§ 36. Invoice from a tradesperson and ban on fees
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
In brief
- You can demand an invoice (regning) showing the nature and extent of the work and how the price was calculated.
- Price supplements (pristillegg) must be listed separately.
- The tradesperson (håndverker) cannot charge extra fees (gebyrer) on top of the price for the service.
- If you do not object within a reasonable time, you are bound by the price on the invoice, unless a lower price follows from the agreement (avtale) or the price is unreasonable.
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
§ 36. Invoice and fees
What does this mean?
This section gives you the right to get an invoice from the tradesperson, and sets requirements for what it must contain. The invoice must make it possible for you to assess what kind of work has been done, how much, and which materials have been used. If the job (oppdrag) was not done at a fixed price, the invoice must also state how the price was calculated. Price supplements under § 33 must be listed on their own, so that you can see what is in addition to the original job.
The second subsection bans fees on top of the price itself. For example, the tradesperson cannot add an order fee or a fee for writing and sending the invoice. Such costs must be included in the price for the service, not appear as separate items.
The third subsection contains a deadline (frist) that is easy to overlook. If you have received an invoice and do not say within a reasonable time that you do not accept the price, you are bound by the amount stated. You can still dispute a price that is higher than what the agreement provides, or that is unreasonable. Example: the consumer receives an invoice that seems too high, but leaves it without reacting. It may then be difficult to get it changed later, unless one of the exceptions applies.
The rule is closely linked to the pricing rules. § 32 determines what the price should be when it has not been agreed, and the invoice must show how it was arrived at. § 34 and § 35 deal with what you do not have to pay for, namely preliminary inspections (forundersøkelser) and work lost by accident, respectively.