How to start a cleaning company in Norway
Cleaning is one of the few industries in Norway where you need official approval before you can sell your services. This guide walks through the steps in the order they actually come, with links to the official pages where the rules are written. It is for anyone starting out, whether you are on your own or already have people ready to work.
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This guide is an overview, not legal advice. Rules, rates and forms change. Always read the official page we link to before you act, and ask an accountant or Altinn’s business guidance service if you are unsure. Several official pages exist only in Norwegian; those links are marked.
Contents
- Choose a company form and register the business
- Apply for approval in the cleaning register (Renholdsregisteret)
- Order HSE cards (HMS-kort) for everyone who cleans
- Pay: the cleaning-industry minimum wage
- When you hire: what must be in place
- VAT (merverdiavgift)
- Once you have customers: daily operations
- Checklist before your first job
1. Choose a company form and register the business
Everything starts with an organisation number in the Register of Legal Entities (Enhetsregisteret). Without one you can neither apply for approval as a cleaning company nor register for VAT. The two most common forms for a new cleaning company are a sole proprietorship (enkeltpersonforetak, ENK) and a private limited company (aksjeselskap, AS).
- Sole proprietorship: no legal minimum capital, but you as the owner are liable for all of the business’s debts.
- Private limited company: requires at least NOK 30,000 in share capital, and liability is limited to the capital paid in.
- The forms also differ in other ways, for example in sick-pay rights for you as the owner. Altinn has a side-by-side comparison.
Registration is done electronically through Altinn, which has step-by-step guides for registering both an ENK and an AS.
2. Apply for approval in the cleaning register (Renholdsregisteret)
It is illegal to sell cleaning services in Norway without approval from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet). The requirement applies to every business that wholly or partly provides cleaning services, including self-employed people with no employees and businesses that hire out cleaners. The only exemption is a business that uses its own staff to clean its own premises.
You apply in Altinn using the form “Søknad om godkjenning av renholdsvirksomhet” (application for authorisation of a cleaning company). The number of employees is taken from Enhetsregisteret, so make sure it is correct before you apply.
If you have employees, the application must document, among other things:
- a contract with an approved occupational health service (bedriftshelsetjeneste, BHT)
- a safety representative (verneombud), or a written alternative arrangement if you have fewer than five employees
- written employment contracts
- pay in line with the cleaning-industry minimum wage, including the night-work supplement
- occupational injury insurance (yrkesskadeforsikring)
If you have no employees, you submit the application without attachments. Once Arbeidstilsynet starts processing it, the company gets the status “Søknad under behandling” (application being processed) in the register and may provide services while it waits for a decision. Arbeidstilsynet states that a decision normally takes one to eight weeks when the documentation is complete.
After approval you must send an annual confirmation in Altinn that you still meet the requirements. Companies with employees must also submit updated documentation every three years.
Your customers will check this. Buying cleaning services is only permitted from approved companies, and the ban applies to private households too. The register is public, so expect customers to look you up before they sign.
3. Order HSE cards (HMS-kort) for everyone who cleans
Every business that provides cleaning services must make sure its workers hold a valid HSE card (HMS-kort). The requirement also covers the owner or general manager, and sole proprietors with no employees. The card must be worn clearly visible while working.
- You can only order once Arbeidstilsynet has notified you that the company may start ordering, which is after you have applied for approval.
- Cards are ordered at hmskort.no by a person with a formal role in Enhetsregisteret, such as the general manager, or by someone given delegated access. Login is with electronic ID.
- Approval only becomes final once every cleaner in the company holds an HSE card.
Official sources
4. Pay: the cleaning-industry minimum wage
Norway has no general statutory minimum wage, but cleaning is one of the industries where a collective agreement has been made generally applicable (allmenngjort). The regulation applies to private businesses that sell cleaning services and sets a minimum hourly wage for employees who do cleaning work. It does not apply to employees of businesses covered by a collective agreement with a union that has the right of recommendation.
The regulation has separate rates for workers over and under 18, a required supplement for work between 21:00 and 06:00, and rules that the employer provides the necessary work clothing and footwear and covers travel, board and lodging for assignments that require staying away overnight.
The rates are adjusted when the collective agreement is renewed. That is why we do not quote a figure here: always check the current rate with Arbeidstilsynet before you price jobs or set pay.
Customers that run a business have a duty to ensure (påseplikt) that you follow the pay rules. Arbeidstilsynet advises buyers to agree on access to documentation of pay and working conditions, so expect payslips and timesheets to be requested.
5. When you hire: what must be in place
The rules below apply to every employer, not only in cleaning. Several of them are also documentation requirements in the cleaning-approval application.
Written employment contract
A written employment contract is required in every employment relationship. If the job lasts more than one month, the contract must be in place as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the start date. For shorter jobs it must be signed immediately.
Working Environment Act § 14-5 (Norwegian)Record of working hours
There must be a record showing how much each employee has worked, available to Arbeidstilsynet and the employee representatives. In cleaning, where people work at many addresses and at different times, it pays to have a fixed system for this from day one.
Working Environment Act § 10-7 (Norwegian)The a-melding
When you pay wages, you report income, employment, tax withholding and employer’s national insurance contributions in the a-melding. It is submitted every month, and the information goes to the Tax Administration, NAV and Statistics Norway.
Skatteetaten: The a-meldingOccupational injury insurance
Employers are required to take out occupational injury insurance covering work injuries and occupational illness. The insurance certificate is also one of the attachments in the cleaning-approval application.
Occupational Injury Insurance Act § 3 (Norwegian)Mandatory occupational pension (OTP)
Many employers must set up a pension scheme for their staff. The duty is triggered, among other cases, when you have at least one employee with no ownership stake who works 75 percent or more of a full-time position. The contribution must be at least 2 percent of salary, and the scheme must be set up no later than six months after the duty arose. Check all the conditions in the source.
Skatteetaten: OTP, mandatory occupational pensionSafety representative and occupational health service
As a starting point every business must have a safety representative. With fewer than five employees you may agree in writing on another arrangement, including having none. Cleaning companies with employees must also be affiliated with an approved occupational health service.
Working Environment Act § 6-1 (Norwegian)6. VAT (merverdiavgift)
You must register the business in the VAT Register once sales of VAT-liable goods and services have exceeded NOK 50,000 (excluding VAT) within a period of 12 months. The business must be registered in Enhetsregisteret first, and VAT registration is done with the Tax Administration (Skatteetaten).
Arbeidstilsynet also asks that the company’s details in, among others, the VAT Register and the employer register (Aa-registeret) are up to date when you apply for cleaning approval.
Official sources
7. Once you have customers: daily operations
Once the paperwork is in order, operations are what take your time. Three things come up in almost every growing cleaning company:
- Scheduling: who goes where, when, and what needs doing at each location. Regular jobs repeat every week or month, and the plan has to survive someone calling in sick.
- Documentation: the customer is rarely there when the work is done. A simple record of what was done, when and by whom saves a lot of arguments. You need hours per employee anyway, for payroll and for the record of working hours.
- Absence: self-certified sick days, sick leave and holidays must be recorded correctly, and the shifts covered by someone else.
Many companies start with spreadsheets and a group chat, and that works for a while. It usually gets hard when the number of jobs and employees grows at the same time.
About Effiora
Effiora is an operations system for cleaning and facility-service companies, made by the people who wrote this guide. It covers exactly this part: recurring shift plans per location, GPS time tracking in an app for employees, absence and substitutes, and QR documentation of completed work that the customer can see. Hours and absence can be exported to Excel as a payroll basis for your accountant.
Effiora does not handle cleaning approval, HSE cards, payroll runs or collective-agreement compliance. Those remain your responsibility.
Checklist before your first job
- Organisation number in Enhetsregisteret
- Approval application sent to Arbeidstilsynet through Altinn
- HSE cards ordered for everyone who will clean, including yourself
- Pay at or above the cleaning-industry minimum wage
- Written employment contracts and a record of working hours
- Occupational injury insurance, occupational health service, and a safety representative or written alternative arrangement
- OTP assessed, and set up if the duty applies
- a-melding every month once you pay wages
- VAT registration once sales pass the threshold
Frequently asked questions
Do I need approval to do cleaning as a sole proprietor with no employees?
Yes. The approval requirement applies to everyone who wholly or partly sells cleaning services in Norway, including self-employed people with no employees. Without employees you submit the application in Altinn without attachments, and you need an HSE card yourself.
Can I start selling cleaning before approval comes through?
Once Arbeidstilsynet starts processing your application, the company gets the status “Søknad under behandling” (application being processed) in the cleaning register, and you may provide services while you wait for a decision. Selling cleaning services without having applied is illegal.
How long does approval take?
Arbeidstilsynet states that a decision normally comes within one to eight weeks when the documentation is complete and the company’s register details are up to date. Approval only becomes final once every cleaner has an HSE card.
What is the minimum wage for cleaning in Norway?
Cleaning has a generally applicable minimum wage, with separate rates for workers over and under 18 and a supplement for work between 21:00 and 06:00. The rates change when the collective agreement is renewed, so check the current figures on Arbeidstilsynet’s minimum wage page.
Do private customers have to check that a cleaning company is approved?
The ban on buying cleaning services from unapproved companies applies to private households too. The duty to ensure correct pay and working conditions, however, applies only to buyers that run a business.
Who orders the HSE cards?
The company itself, at hmskort.no, after Arbeidstilsynet has said that ordering can start. The person ordering must have a formal role in Enhetsregisteret, such as general manager, or have been given delegated access.
Does Effiora help with approval, HSE cards or payroll?
No. Effiora is an operations system for scheduling, time tracking, absence and documentation of completed work. Approval, HSE cards, payroll runs and collective-agreement compliance are things you handle yourself, or with your accountant. Effiora can export hours and absence to Excel as a payroll basis.
Ready for your first customers?
Book a no-obligation demo and we will show you how Effiora keeps scheduling, hours and absence under control as the company grows.