Summary: We will not investigate Mrs P’s complaint about building control inspections because there is no basis for us to seek the remedy she would like; the Council is not responsible to Mrs P in the way she believes.

The complaint

1. Mrs P says the Council failed to keep enough records of Building Control officer visits to her building project, with the result she has suffered significant distress because of her builder’s poor performance and the cost of remedial work. She wants the Council to provide accurate and detailed records of its staff diaries and mileage sheets to evidence the Council has carried out all the visits she thinks it should have done, and to refund her Building Act notice fee.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant, including the Council’s responses to her complaints.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Primary responsibility for building work and compliance with the Building Regulations rests with building owners and builders. If builders fail to comply with the Regulations, the Council can prosecute them, but can also decide not to. Prosecution would not provide a remedy for the building owner. The Council can also insist the building owner pays for the costs of making the building safe.
6. When carrying out their building control functions, councils will normally visit at various stages, but they are not required to do so. The applicant or developer must pay the relevant building notice application fee, but it does not entitle them to a particular number or frequency of inspection visits, nor does it place any obligation on the Council.
7. Council officers will not be present for the majority of the project, and in this case did not visit when the defective work would have been apparent. That is not evidence of Council fault, however. Councils are not expected to act as a site manager or ‘clerk of works’. People who want this level of supervision of their builder can and should employ their own site or project manager.
8. A Council may inspect work or issue a completion certificate, but this is not a guarantee that all works meet with Building Regulations or is of a satisfactory standard.
9. Mrs P’s complaint is based on the Council having obligations towards her which do not exist. Responsibility for the costs and consequences of defective building work is a matter between her and her builder, not the Council.
10. In its complaint response the Council accepted some minor shortfall in its communications with Mrs P, but they do not affect the underlying position and do not warrant separate investigation.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs P’s complaint because we cannot achieve the remedy she seeks as the Council is not responsible to her in the way she believes.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman