Electrical work in private home - clarification of invoicing requirements

In a dispute over the legitimacy of the invoices for extensive electrical work in a private home, the Supreme Court stated that the primary purpose of section 48 of the Residential Construction Act is to safeguard the consumer's need for control. For that reason, the contractor must provide a list of claims specifying the individual items in accordance with the agreement and statutory rules on remuneration. The invoice must state how many hours and which costs are covered by the individual item where remuneration is claimed for invoicing. If alternation or additional works have been carried out, they must be specified individually. The consumer may also request to see documentation. An approximate overview presented by the contractor later may, following an individual assessment, still meet the statutory requirements. The consequence of the contractor not presenting a verifiable invoice is that the consumer is allowed an extended time limit for payment. Beyond this, section 48 does not interfere with the contractor's right to remuneration for work carried out. The Court of Appeal had brought in the topic of assessment in section 42 of the Residential Construction Act in its assessment under section 48. This was an error in law. However, a thorough evaluation had been made of whether the contractor was entitled to remuneration for alteration and additional work according to the rules of the Act, and the claim made had been significantly reduced. Then, the error in law had no impact on the result. The customer's appeal against the Court of Appeal's judgment was rejected.

Read the whole judgment (Norwegian only)

Key paragraphs: 57, 65, 71–73

Justices: Noer, Ringnes, Høgetveit Berg, Steinsvik, Sæther

Area of law: Contract law. Section 48 subsection 1 of the Residential Construction Act.