Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to register Mrs X’s building control application. We have not seen enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. And we consider it unlikely that further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council failed to log many of the building control calls which is making retrospective approval of her build difficult and costly. She says her original builder is no longer trading, and she needs a clearer idea of what the Council needs to see to sign off her extension.

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

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council confirms that in 2020 Mrs X’s builder put in a building notice for an extension. However, as he did not provide payment at that time, the application was invalid. According to the arrangements at the time, invalid applications were not uploaded to the Council’s database. The Council says its records show an officer telephoned Mrs X’s builder in March 2020 and confirmed receipt of the application but without payment, it was invalid and the application had therefore not been registered.
6. In July, Mrs X paid £700 but she did not provide proof of payment to the building control team. However, it was not attached to the building regulations application. As the Council receives thousands of payments it was not possible to match the single payment with the invalid building control application that was not on the database.
7. The Council also confirmed it has no records of any requests from the builder to inspect the building at the relevant stages.
8. Mrs X says her builder asked for a meeting in November 2024, but the Council did not reply.
9. In response to Mrs X’s complaint the Council apologised for the failure to reply to the request for a meeting. A building control manager offered to meet Mrs X on site with her builder to discuss the way forward.
10. The Council has explained why her application was not entered into its system and why it could not match her late payment with the invalid application. I have not seen enough evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with her application to justify an investigation.
11. Mrs X wants a meeting with the Council so she can understand what it needs to enable it to sign off her application. As the Council has already offered to meet Mrs X I consider that further investigation will not lead to aa different outcome.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. And we consider further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman