors of Peabody Donation Fund v Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co Ltd & ORS (1984)).
16. Where the Courts have held there should be no liability in law it is the Ombudsman’s view that he should impose an obligation on a council in exceptional circumstances.
17. I understand Mr X’s concerns, however he has also advised the Council has inspected the property and is satisfied with the work carried out to the roof.

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Final decision

18. I will not investigate this complaint as we are unlikely to find fault and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman