Water supply systems

If you plan to build or make major changes to a water supply system that produces at least 10 cubic metres of drinking water per day, the plans must be approved by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. It's called plan approval.

If you are going to supply one or more priority premises (large non-household premises with many users potentially exposed to water-related risks), you must apply regardless of the quantity you are going to produce.

For the establishment of a new water supply system, use the form "Water supply system – plan approval or registration". For changes, use the form "Water supply system - Change information about existing ones". If the changes affect the production of sufficient quantities of health-safe drinking water, the amendment will be treated as a plan approval application by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

Water supply systems that are dimensioned to produce less than 10 cubic metres of drinking water per day and supply two households/cabins/subscribers or more - must be registered. Here you use the form "Register small water supply systems".

To access the service, you must have the Primary industry and food role, or access via local role or individual entitlement.

The service requires login with ID-porten (security level 3 or higher).

Norwegian Regulations concerning Water Supply and Water intended for Human Consumption

The service requires you to report on a sub-entity to a legal entity (company number). Sub-unit can be accessed by ticking the box for "Also show sub-unit (company)" on the page for selecting an enterprise to be reported for.

Requirements for attachments for application and planning approval:

Documents describing internal control, risk assessment and risk management, emergency contingency plan, sampling plan, drawings and other routine descriptions can be uploaded under the item "Register attachments" in the application form – examples of attachments are shown here;
- Map of source, with plotted catchment area and inflow area, and location of intake point.
- Analysis results of extracted raw water samples.
- Map with location of buildings with facilities and equipment, description of water flow.
- Drawings of water treatment plants with process description and flow diagram, sampling points.
- Necessary documentation showing that the water supply system will be operated in accordance with these regulations (see the guide to Section 18 of the Drinking Water Regulations).
- Draft internal control.

Fee:

This service is regarded as a special service and is subject to a fee obligation; Regulations no. 406 of 13.2.2004 relating to payment of fees for special benefits from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.
The amount of fees is variable in accordance with the actual use of resources for the fees stipulated in Appendix 1, Chapter 2 and authorised by Section 5. For notification of minor changes for activities that already have approval, the fee may be waived entirely. The fee obligation applies even if an application is rejected or if the application processing is interrupted. Each invoice incurs an administration fee.
In order to achieve efficient application processing, the submitted application must be able to provide us with the information we need to assess whether the water supply, and its operation, can comply with the regulatory requirements. To achieve this, the necessary documentation must be attached to the application

Case processing deadlines:

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority shall prepare and decide the case without undue delay. In cases concerning individual decisions, a preliminary response shall be given if an enquiry cannot be answered within one month of receipt.

Right of appeal:

You can appeal individual decisions. You must justify your complaint, sign and send it to us within three weeks of receiving the letter about the decision. The rules on appeals are set out in sections 28-29 of the Public Administration Act.