Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council wrongly issued a completion certificate for a building that does not meet building regulations. We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking and an investigation will not lead to a worthwhile result.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council issued a building regulations completion certificate for an apartment building, despite the communal entrance not being compliant with Part M of the Regulations which deals with accessibility.
2. He also complains the Council failed to follow its complaints procedure and missed all communication deadlines.
3. Mr X wants:
• The Council and developer to ensure the main entrance complies with the Building Regulations.
• Explain why it issued the certificate for a non-compliant building; and
• £5,500 compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X bought an apartment in a new building before a completion certificate had been issued.
8. English law includes the principle of “buyer beware”. We usually expect a buyer of a property to survey and investigate the status of a property before purchase. Mr X’s solicitor would have known the building did not have a Building Regulations Completion Certificate before Mr X completed his purchase.
9. That aside, the responsibility for building work and compliance with the building regulations rests with building owners and builders. The courts have held that local authorities are not responsible for the costs of putting right defective building work which does not meet the building regulations.
10. This means even if an investigation found the Council was at fault, we would not ask the Council to make a payment which the courts have decided local authorities are not required to pay.
11. So, an investigation would not be a good use of our limited resources or achieve a meaningful outcome for Mr X.
12. Mr X also complains the Council has failed to follow its complaint procedure. We consider it is not a good use of public resources to investigate the complaint process alone when we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking. Nor would it lead to a worthwhile outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman