Part 3: Building Act 1984 Building control approvers and building inspectors Section 45: Default powers of appropriate national authority Background
This section amends sections 116, 117 and 118 of the Building Act 1984, to clarify the powers of the appropriate national authority to intervene where a local authority has failed to perform their functions under the Building Act 1984, and to recognise the role of the Building Safety Regulator in advising the Secretary of State in relation to this power.
Example 1
A local authority has failed to perform its building control functions to the required standard. To remedy the situation, the Secretary of State first consults with the Building Safety Regulator and makes an order which declares the authority to be in default and directs them to carry out their functions in a specific way within a period of 28 days. The authority fails to comply with a requirement of this order within the timeframe. The Secretary of State considers that the appropriate next step is to make a transfer order and first consults with the Building Safety Regulator. The Secretary of State proceeds to make the transfer order which assigns to another local authority specified building control functions that belong to the authority in default.
Example 2
The Building Safety Regulator notices that a local authority is failing to perform its functions to the required standard and recommends to the Secretary of State that a transfer order should be made. The Secretary of State reviews this recommendation and is satisfied that this authority is likely to continue to exercise its functions below the standard expected and put the safety of people at risk. The Secretary of State proceeds to make the order which assigns the functions of the authority in default to himself.
Example 3
The Secretary of State considers that the circumstances of the local authority which led to the transfer of its functions has now been resolved. The Secretary of State first consults with the Building Safety Regulator on this issue and then proceeds to makes an order to revoke the transfer order. Within this revoking order, the Secretary of State sets out any steps to be taken to deal with the assignment and release of any property or liabilities incurred as a result of the original transfer.