Harmonisation of Nordic building regulations

The Nordic Region has fine traditions in wood construction. Wood construction is primarily dominant in the single-family house market, but there is also a growing interest in increased use of wood in multi-family houses. The Nordic Council of Ministers has also prioritized wood as a sustainable future building material, but also on other efforts to enhance cheaper and more sustainable house building.

The Svinesund Committee has highlighted the opportunities for companies along the Swedish-Norwegian border to work with constructions on both sides of the border, but also identified described perceived border obstacles like different regulation. Since the construction industry is an important business sector in the whole EU the Association of European Border Regions has prioritized the issue and presented a so-called b-solution to the problem.

A reduction of border obstacles would provide opportunities for small and medium sized companies to work across national borders, which would increase competition and hopefully push down prices in an industry that is characterised by negative productivity, i.e. construction costs have increased faster than the cost price index