Building a tinyhouse in Norway. FAQ / English

Hello,

I am very glad that i found this forum, with people living in Norway, and building a tiny houses. I want to move to Norway in next year and build a home for me and my wife. But i have some doubts and questions. Maybe You can help me

1) Is there possibility to build house by myself or i need to have pro builders /i do not want to have house on trailer/
2) Where i can find regulations about building houses?
3) Is there a chance to have own offgrid power supply and rest of media /water, waste/
4) Is there a chance to build a container house in Norway?
5) What is a house in regulations? Is a 30m2 house a proper house?

Cheers!

Hei onecoffeenosugar

I don't live in Norway yet, but am researching building regulations to build a
tiny house. The best I've found so far, is this:
http://www.dibk.no/no/BYGGEREGLER/Gjeldende-byggeregler/Building-Regulations-in-English/
The most important document is the one called "TEK 10". However, the English
version is not official. Here is the TEK 10 in Norwegian:
http://www.dibk.no/no/BYGGEREGLER/Gjeldende-byggeregler/Veiledning-om-tekniske-krav-til-byggverk/

As far as I understand, you don't need to worry about regulations for
"accessible dwelling units" or those "relating to structures designed for
universal accessibilty". I'm not sure about the first one, but the second one is
meant for structures for the general public, or work buildings. See Sections 12-1
and 12-2 of the TEK 10. (On page 41 of the English pdf.)
Most of the regulations that I cared about, were in chapter 12. (Starts on page 41.)

According to this article about a tiny house (I think the house of the founders
of this forum.), there is no minimum size for houses or rooms:
http://www.aftenposten.no/bolig_old/Huset-deres-kostet-100000-kroner-og-er-pa-11-kvm-7861757.html
But there are rules that make it difficult or impossible to build as small as you want.
For example, in section 12-9 of TEK 10: There must be at least 0.9m of free
floor space on one side of a toilet and 0.2m on the other side.
In my tiny house-plan, there's a 1m x 0.8m (plus the width of a doorway) space
for the toilet, so I can't follow that rule without a redesign.
This rule is meant for people in wheelchairs, so you might be able to get an exception
if you don't plan on using a wheelchair.

The same article says (I think) that building regulations don't apply if you build
on a trailer. "Når huset står på henger, gjelder ikke byggereglene."
But also points out that you may not be allowed to live in it then,
or the exception for on-trailer houses doesn't count when you park it
somewhere for longer than two months. I don't know how the builders of the house
in the article did it.

What I have not yet looked into is "Vegdirektoratets regelverk". Those should
be the regulations for on-trailer tiny houses (if my knowledge of Norwegian doesn't fail me).

An idea I got yesterday, was to build my house on a trailer, and then put that
trailer on a boat. If nothing else, it would confuse regulators long enough
that building regulations could be updated to allow tiny houses.

This non-trailer house could be built in Oslo:
http://www.tinyhouseliving.com/tiny-house-central-oslo-norway/
(The same house on a Norwegian website:
http://www.dinside.no/897663/norges-minste-enebolig#/
this article says the house is built in accordance with TEK 10.)
And this one on a trailer:
http://www.boligmani.no/aktuelt/arkitektur/hus-pa-14-kvadrat/12861

So it IS possible. I'm going to try to find out if exceptions to the regulations
are possible. If I find anything, I'll get back to you.
But I have some life that needs my attention this week and the next, so be patient.

One last resource that I have found useful, is this list of (technical/difficult)
words, that are used in the Norwegian building regulations, and their English translations.
<edit> https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/plan-bygg-og-eiendom/plan--og-bygningsloven/plan/veiledning-om-planlegging/Bokmal-nynorsk-ordliste/ordliste-norsk-engelsk--plan--og-bygning/id462717/
</edit>

Good luck with your house
Rik

(Ow, I almost sent my password along with this reply. :-o)

You cant have an adress in anything but a "real" house here in Norway. So should be no problem living in a tiny house on wheels. But you wont get your mail to it. But that can be fixed with a postbox. Some services here require a real adress tho. So depends on where you put it. If you put it in a caravan park, then you can have your adress with them. If you plan on parking different places, then it will be harder.

Hei Amundsen

What is a "real" house exactly?
Do some houses not count as "real" ones, because they CAN move, or because they DO move?
Or is a house only "not real" when it is not on, in, over, under, near to or attached to some land
that is owned by its occupant? That land then being a place where mail-senders can safely assume
your mailbox is located.
(Or does a "real" house stand on the ground, with a foundation etc?)

Would, for example, a house on wheels that was chained to a tree (to ensure that it didn't move)
on a piece of land, and had a fancy mailbox on that piece of land, be considered a "real" house?
Or, if you have better things to do than answering hypothetical questions on the internet, could you
point me in a direction where I might find the answers myself?

I would buy a piece of land to put my house on, but keep the house mobile in case I wanted to move.
Then sell the land, buy another piece somewhere else and bring my house there.

On an unrelated note: How acceptable is it for me to post my posts in English until I speak Norwegian
as well as I understand it (and preferably, a little better)?

It has to be a street adress. Cant be a caravan, trailer or a boat. Or a cabin for that matter, as you cant live in your cabin. The property must be regulated for living purposes, not vacation. So if you buy your own property, its no problem. You can stick a boat on it, and live there. But not sure if you will find many properties that are regulated for permanent living, where the local authorities wont force you to build a house.

Thanks a lot for the info. I want to build a house big as 40 foot metal container, but whole from wood. Do not think that metal house would be good for North. The biggest problems for me are special kommune regulations about building. I want to build a house where i live now, and then transport house and my workshop to destination spot.

Sorry for writing in English but i do not know Norwegian yet.