Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council charging him £60 for a building control completion certificate which should have been issued in 1997. This is because too much time has passed since the events complained about. Also, Mr B has not suffered a significant injustice which would justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains the Council has recently charged him £60 to issue a completion certificate for extension works to his property which were undertaken in 1997. Mr B says the works met the building regulations at the time and he assumed the works had been approved by the Council. Mr B says he only became aware there was an issue when he recently sold his property. Mr B would like the Council to refund the £60 he paid to the Council for the completion certificate.

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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 impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully.
3. It is our decision whether to start an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr B.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint. This is for two reasons.
7. First, the extension works to Mr B’s property were undertaken in 1997. Because of the significant amount of time that has passed since then, it is highly unlikely we could make sound findings about whether the Council was at fault for not issuing a completion certificate at the time.
8. Second, our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
9. Once Mr B contacted the Council about this issue, the Council promptly visited him and issued a completion certificate. This meant the sale of Mr B’s property could proceed.
10. The Council charged Mr B £60 to issue the certificate. But, this is a relatively modest amount, particularly in the context of the fees and charges involved with property transactions. So, the alleged fault has not caused Mr B a significant injustice which would justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

11. For the above reasons, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman