Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement/building control matter. This is because Ms X’s injustice stems from substandard work by the developer and we could not hold the Council responsible for the cost of repairs.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains the Council failed to conduct proper oversight of work on a new residential development and wrongly issued completion certificates for the new dwellings. Ms X bought one of the new dwellings and believes the Council should pay to put right the issues identified.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Building Regulations set standards for the design and construction of buildings to ensure the health and safety of people in and about those buildings.
5. 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’. 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.
6. Caselaw has established that where a council issues a completion certificate and the work is later found to be substandard, liability for any defects rests with those who commissioned the work and those who carried in out. We cannot therefore hold the Council responsible for substandard work by the developer and we could not achieve any worthwhile outcome for Ms X by investigating her complaint.
7. If Ms X considers her case should be treated differently she would need to argue the point at court. We could not say Ms X’s case is an exception and hold the Council responsible for the costs, which run into the hundreds of thousands of pounds, contrary to decisions made by the courts.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we could not hold the Council responsible for the substandard work and we cannot therefore achieve any worthwhile outcome for Ms X by investigating the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman