Tauranga City Council might be about to lose its authority to sign off on building inspections.

Building Consent Authority accreditation is issued to councils and overseen by government department the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.

MBIE says it's ‘closely monitoring the situation' in Tauranga following the failed Bella Vista Homes saga, which resulted in 21 homes being evacuated and deemed dangerous or affected, despite passing council inspections.

The MBIE accreditation and registration scheme ensures building consent authorities have the necessary skills and resources to check that building work meets legal requirements.

Lee and Denese Konowe are two homeowners who were close to receiving a code of compliance, only to have it be held up because a retaining wall had not been built on their property.

The Konowes came to Tauranga after losing their home in the Christchurch earthquakes.

They are not permitted back into their Aneta Way home, even with doctors saying Lee, who has several ailments, needs to rest at home to recover. A legal waiver letting council off the hook if something was to happen has been rejected.

"We traded earthquakes for a landslide of bureaucracy," they say.

The Konowes say the entire building process has been a disaster dealing with Tauranga City Council, from delays getting their consent to issues with the code of compliance process.

"We've had a three-year marriage to Tauranga City Council and we want a divorce," says Denese.

"We would want to see the BCA go to someone more competent."

In March it was revealed that inspectors signed off on "shoddy" workmanship when 21 homes in the Bella Vista development were evacuated ahead of Cyclone Hola.

Subsequent reports found there were significant issues in several of the properties and possible structural problems in the land due to unfinished retaining walls.

Four of the 21 affected homes had a full code of compliance, with others in the final stages of receiving one.

"As the Building Consent Authority, the council is responsible for the consenting process of house builds and issuing code compliance certificates," says MBIE acting manager of the Building System Accreditation Paul Hobbs.

"They also have responsibility to inspect building work for which they granted a building consent."

If serious or repeated non-compliance is identified, MBIE says it will collect information to determine if these issues are systemic and would assess whether the council, as the region's BCA, had failed.

"We expect the council will continue to keep MBIE informed as their building assessments, and investigation progresses," says Paul.

The results of an independent investigation headed by former High Court Judge, Paul Heath QC, looking into the council's handling of the Bella Vista Homes development would weigh into MBIE's decision.

The chief executive would then have several options, if the investigation found the council's inspectors were at fault. These included: a formal warning, remedial action, limiting the functions of the BCA, or a person be put in place.

Tauranga City Council says it has not looked into the full implications of losing its BCA.

"We have not assessed the full implications of such a decision from a revenue and cost perspective, so cannot speculate on that," a spokesperson says.

"From a practical point of view, if we did not have BCA status we would not be able to process and issue building consents, undertake inspections, and issue Code of Compliance Certificates.

"However, we do not believe that is a likely scenario."

- Matt Shand/Sunday Star Times