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WEATHER

Are you legally required to shovel snow on your property in Norway?

In Norway, where winter often means streets and buildings covered in snow and ice, the question of who is responsible for shovelling snow is a common concern among homeowners, tenants, and landlords.

Published: 22 January 2024 16:02 CET
Updated: 28 January 2024 08:18 CET
Snow shovel 1
Are you obligated to shovel snow around your building? And do different rules apply to tenants and homeowners in Norway? Photo by: Robin-Ivan Capar / The Local Norway

Come winter, most people who move to Norway have to start seriously thinking about the harsh weather conditions – especially if they don’t live in the country’s southern parts.

Icy and slippery roads and passages, disrupted public transport, and a thick blanket of snow are just some of the characteristic occurrences associated with the season.

READ MORE: Five things you need to learn to love about winter in Norway

The day after your first intense snowstorm in Norway – once the idyllic feeling of landscapes covered in snow starts to fade – you’ll be faced with a grim reality – someone needs to get out in the cold and deal with the snow and ice that are obstructing passages and posing a safety risk.

But are you obligated to do it yourself? And do different rules apply to tenants and homeowners?

The rules regulating snow shovelling

The answer to these questions isn’t straightforward, but it’s not complicated. In essence, it depends on your local regulations, the type of property you reside in, and – if you’re a tenant – your lease agreements.

Homeowners

As a homeowner (huseier in Norwegian), you generally can decide whether and when you want to shovel snow around your property.

However, if your property borders a public area, such as a pavement or a road, local police regulations typically require property owners to spread and remove snow and ice.

READ MORE: How to dress for the cold weather in Norway

The primary objective of these regulations is to ensure that snow and ice do not pose a danger or inconvenience to pedestrians and motorists.

These rules and regulations regarding snow removal can be found in your local police statutes, which you should be able to find via a quick Google search.

Tenants and landlords

In rental properties, the initial responsibility for snow removal often falls on the landlord (Norwegian: utleier).

However, the Norwegian Tenancy Act allows landlords and tenants to agree on different arrangements for maintenance responsibilities, including snow removal.

If the lease agreement specifies that the tenant is responsible for shovelling snow, then the tenant (Norwegian: leietaker) becomes responsible for this task.

In cases where the landlord and tenant live in the same building, they may divide the responsibilities, such as the tenant shovelling their entrance while the landlord handles other areas.

Snow shovel 2

Few things unite or divide a Norwegian neighborhood quite like winter snow shoveling. Photo by: Robin-Ivan Capar / The Local Norway

Housing associations

For residents of housing associations (Norwegian: borettslag), the responsibility for snow removal typically falls on the board of the association, according to the Huseierne homeowner interest organisation.

Common areas such as roads, entrances, and patios fall under the board’s jurisdiction, and they are tasked with managing snow shovelling.

READ MORE: How much snow will there be in Norway in 2050?

The board can also hire a professional snow removal company or establish bylaws and house rules that assign snow removal responsibilities among residents.

In the case of housing associations consisting of single-family housing, residents might be individually responsible for shovelling outside their housing units, but this must be clearly defined in the association’s rules.

Grey area: The maintenance of the internal parts of the balcony is generally your responsibility, while the outer parts of balconies are usually considered part of the façade and treated as common areas.

Avoiding neighbourhood disputes

Regardless of who is responsible for snow removal, it is important to dispose of snow appropriately.

Dumping snow in public places or onto neighbouring properties without consent is illegal – the Norwegian Neighborhood Act prohibits actions that inconvenience neighbouring properties.

Therefore, it is best to cooperate with your neighbours to find a suitable place for snow disposal to prevent arguments.

Safety precautions

In addition to the general duty described in the Norwegian regulations (such as the Housing Association Act), local police statutes often include specific snow and ice removal provisions.

For instance, in Oslo Municipality, there are stringent rules regarding removing dangerous snow and ice from roofs to prevent accidents caused by falling icicles or snow.

Therefore, the board of housing associations should ensure compliance with these regulations to protect both residents and property because failure to do so can result in hefty fines if accidents occur due to negligence.

Who’s responsible in case of an injury?

If someone slips and gets injured due to ice or snow on your property, the property owner may be held liable for damages if it can be proven that the owner’s negligence caused the injury, according to the homeowner association BoligMentoren.

Negligence can include failing to properly clear the area, as required by the local police statutes in your area.

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READER INSIGHTS

‘It’s not easy to live in Norway without one’: The verdict on electronic IDs

A lot of everyday life in Norway revolves around using electronic IDs, and The Local's readers generally agreed that while obtaining one was hard work, the system works well once you're in it. 

Published: 24 May 2024 15:44 CEST
'It's not easy to live in Norway without one': The verdict on electronic IDs

Electronic IDs were first launched in Norway around 20 years ago as a means of proving your identity when using online services. 

Since then, the system has evolved significantly, and now digital IDs make up a big part of everyday life. 

Electronic IDs are used in Norway for everything from signing up for the mobile payment service Vipps to verifying your identity when signing contracts, ordering prescriptions, and filing taxes. 

The overwhelming majority of people who responded to our survey said the system was either “good”  or “really good”, with only around 10 percent saying it was either “okay” or “really bad.”

“Once you have it, it’s great, and you have to wonder how every country doesn’t have the same,” Adam, who lives in Bodø, said.

‘Impossible to participate in society without it’ 

However, many also shared how it was “impossible“ to participate in everyday life in Norway without one. 

“It’s perfect once you have it, but when you don’t, you really feel excluded from society,” Guillaume said. 

“When I first moved here, I kept saying you do not exist in Norway with BankID, which I still feel is true. You really cannot do anything in this country without it,” Holly, who lives in Oslo, wrote in response to our survey. 

“Once you have it, it’s really easy and simple to use. But if you don’t have it, it’s almost impossible to participate in Norwegian society,” Hazael, who lives in Grimstad, said. 

While there are several different options for electronic IDs in Norway, most survey respondents referred to BankID. 

This is because it is the most widely used, integrated and adopted electronic ID in Norway, has a higher security clearance than the state-issued MindID, and doesn’t cost money. 

‘It’s certainly not setup to help foreigners’ 

BankID is the best integrated electronic ID and, with an app solution, the easiest to use. However, readers’ experiences of obtaining a BankID varied. 

Some found it straightforward, and others found things much harder. 

“Challenging – it’s certainly not setup to help foreigners,” Adam in Bodø, wrote when asked to describe the process of getting an electronic ID. 

READ ALSO: The issues with Norway’s electronic ID system

One of the reasons foreigners can have issues is that the regulations on what is required for a foreigner to obtain a BankID isn’t necessarily clear for consumers, or for banks. 

“It was difficult to obtain the information I needed to get BankID, but I eventually found out through trial and error how I could get it. I was lucky, as I already knew someone in Norway. That helped me speed up the process,” Hazael said. 

Meanwhile, Holly shared how she felt that banks decided the rules on the spot when dealing with foreigners. She said she found getting a BankID without a job offer impossible. 

 “I remember going with my spouse and the relocation expert that was helping him get a bank account, we actually went to a bank and met a banker in person. When I asked the banker if I, too, could get an account set up with BankID, he and a group of bankers basically formed a huddle and whispered back and forth for a while before replying, ‘Maybe,’ and that the job had to be longer than a six-month contract. They just made it up on the spot,” Holly wrote. 

Even though Holly has switched banks, she has kept her old account open because the new bank cannot grant her BankID unless she travels hundreds of kilometres for an in-person appointment. 

However, some people had a much easier time of things. 

“Straightforward for me because we had a good bank manager. Opened bank account quickly and got BankID within a few weeks,” Sam, who lives in Oslo, said about their journey to obtain a BankID a few years ago.

Many others said the process was as straightforward as just showing up at the bank. 

Typically, having a Norwegian birth number issued by the Norwegian Tax Administration and other paperwork made the process of getting a BankID much more straightforward. 

Norway has two forms of national identity numbers, D-numbers and birth numbers issued to those expected to reside in Norway for a long time. 

“After receiving our Norwegian birth number, it was possible to obtain a bank account. After that, it was easy to obtain a BankID,” Hannelore, in Trondheim, wrote. 

“Long, bureaucratic and frustrating. Only once having a fødselnummer (Norwegian birth number) it was easy,” Arjen in Jessheim shared. 

Even then, some readers were asked for everything from payslips to rental contracts to obtain a BankID. 

Another reader had issues obtaining BankID after the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration sent their documentation to the wrong address. 

“Most banks realised their process was difficult but lacked interest or compassion to help. I ended up using a bank that had good reviews within the international community,” Sam, who lives in Ålesund, wrote.

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