Contractor not liable for claim that was time-barred under House Building Act.
Supreme Court judgment 12 November 2021, HR-2021-2201-A, (case no. 21-028235SIV-HRET), civil case, appeal against judgment.
Kruse Smith Entreprenør AS (Counsel Kjersti Lerkerød), EBA (intervener) (Counsel Nils-Henrik Pettersson) v. Hovedgårdsparken Housing Cooperative (Counsel Jan-Erik Grundtvig Sverre) (Asststing counsel Espen Ragnar Hamar)
Justices: Skoghøy, Matheson, Bergsjø, Steinsvik, Sæther
A contractor had built a residential complex under a contract with a development company. The buildings were transferred to a housing cooperative in 2006. In 2017, the housing cooperative filed an application for conciliation against the contractor requesting a discount and damages, related to two defects. One of the defects, which involved inadequate installation of windows in common areas, was dealt with by the Supreme Court. It was initially noted that a claim based on section 37 of the House Building Act was time-barred, see section 10 (1) of the Limitation Act. However, it followed from case law that general rules governing damages were applicable in addition to the rules in the House Building Act, with the effect that the contractor's liability period was extended. However, such extra liability requires that the negligence is gross and that the third party has suffered a significant loss and been placed in a difficult situation. That was not the case here, where the additional costs constituted approximately 0.3 percent of the total building costs. The contractor was therefore not liable for this part of the total claim.