Debt and allegations of unpaid wages. Construction company goes bankrupt in Norway

The bankruptcy was announced by the Brønnøysund Register Centre (Brønnøysundregistrene). Documents considered by the Oslo District Court (Oslo tingrett) show that Trestandard Bygg AS disputes a significant portion of the reported debt. The company has also been involved in several legal disputes in recent years. Dagsavisen previously reported on conflicts involving multimillion-NOK amounts, breaches of safety requirements and public contracts with a total value of NOK 120 million.

Trestandard Bygg AS owns the Oslo-based company MK Tømrer AS. This company had previously been accused by former employees of failing to pay a total of NOK 1.3 million. According to 25 former employees, this included holiday pay owed to them. The workers also pointed to missing wages for their final month of work. They sought assistance from a legal representative and filed a joint claim against their former employer.

MK Tømrer AS declared bankruptcy in the summer of 2025. At the end of the same year, an investigation was also launched into one alleged case of wage theft involving a former Trestandard Bygg AS employee. Dagsavisen notes that no guilt has been established regarding wage theft in the cases involving MK Tømrer AS and Trestandard Bygg AS. The company’s owners denied that any unlawful conduct had occurred. Through lawyer Harald Sjaastad, they stated that they were awaiting the police investigation, which they believe will clarify the matter.

Trestandard Bygg AS was simultaneously pursuing proceedings against its subsidiary, Mestergruppen Eiendom. The company sought NOK 37 million, but the court awarded it NOK 11 million. Trestandard Bygg AS appealed the ruling to the court of appeal. Owner and managing director Hagberth Emil Schjøtt told E24 that the three-week court proceedings cost the company around NOK 4 million. The board considered continuing the costly case without receiving the money to be too risky.

Bankruptcy trustee Harald Sommernes also pointed to a declining number of contracts in recent years. As he told E24, the court cases and the lack of settlement of outstanding claims contributed to the company’s liquidity problems. Trestandard Bygg AS generated nearly NOK 100 million in revenue in 2023, but by 2025 this figure was approximately half as high. The company then recorded a loss of NOK 4.6 million. This was the company’s first negative result in 13 years.

Schjøtt told E24 that following Trestandard Bygg AS’s bankruptcy, he intends to leave the construction industry. He pointed to disputes, legal proceedings and price pressure as challenges the company had faced. At the same time, the cases concerning allegations of unpaid wages remain a separate matter, in which, according to Dagsavisen, no guilt has so far been established on the part of the companies.