The only way to make some one responsible for the work is to lay it out before hand. Without specific written instructions or contracts, it eventually falls back to whoever started the job (specifically it is who writes the contract) ... homeowner, developer, builder etc. That's one of the tenants of English law. If the contract writer doesn't write it (in this case, the responsibility) in at the beginning, it doesn't exist.
If you, the homeowner had a written contract with the builder that said specifically the builder would design and have installed a working HVAC system, then your beef is with the builder.
Residential isn't the only market that has this kind of problem, it happens in commercial as well. It happens often enough that there are often "commissionings" and progress inspections that are done by third parties for the owners when the owners are not experts at the particulars of the work, but have a lot of properties built or remodeled and have been hit with the same kind of problems over and over.
As a side note, I've worked on some jobs where the designing architect pushed all the responsibility to the sub contractor by saying "the mechanical contractor shall install a suitable HVAC system". The rest of the blue print page was blank. Could it be more broad, but still clear at the same time?
Sam
Know-it-all? Nope, not even half!