1. Introduction
Norsk Standard has published the standard contracts that are most often used in land-based contracts.
The standard contracts are drawn up by committees composed of representatives of all interest groups within the construction and construction activities in Norway. The contracts are therefore often referred to as “agreed documents” where the result is a minimum common multiple. The interests of all stakeholders have been collated, assessed and tried to be balanced into a “fair” agreement document.
You could say there are two levels of standard contracts.
The top level of contracts regulates the relationship between the builder and the main or general contractor. These contracts are given the designation NS 8405, NS 8406 and NS 8407. The first two regulate the contractual relationship in which the project is carried out in an execution center, while the latter is used when the project is carried out in a turnkey contract. (We have written a separate article in which we explain in more detail about contracting forms and implementation models, read here.
The bottom level of contracts regulates the relationship between the main or general contractor on the one hand and their subcontractors on the other. These contracts are given the designation NS 8415, NS 8416 and NS 8417.
As for the upper level, the first two contracts are used in execution contracts, while the last one is used as total subcontracting.
The system is that NS 8405 and NS 8415 are thought to be used in one context, NS 8406 and NS 8416, as well as NS 8407 and NS 8417. However, this is not strictly necessary. There is freedom of agreement and you do what suits you best. In the article on contract types and implementation models, we explain a little more about how you as a general contractor can switch between using NS 8415 and NS 8417 depending on how the project is organized, or a main or general contractor with NS 8406 contract against the builder can apply, for example, NS 8415 against its subcontractors. You can also alternate within the same contract and use a mix slightly depending on what you as a main or general contractor want to achieve.
The important thing is to make informed choices.
2. Briefly about NS 8406 versus the other standards
NS 8406 is intended to be used in projects where there are not many side contractors for which the developer receives operational and coordination risks. It is also not intended to be used in projects where there is a particular need for strict notification regimes.
For projects where you either have a lot of side contractors or need strict notification procedures, NS 8405 is chosen.
Since NS 8406 is intended to be used for less complicated projects, it has fewer provisions, nor is it divided into chapters.
With that said, it is important to clarify that NS 8406 can be used in larger projects. For example, Statens Road Administration has chosen to use this as its standard for many years on many road projects.
Incidentally, the impression is that NS 8406 is used to a modest extent.
Most people seem to prefer NS 8405 when the project is carried out in an execution center.
NS 8405 (like NS 8407) places great demands on the professionalism of both the builder and the contractor. Consequently, the application of these contract standards, and not least how successful this will be, will largely depend on the knowledge, experience and competence of those managing the project at both the builder and the contractor.
3. Our approach and relationship with Norsk Standard
As can be seen from the articles on the main and subcontracting contracts, we have not accounted for every single provision of the contract standards.
We have commented on the provisions that people have experientially asked questions about, provisions that are central and important to understand the content of and/ or contain regulations that it is very important that stakeholders have the opportunity to read up on them. Either because you have a general interest, but preferably when you are facing concrete challenges and need professional input.
In addition, we have created a solution where anyone who subscribes monthly can contact us with questions about what we have written about or have not commented. If so, just send an email to "firmapost@byggogprosjektjus.no" and state your problem. We do not provide legal assistance through Bygg- og Projektjus AS, but we are happy to answer general questions. Once you have sent us an email we will - as soon as capacity allows - follow up with a reply email and suggest a time for a phone call.
As you familiarize yourself with the articles on our landing page you will see that we do not reproduce the individual standard contracts. The reason for this is the copyright rules and the Norwegian Standard, which holds copyright to the contracts. However, we have some delineated quotations to clarify what we are writing about, but those quotes are within the so-called right of quotation.
In order for you to get the best out of reading the articles on the respective standards we recommend that you acquire the collection “Legal standards for building and construction” unless you already have it. The Collection can be purchased either physically or as a digital subscription, see www.standard.no.
4. Our starting point is NS 8407
Today it is primarily NS 8407 (General Contract Provisions for Turnkey Contracts) that is used - at least in construction projects. Accordingly, we have taken this standard as a starting point when dealing with the individual topics we have chosen to focus on.
With that said, we have largely also chosen to refer to the relevant provisions of NS 8405 and NS 8406. We have done this, among other things, by incorporating the corresponding rule mirrors in the articles that can be found in paragraph 5 below.
5. Regulated mirrors NS 8407 and NS 8405
Below we have taken a matrix illustrating how similar the provisions of NS 8407 and NS 8405 are. At the same time, the matrix is intended as a guide for those of you who are used to using one form of contract, but who need a straightforward introduction to the other. We have not taken references to NS 8406 because it lacks chapter division, but in the articles we have referred to the relevant provisions of NS 8406.
For the record, it is mentioned that NS 8417 and NS 8415 have the same chapter division as the parent contracts.
Most of the provisions of the subcontracting contracts are similar to the provisions of the parent contracts, but there are some adaptations and we describe several of these in the articles.
