Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a building control matter. We have not seen evidence of fault in the Council’s actions, and Mr X has not suffered a significant personal injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, says the Council failed to respond quickly when he reported unauthorised building work at a properly in the road where he lives.
2. Mr X says he is concerned there may be a gas explosion. He wants us to ensure the correct checks have been made.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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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. The government introduced Competent Person Schemes (CPS) to allow individuals and enterprises to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations as an alternative to submitting a building notice or using an approved inspector.
7. An installer registered with a Competent Person Scheme is qualified to carry out specific types of work in accordance with Building Regulations. They should notify the local authority of the work and issue the property owner with a certificate of compliance with Building Regulations either directly or through their scheme operator.
8. In this case Mr X told the Council that building work had been carried out at a house in the road where he lives. The Council confirms that its building control team had received documentation “relating to the gas and electrical installations to verify testing by a competent person and deemed safe."
9. Primary responsibility for ensuring building work is in line with building regulations rests with those who commission it and those who do the work. The Council has confirmed it has received information confirming a competent person has certified the work is safe. As such I am satisfied the Council is entitled to rely on this as an indication it has been correctly installed. Because of this I do not consider there has been fault by the Council.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have not seen evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman