Summary: Mr X complained the Council building control did not identify issues with his property, which he said does not meet energy standards. He is also unhappy with communications from the Council. Mr X said this distressed him. We have discontinued our investigation. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council, and we do not investigate complaint handling and communication concerns, if we are not investigating the substantive complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council building control did not identify issues with his property, which he said does not meet energy standards. He is also unhappy with communications from the Council. Mr X said this distressed him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a Council’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

4. I read Mr X’s complaint and we spoke to him about it on the phone.
5. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background information

7. Councils have a very important role in ensuring buildings are safe for people to use. Their duty is to protect the public, rather than the interests of private individuals. They have extensive powers to protect the public, ranging from checking building works for compliance with building regulations, and requiring or carrying out emergency works to make buildings safe.
8. Most building work requires building regulation approval. Building regulations set out requirements and guidance that builders and building owners are required to follow and consider. The purpose of the regulations is to make sure buildings are safe for those that use them or live around them.
9. There have been court challenges where owners of buildings have sought to hold Council building control authorities liable for defects in building work they have inspected. 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 building owner.
10. Owners of buildings may be able to take legal action for the consequences of poor/non-compliant work against their contractor, architect or builder.

What happened

11. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that has occurred in this case.
12. Mr X moved to a new build home, owned by a housing association, in late 2023. He began raising concerns about the quality of the home to the builders and the housing association.
13. Mr X complained to the Council in early 2025. He complained about the defects to his home and wanted building control to take action.
14. The Council responded to Mr X the following day. It confirmed it was confident the property meets minimum standards and advised Mr X to contact the housing association.
15. In August 2025Mr X complained to the Council again, raising the same concerns.
16. The Council issued its response in September 2025. The Council confirmed it was confident the property met minimum standards. The Council said building control did not have a remit to investigate after completion of the building stage. It told Mr X any concerns should be directed to the building owner, the housing association.
17. Mr X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate.

My findings

18. I am discontinuing my investigation. The Council’s building control role is to satisfy itself buildings are safe and compliant with the building regulations. The person commissioning the work is responsible to ensure the work is to the required standard. If work is not up to the required standard, they may be able to seek redress in the courts against the builder or developer.
19. Mr X has taken the correct action of contacting his housing provider and escalating the concerns to the Housing Ombudsman.
20. This case does not meet the criteria to be considered jointly with the Housing Ombudsman. Joint cases are where a service is the joint or overlapping responsibility of 2 bodies in our respective jurisdictions. For example, a response to Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) committed by a council tenant where the Council can respond using both its ASB and Environmental Health powers (Ombudsman jurisdiction) and as a landlord (Housing Ombudsman jurisdiction).
21. For reference the Housing Ombudsman’s joint working criteria are:
• “It would be difficult and impractical to carry out separate investigations because the landlord and council issues are so closely linked we can only work out who was responsible for any fault and/or injustice by investigating both functions at the same time”;
• “The landlord and council issues are both fundamentally significant to the overall complaint, rather than one being relatively minor compared to the other”;
• “Issues have exhausted both the landlord and council complaint processes”; and
• “There is a practical timeframe where both the Ombudsman and Housing Ombudsman are at a similar place with the complaint. If one organisation is significantly further ahead in dealing with the complaint and it will take the other organisation some time to reach the same stage, we may carry out separate investigations but share the outcome of investigations”.
22. The complaint must meet all the criteria. In this complaint, the Council and the Registered Social Landlord are not jointly delivering services. Rather they are interacting with each other on the same issue. It does not meet all the criteria, so it is not suitable for a joint investigation with the Housing Ombudsman.
23. As set out in paragraph nine, 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 building owner. Mr X is doing the correct thing in challenging the housing association. While I appreciate the ongoing distress of the situation, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.
24. Mr X also raised concerns about communication and complaint handling. As we are not investigating the substantive issue, it is not proportionate to consider a complaint about these concerns.

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Decision

25. I have discontinued my investigation. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify an Ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman