Contractor acquitted of multi-million claim – important ruling under the Norwegian Housing Construction Act

The buyer brought a claim of more than NOK four million against the contractor, corresponding to more than 50% of the contract sum. However, the court found that the contractor should be fully acquitted, and the contractor was in addition awarded full recovery of its legal costs, amounting to more than NOK 800,000.

The court's assessment

Due to the scope of the alleged defects and the size of the claim, four court days were set aside for the case. One of the days was spent on a site inspection of the home, where the court itself was able to see and assess the alleged defects.
 

The court carried out a systematic review of both the facts and the legal issues relating to each alleged deficiency, and concluded that these could, for the most part, not succeed.
 

The court did not mince its words in its assessment and stated that the case had largely been constructed by the buyer's surveyor. Among other things, the court found that the surveyor had consistently failed to sufficiently familiarize himself with the requirements following from the technical regulations (TEK 17), and had in addition applied too high an expectation of entirely flawless condition. As neither the alleged defects nor the repair costs were adequately documented, the court found that the contractor had to be acquitted.
 

Key takeaways for contractors
 

Within housing construction law, many contractors experience uncertainty as to how buyers' claims will be assessed by a court, and many are reluctant to take up the fight. This judgment shows that:
 

• contractors, too, have strong legal protection
• this requires thorough work on the case, assessment of the buyer's claims, and not least the gathering of documentation
• one should not give in to extensive claims where these lack a legal basis

The case illustrates the importance of early legal assessment, structured documentation, and strategic conduct of proceedings in complex disputes. The judgment may be of interest to both contractors and other players in the construction industry.