Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about work the Council approved which does not meet building regulations. We do not consider an investigation to be good use of our resources as we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to complete reasonable actions to show work done at his property before he bought it complied with building regulations.
2. He wants the Council to rectify the defect to ensure the roof meets building regulations.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X bought his house in 2025. He says the Council failed to ensure work done by the previous owner in 2019 complied with the building regulations. Mr X says the tiles used on the extension roof are not suitable for the pitch of the roof and the building inspector should have known this.
7. English law has a principle of “buyer beware”. We would usually expect a buyer of a property to arrange a full survey of the property before buying it to identify the type of issue Mr X complains about.
8. 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.
9. This means even if an investigation found the Council was at fault, we would not ask the Council to pay to rectify the defect when the courts have decided local authorities are not liable.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would not be a good use of our limited resources as we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman