Summary: Mr B says the Council’s building control officer failed to carry out site visits he paid for and inaccurately said more visits took place than was the case. The Council’s records for this building control case are poor, the record of visits undertaken does not support the Council’s claims in correspondence with Mr B and there is no evidence a completion visit took place. An apology and payment to Mr B, a further building control inspection and a reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr B, complained the Council failed to carry out site visits he paid for and which the Council inaccurately claimed took place.
2. Mr B says he has not received a service he paid the Council for and is not confident the works undertaken meet the right standards as a result.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Mr B's comments;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided.
6. Mr B and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
7. .

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What I found

What should have happened

8. Most building work requires building regulation approval. The regulations set requirements and guidance for the design and construction of buildings and ensure the health and safety of people in and about those buildings.
9. Building regulations approval can be obtained by:
• Full plans application. This option provides the most thorough checks. The building owner or their agent submits plans for approval. Building work is checked on site by an inspector for compliance with the regulations. The council will issue a completion certificate within 8 weeks which states the work is compliant with the regulations. If the work is not compliant, the Council will issue advice on how it can be made so.
• Building notice application. This type of application is only for smaller projects. You do not get formal approval like you do with full plans.
10. The courts have decided council building control authorities are not liable to ensure compliance with building regulations - the duty to comply with regulations lies with the builder and building owner, who may be able to take legal action for the consequences of poor/non-compliant work against their contractor, architect or builder. When carrying out their functions, councils will visit at various stages but they will not be present for the great majority of the project and do not act as a 'clerk of works' or project manager. On request, and when satisfied after taking 'all reasonable steps' that the regulations have been met, they must issue a completion certificate. This not a guarantee all works have been done to the required standard.
11. Councils should not be seen as a 'safety net' for when things go wrong, nor are they liable for poor or unlawful building work. Council compliance certificates do not guarantee works meet with the regulations. Their role is to maintain building safety for the public in general, not to protect the private interests of individuals.

What happened

12. Mr B had a loft conversion and rear dormer installed at his property and employed the Council’s building control service to carry out the required checks.
13. Mr B’s builder contacted the Council to ask for an inspection on 15 November 2021. The Council’s building control officer visited but Mr B asked for him to return when the builder was present. The Council’s building control officer visited on 13 December and took photographs. The building control officer identified the work was nearing completion at that point and noted the works viewed complied with the building regulations.
14. Following receipt of a building notice the Council wrote to Mr B on 10 January 2022. The Council told Mr B to ensure the work complied with the current requirements he should check with building control at all stages and on all aspects of the proposal. The letter told Mr B during the course of the project it would be necessary for officers to inspect the works at various key stages. The Council provided a list of the various key stages that were applicable to his project.
15. On 23 January 2022 the building control officer discussed the upgrade of the existing fire doors with Mr B’s builder. The builder agreed to provide certification details from the paint supplier to show there would be half an hour’s fire resistance to paintwork.
16. On 5 April the Council emailed Mr B to say following site visits and receipt of information from the builder the Council was in a position to issue a completion certificate. The Council issued a completion certificate that day. Mr B raised concerns about that as he only knew about one previous building control visit. Mr B told the Council a completion visit had not taken place on 5 April as he had been at home.
17. On 22 April the Council received certification from the paint supplier and the electrical certification and noted the completion certificate could be issued.
18. Mr B put in a complaint on 22 April as he was concerned about the lack of visits before the completion certificate was issued. In response the Council told Mr B the building control officer had spent around 6-7 hours on the project, which included site visits and discussions with the contractor.
19. On 23 May Mr B asked the Council to escalate his complaint as he did not consider the Council had dealt with his concerns about site visits which were claimed but did not take place. The Council responded to the complaint on 14 July. The Council accepted it had not carried out a site visit on 5 April and said a site visit on 22 April was to confirm the works had been correctly completed. The Council said it could issue a completion certificate before the outstanding documentation was provided if it considered it appropriate to do so. The Council told Mr B it was satisfied the building control officer had visited the site on five occasions.

Analysis

20. Mr B says the Council failed to carry out site visits he paid for as part of the building control service the Council offers. Mr B says the Council has wrongly said five site inspection visits took place when there was only one visit. Mr B says he can be certain about that because he and his wife are housebound and there would be no way for the Council’s building control officer to visit without him being aware of it. Mr B says he is particularly concerned the Council issued a completion certificate without carrying out a visit to satisfy itself the works completed at his property met the requirements of the building regulations.
21. It was either Mr B’s or his builder’s responsibility to ask the building control officer to inspect the works at the key stages of the development. In this case the Council has provided limited documentary records. None of those documentary records, with the exception of the request for an inspection in November 2021, show the builder or Mr B contacting the Council to request an inspection. I am concerned though the Council has not kept detailed documentary records in this case given it refers to the building control officer’s telephone conversations with Mr B’s builder and none of those notes have been provided. I am therefore not satisfied the Council kept proper records in this case. That is fault and it undermines my ability to decide whether the lack of visits in this case were due to the builder not notifying the Council at the various stages of development.
22. I am concerned though the Council’s communications with Mr B have also been confused about the number of visits that have taken place. The Council has told Mr B there were five visits by the building control officer. The Council has also told Mr B a completion inspection took place on 5 April. I am satisfied both those statements are incorrect. The Council has provided a list of site visit inspections which show only four entries. Clearly there was therefore not five visits as claimed by the Council. It also appears the entry for 22 April 2022 was not a visit as that refers to the Council receiving certificates from the builder, although the Council says a visit took place on that date. In those circumstances I can understand why Mr B lacks confidence in the Council’s assertion his loft conversion complies with the building regulations. Failure to keep accurate records is fault, as is giving Mr B incorrect information.
23. Despite what the Council has told Mr B I am also not satisfied a completion visit took place before the Council issued the completion certificate. That is because the Council’s site inspection record does not refer to any visit on 5 April and the record for 22 April does not indicate anything was viewed on site. I appreciate though at least one of the visits undertaken by the building control officer enabled him to see most of the work carried out by the builder on the loft conversion. I say that because I have seen photographs the building control officer took which show the loft conversion largely completed but with the works undertaken exposed for the officer’s inspection.
24. I consider it is likely that visit gave the building control officer enough information to take a view about whether the building regulations were met in relation to most of the key inspection stages outlined in the Council’s letter to Mr B of 10 January 2022 given what is shown on the photographs. Those, plus the certificates the Council received, satisfy me, on the balance of probability, the Council issued a completion certificate because it was satisfied the works complied with the building regulations. The issue is therefore with how the Council communicated with Mr B, inaccuracies in its statements, failing to keep proper records and failing to carry out a completion inspection.
25. As remedy for the complaint I recommended the Council apologise and pay Mr B £250 to reflect his understandable sense of frustration about how the Council has handled this case as well as the time and trouble he has had to go to in pursuing his complaint. As there is no evidence a completion visit took place I also recommended the Council carry out a completion visit in the same way it would have done had it visited at the end of the works. I further recommended the Council remind building control officers of the need to keep clear records of visits undertaken as well as any telephone conversations with builders. I also recommended the Council remind those dealing with complaints of the need to ensure the complete building control records are checked when complaint responses are issued so inaccurate information is not provided. The Council has agreed to my recommendations.

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Agreed action

26. Within one month of my decision the Council should:
• apologise to Mr B;
• pay Mr B £250;
• carry out a completion visit in the same way it would have done had it visited at the end of the works; and
• remind officers dealing with complaints of the need to ensure the relevant records are checked so complaint responses do not contain inaccurate information.
27. Within three months of my decision the Council will put a procedure in place to ensure building control officers keep clear records of visits and telephone conversations.

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Final decision

28. I have completed my investigation and uphold the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman