National Office of Building Technology and Administration

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Norwegian Building Authority
Direktoratet for byggkvalitet
DiBK-logo-English.jpg
Agency overview
Superseding agency
  • Statens byggtekniske etat
Jurisdiction Government of Norway
Headquarters Oslo
Agency executive
  • Per-Arne Horne, Director General
Parent agency Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development
Website dibk.no

The Norwegian Building Authority* (Norwegian : Direktoratet for byggkvalitet) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for managing laws and rules related to building and construction, authorises rules related to documentation of construction materials and their properties, as well as approving companies related to the Plan- and Building Act. The agency gives however jurisdiction to local municipalities, along with the County Governor, in appealing individual building permits.

Norwegian language North Germanic language spoken in Norway

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional varieties, and some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, in particular, are very close. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages. Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them. While the two Germanic languages with the greatest numbers of speakers, English and German, have close similarities with Norwegian, neither is mutually intelligible with it. Norwegian is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era.

Norway constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land.

Etat Norwegian state-, county- or municipal agency

Etat is a Norwegian state-, county- or municipal agency. An Etat is a subdivision of the administration, which has been given responsibility for a special area. An agency does not have a board of directors, but it does have a director, appointed by the subordinate organization. Normally decisions made by the agency can be appealed to the higher body. State agencies are subordinate to one particular ministry, and appeals are made to the Minister.

Since 1 January 2012, the office is named the Norwegian Building Authority (Norwegian: Direktoratet for byggkvalitet).

Organization

The Norwegian Building Authority is organized into five departments:

  1. Department of Construction Process
  2. Department of Products and Systems
  3. Department for Central Approval
  4. Department for Communication
  5. Department of Internal Services

The agency has offices at Marabous gt 13, Oslo with the exception of the Department for Central Approval which is located in Gjøvik, Oppland.

*The agency is subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and located in Oslo.

Oslo Place in Østlandet, Norway

Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. Founded in the year 1040 as Ánslo, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 reduced its influence, and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 it functioned as a co-official capital. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built closer to Akershus Fortress and named Christiania in the king's honour. It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. The city's name was spelled Kristiania between 1877 and 1897 by state and municipal authorities. In 1925 the city was renamed Oslo.

Regulations

While newer editions are being revised and editing, the current applicable process and design regulations are:

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