1. No formal requirements for the design of the agreement
The Busted Listing Act contains no form requirements that must be met for the agreement to be valid.
The agreement can be concluded by one party making an offer that the other accepts (typically the purchase of apartments at the project stage). This procedure (offer/ acceptance) can be read more about here.
Another mechanism is agreement reached through negotiations about which we have written more here.
A third variant is through what we call agreements concluded by conclusive behavior or inaction, about which we have written more here.
It is only in Section 3 of the Bustad Registration Act that we find something about the actual “the agreement”It states, among other things, that both parties “may require the agreement to be made in writing”.
In other words, an agreement on the listing of housing does not need to be in writing to be valid.
Experience-wise, any doubt will go beyond the professional and, accordingly, the latter (the “contractor”) should ensure that there is a written agreement between the parties.
2. What is written in the sense of the bustad entry law?
Despite the fact that most people use digital documents and platforms today, the starting point of the bustad entry law is that writing is tantamount to the analogue (“pen and paper”).
It consequently nevertheless of buofl. § 6a (”Use of electronic communications“) that the Parties may use electronic communications if: “the consumer has expressly consented to this”.
There is case law that shows that an agreement on the use of digital communications can be made through actual actions, such as insincere behavior possibly in combination with the fact that the person who should have opposed it has acted passively and not reacted.
We would nevertheless recommend that any entrepreneur who enters into an agreement with a consumer to include an agreement on the use of digital communications in the written agreement.
3. Standardized agreement documents
Norsk Standard has developed several standard agreements that can be used in a contractual relationship between the consumer and the “entrepreneur”.
These are called building forms and they are adapted to what is agreed upon.
There is a main distinction between those agreements in which the consumer owns the land and is to have a dwelling erected, and agreements covering both property and construction.
A distinction is also made between those cases where the contractor provides engineering in addition to execution, and where the consumer himself is responsible for the design.
The difference between these has given rise to the terms turnkey and execution centre which can be read more about here.
Section 13 of Buofl also contains a special rule on what is expected to be included in the contractor's delivery if a turnkey contract has been concluded.
Consumer has blank
If the professional is to be responsible for both design and execution in a turnkey contract, use Construction form NS 3425
If the contractor undertakes only a main contract based on the consumer's design, Construction form NS 3426 A or NS 3426 B. The “A” form is used when the remuneration is less than 2 G, while the “B” form is used when the remuneration is higher than 2 G. “G” is the abbreviation for the basic amount of the National Insurance Fund, which is regulated every year. Since 1.2.2024, the value of G has been kr124,028, -.
If the consumer only purchases a construction kit, the Building Form NS 3404 is used.
Consumer does not have empty
When the agreement concerns a dwelling that at the time of the agreement is not to be built on the consumer's own plot, Building Form NS 3427 is used. This will typically be in the case of the sale of apartments to be erected and where one typically sells ownership sections or a condominium apartment under construction.
It happens that a developer sells land plots with a clause that the buyer must use a specific contractor or supplier of a cottage or year-round residence (construction clause).
In such cases, Building Form NS 3429 A is used for the transfer of the plot itself, while Building Form NS 3429 B is used as a contract document for the building itself, which is then erected in a turnkey contract.
4th. Content of the agreement
If you use a construction form, this will provide good guidance on what to include in an agreement with a consumer.
A contract must of course contain provisions on what is to be erected, construction time, how changes are to be ordered and possible limitations, quality requirements, agreed remuneration and whether the remuneration is to be indexed, etc. In addition, documentation such as sales prospectus, drawings, price quotations, meeting minutes, etc.
We have written several articles located in this collection of articles, which an entrepreneur can benefit from when concluding an agreement with a consumer.
You will probably benefit from reading through the article on the implementation phase, where we provide input on how the construction time can be regulated by agreement. This article can be read here.
We have also written a separate article about additional deadline and delay that can be read here.
By the way, we would recommend that you seek legal assistance - at least when drawing up more extensive contracts.
