The scheme of regional safety representatives was established by the state on February 13th, 1981 and is a three-party collaboration between the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, employer organizations Federation of Norwegian Construction Industries and Norwegian Association of Heavy Equipment Contractors, and employee organizations Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions and Norwegian Union of General Workers. The scheme is financed by an annual fee that is paid by companies in the building and construction industry.

The regional safety representatives can visit all places of employment in the building and construction industry.

The scheme comprises all enterprises in the building and construction industry, including one-person businesses. 

RVO work primarily at worksites without elected safety representatives and help improve safety and the working environment

The purpose of the regional safety representative scheme is to help ensure that safety, health and working conditions at building and construction sites comply with the Norwegian Working Environment Act and associated regulations.

The RVO have broad experience from the building and construction industry. They operate independently of the Labour Inspection Authority’s activities, however the RVO will notify the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority if identified deficiencies are not followed up. 

Regional safety representatives for construction sites are employed by the Norwegian Union of General Workers (Norsk Arbeidsmandsforbund).

Regional safety representatives for building sites are employed by the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions (Fellesforbundet).

• RVO visit building and construction sites unannounced.
• RVO work primarily at worksites without elected safety representatives and help improve
safety and the working environment.
• Until safety representatives have been elected for the worksite, an RVO has the same authority as an ordinary safety representative.
• RVO point out deficiencies, inform about regulations and suggest solutions to working environment problems in consultation with the enterprise and the employees.

If this has not been done, the RVO will point it out.
• RVO must help make sure safety representatives are elected and a working environment committee is set up.
• If identified deficiencies are not followed up, the RVO will notify the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority.
• RVO have the same duty of confidentiality as safety representatives and members of a working environment committee have in a company.

All businesses with activity in the building and construction indsustry are included in the scheme for regional safety representatives and must pay an annual fee.

Regulated fee rate is 0.035 % of the company's annual salary expenses.

The fee must be at least NOK 500. For those businesses that do not have employees, NOK 500 is to be paid.

The fee is granted in the Regulations on Administrative Arrangements on the Working Environment Act section 14-2.

The scheme covers all businesses that operate in the building and construction industry, cf. Regulations on organization, management and participation, scope 5-1. Definitions of building and construction activities can be found in § 1-4, section 5, and Statistics Norway's NACE Standard NACE codes 41, 42 and 43

The fee is pre-calculated by the fund's secretariat and all claims are sent out with amount.

Calculation of fee is done in the following ways:

• For individual companies without employees, the fee is NOK 500.

• For enterprises that have started this year, the fee is NOK 500.

• For enterprises with employees, the fee is calculated on the basis of last year's salary expenses. Salary expenses are retrieved from Proff's web sites. Search your enterprise with organization number and see under account, column of only salary. From payroll expenses, 30% is deducted for administration and non-construction activities. The fee is 0.035% of this amount.

• For other enterprises with more employees, where the secretariat lacks information about salary expenses, the fee is calculated on the basis of the number of employees or from last year's paid fee.