§ 46. Price by quantity, measure or weight
If the price depends on quantity, measure or weight, for example grain deliveries or fuel, what counts is the quantity at the time the risk (risiko) passed to you. If the price is by weight, the weight of the packaging is deducted first.
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
(1) If the purchase price (kjøpesum) is to be determined by number, measure or weight, the quantity at the time when the risk for the item passes to the buyer (kjøper) shall be used as the basis.
(2) If the price is set by weight, the weight of the packaging is deducted first.
What does this mean?
For goods that are measured or weighed, such as grain, fuel, sand or fruit, the price is often "NOK X per kg" or "NOK Y per litre". What is actually measured, and when, can matter a lot financially.
Timing (first paragraph): What counts is the quantity at the moment the risk passes to you (see § 13). Not what the seller (selger) had to begin with, and not what is left once you have finished using it.
Example: The seller has 1,050 kg of grain in stock. He loads 1,020 kg onto your wagon when you take over the goods. During transport some is lost because of the weather, and you have 990 kg when you get home. The risk passed when you took over the goods (1,020 kg). You pay for 1,020 kg, not for 1,050 (the seller's starting amount) or 990 (what you actually have at home).
Weight minus packaging (second paragraph): If the price is by weight, the packaging is deducted. You should not pay for the box that holds the grain.
Examples
Ola orders oats at NOK 4.20 per kg from a wholesaler. He collects them himself. The load is weighed when he takes it over: 980 kg net (after the weight of the sacks has been deducted). Ola pays for 980 kg × NOK 4.20 = NOK 4,116. If the sacks weighed 25 kg, the wholesaler has calculated correctly, because § 46 (2) requires the packaging weight to be deducted.
Eva has 3,200 litres of heating oil delivered. The meter at the handover shows 3,195 litres. On the way to her tank, 8 litres leak out, so her tank holds 3,187. Under § 46, Eva pays for 3,195 litres, which is what had been delivered at the transfer of risk (risikoens overgang). The 8 litres that disappeared later are her problem.
Common mistakes
- Demanding a price reduction for what disappeared after the handover, when the risk is yours
- Forgetting that packaging must be deducted
- As a seller: charging for the starting weight, not the quantity actually delivered
What should you do?
- Weigh or measure at the handover, since that is the decisive moment
- Get written documentation of the net contents
- Check the invoice (faktura) against the measuring point and the agreement