I'm from Australia (east coast)

I'd go with "He needs his head checked" out of the two options, but I'd think that "His head needs checking" would be preferable to either.

Elcalion

Consensus seems to be that we're looking at a purely British English phenomenon. I'm still confused by why non-British English is rather more prescriptive in this particular matter, but investigations will continue.

Cheers!

A) Frederick, MD, America

B) [ii] He needs his head checked.

a)Central North Island, New Zealand.
b)"He needs his head checked." In a put-on Cockney accent.

a) I'm from the Eastern Coast of the USA, Maryland to be exact.

b) I'd use "he needs his head checked," but I might also use "his head needs checking."

A) New York
B) (ii)

He needs his head checking what? His E-mail?

a) England
b)i. Just sounds better that way.

a) America, which means you should totally disregard the next answer.
b) "He needs his head checked."

a) where are you from?
I'm from the Pacific side of the U.S. of A.
b) which grammatical construction would you usually use?
(i)"he needs his head checking"
OR
(ii)"he needs his head checked"
I'd use the latter.

1) Derby, via Krefeld, Hannover, Catterick and Harrogate. (Don't ask)

2) I use both, but more often than not it's 'he needs his head checked/examined/felt' with the addition of 'with a sledgehammer' to the end of that.

a) Seattle
b) it really depends on context - if you're saying "I think he's crazy or obsessed about something", it's "I think he needs to get his head checked". If, however, you're saying "he's borderline crazy and needs to talk with his shrink", I'd use "he needs his weekly/monthly/annual head checking".

Grammatically speaking, it all comes down to what, exactly, is being done - is his head being checked, or is he getting a head check?

The first strikes me as being slightly more serious, while the second is a bit more colloquial... Once again, it depends on context.

a) Northern Midwest USA

b) ii. checked

Although, to be fair, I think it's only used around me when people want to talk about me. It would be a bit pot, kettle, black if I did use it.

Anyway. a) South East England
and b) I'd actually say "he needs to have his head checked". Out of the two, "he needs his head checked" sounds better to me though.

I think the authors of C*l*br**n, Ch* Ch*ng's D*sires, and S*bj*g*t**n need their heads examined.

I'm from the States. I'd use "He needs his head checked."

a) Untied States of Hysteria.
b) "he needs his head checked".

a) Northeast United States
b) "He needs his head checked."

a) Originally from Cornwall, but been living in the Midlands for twelve years.
b) I'd use "he needs his head checking", but that's more because that's how I've always heard the phrase used (and used it myself) than for any reasons of grammatical correctness.

I'm gonna have to go with "he needs his head checked." The first one works but it could also mean that he needs his head to be checking something. 0.o

a.) Ninth zone east after the great prime meridian (sorry, can't resist).

b.)ii

a) from the Netherlands. Learned my English from TV (I'm sorry English teachers, but that's the truth of it), so it's a mix of British, American, Canadian and Australian.
b) second option. First option made me ask: what does his head need to check? I assume that the intend of both sentences was that someone's head should be examined rather than that the head does some examining.

Regional difference could be very likely. In Dutch there are several difference between the Netherlands and Belgium in how certain things are said, and even within the Netherlands there are regional differences. For instance in the south someone would say: I brought the book with (litteral translation, so excuse for the incorrect English for a moment). And people from the north always insist the correct sentence is: I brought the book with me. For a southerner the "me" is implied; who else are you going to bring a book with?

Guess something similar may be the case here: in the first sentence it is implied that heads to check things, so they must be the things getting the checking.

I'm from... uh... shoot.
Born in northwest US, lived in British Columbia since I was twelve.
I think I'd use ii - "he needs his head checked."
...i could work, I suppose, but I'd put a hyphen in it. Because yes, I am just that strange. Turn that last bit into head-checking and all of a sudden it makes sense to me.

...yes. That's all I have to say on the matter. Really. ^^;

a) I'm from the northerly midwestern USA.

b) He needs his head checked.

And I'll tell you why I think so. First of all, the full sentence should be "he needs to have his head checked," presumably by a medical doctor or psychologist or something like that. As far as I know, there is no such activity as to have a "head checking," so that makes no sense to me. To have one's head checked, however, implies an examination of some sort, and makes perfect sense if you're questioning someone's intelligence or sanity.

~Neshomeh + $0.02

I'm from Sydney. If I was going to use an expression like that, I'd probably use 'he needs his head checked'.