Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council dealt with a building control matter. From the information we have seen further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome. And it is reasonable to expect the complainant to ask the Information Commissioner’s Office to consider his complaint about the Council’s failure to provide information he is seeking.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council failed to advise his wife that her ground floor converted flat did not have a building control certificate, when she bought it in 2006.
2. He also complains the Council failed to tell his neighbour that tried to regularise the matter in 2010, that the flats still did not comply with building control regulations.
3. Mr X says a neighbour who bought the upstairs flat in 2021 carried out building works in both flats and the properties now have a building control certificate. However the building work need to achieve compliance with the regulations was intrusive and costly.
4. Mr X wants the Council:
• to explain why it did not tell the former neighbour they had not granted a completion certificate in 2010;
• reimburse him for solicitors fees he and his wife incurred; and
• to explain why it has failed to provide him with information he is seeking.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. 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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint

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

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

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. On request and when satisfied after taking 'all reasonable steps' that the Regulations have been met, the local authority (or any private ‘approved inspector’) must issue a completion certificate. But a completion certificate is not a guarantee that all works are completed to the necessary 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. The Council is not responsible for chasing up projects which have not sought a completion certificate. This is the responsibility of those who commissioned the work. In this case, the responsibility lay with the person who converted the property into flats.
11. The Council says in 2010 it became aware the flats did not have a completion certificate, so it contacted Mr X’s former neighbour. However, the information the neighbour provided did not resolve the matter. The Council confirms it put a notice on the Land Charges Register against the properties that a building control application was received in 2010. However, it is for the applicant to achieve compliance, not for the Council to chase them.
12. Mr X says his new neighbour arranged for building work and a completion certificate has now been issued. The Council is not responsible for the legal fees incurred by Mr X as responsibility for compliance with building control regulations lays with the person who converted the properties.
13. Any query Mr X has about the conveyancing carried out when his wife bought the fault is a matter for the solicitor who dealt with the purchase. I consider further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.
14. If Mr X believes the Council has failed to provide him with information he is seeking, he can ask the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to consider his concerns. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to refer the matter to the ICO as it is the body with specific powers and expertise to investigate access to information issues.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions;
• further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome; and
• it is reasonable to expect Mr X to complain to the ICO if he believes the Council has failed to provide him with information

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman