When we wrote our guide to commercial leases for tenants, we reached a point we had to promise to come back to. The meglerstandard does not exist in one version, but in several, and the difference between them is not a technicality. It decides how much risk you as a tenant are left holding if the premises turn out to have a fault.
Let us take the most important part first.
One standard, several versions
The meglerstandard is a series of standard agreements developed by Norsk Eiendom together with the Forum for Commercial Real Estate Agents (Forum for Næringsmeglere) and the Norwegian Association of Real Estate Agents (Norges Eiendomsmeglerforbund). It is not a numbered Norwegian Standard the way the construction contracts are, but it has nonetheless established itself as the dominant contractual basis in Norwegian commercial leasing. The agreements were last updated in 2025, in what is the eighth edition.
For you who are looking for office space, there are in practice two versions you meet most often. The first is the standard for premises let "as is". This is the most common, and it is used when you move into existing premises with few or no tenant adaptations. The second is the standard for new or refurbished premises, used when the space is to be built or renovated before you take it over.
There are more in the family. An "all inclusive" version where the service charges are included in the rent, a barehouse standard for those who lease an entire building, and separate agreements for subletting and for retail premises. But for most office tenants it is the first two that are relevant, and it is the difference between them you should understand.
The difference that actually matters
The distinction between "as is" and "new or refurbished" has a concrete legal consequence, and this is where you should pay attention.
In the standard for new or refurbished premises, in principle any fault that is not put right can give you the right to a rent reduction or compensation. In the standard for used premises the threshold is higher. There the fault must be material before it has the same consequence, and it takes quite a lot before something is considered material.
Put simply: if you lease used premises "as is", you have taken on more of the risk that something does not measure up. That is not necessarily unreasonable, because you usually pay a lower rent and take over premises you have been able to inspect. But you should know that this is how it works, because it changes what you ought to do before you sign.
The practical advice almost follows by itself. Make good use of the handover. Go through the premises thoroughly, write a handover record, and document the condition with photographs. What you note at handover is the yardstick both if you later discover a fault, and the day you have to return the premises. In the latest edition this point has been tightened further, because you also cannot later invoke conditions you ought to have discovered when you took over.
What to look for, and what you can negotiate
One more thing is worth keeping in mind. The standard is a reasonably balanced starting point, but it was originally developed on the landlord side, and that still shows on certain points. Most of it can nevertheless be adjusted through the special provisions in the agreement, that is, what the parties agree on in addition to the standard text. These are the points we most often ask tenants to look more closely at.
- Lease term and renewal option. Office leases are usually signed for five to ten years. An option to extend is valuable, but only if it is precisely worded. A genuine right to extend is something other than a right to negotiate, and what is meant by market rent should be settled so that it does not become a dispute when the time comes.
- Service charges. These come on top of the rent and are paid on account with an annual reconciliation. Ask whether the agreement states if the list of costs is exhaustive or merely examples, consider a cap, and make sure you have the right to inspect the reconciliation. The latest edition strengthens exactly this access.
- CPI adjustment. The rent is normally adjusted each year by the full change in the consumer price index. In years of high inflation this adds up. It is possible to negotiate a share lower than one hundred per cent, and it is worth knowing which index month is used as the basis. We have built our own CPI calculator if you want to work out the effect.
- Maintenance. The standard places internal maintenance on you as the tenant, while the landlord takes the external and structural side. The boundary is not always obvious, particularly for windows, external doors and technical installations, so clarify who is responsible for what before you sign.
- Reinstatement of adaptations. The main rule today is that the changes you make to the premises must be reinstated when you move out, unless something else is agreed. Get the landlord to take a written position on this when you ask for consent to the adaptations, not on the day you are due to hand back.
- Subletting and assignment. Your circumstances can change over the course of a long lease. It is sensible to secure the right to sublet or assign the agreement, for example to another company in the same group, without having to ask for fresh approval each time. In the 2025 edition this has in fact become easier on one point, in that a change of ownership in your own company now only has to be reported, not approved by the landlord.
- Value added tax. Most office businesses are liable for VAT and can deduct it, so VAT on the rent is rarely a real cost. If you run a business that is exempt, for example within health, education or finance, you should raise this early, because it affects both the rent and the agreement.
Worth a closer look
No one expects a tenant to know the meglerstandard by heart. You perhaps negotiate a lease once every five or ten years, while the landlord does it every week. That is an imbalance in experience, and the sums are large. A ten-year lease on a few hundred square metres quickly adds up to many millions of kroner in nominal commitment.
If you are soon to look for new premises, you can start with a needs analysis or browse available offices. And if you are wondering about a specific contract you have been handed, you are welcome to get in touch. It is usually cheaper to ask the questions before signing than afterwards.
Sources: Norsk Eiendom, the Forum for Commercial Real Estate Agents (Forum for Næringsmeglere) and the Norwegian Association of Real Estate Agents (Norges Eiendomsmeglerforbund), publishers of the standard commercial leases; the Norwegian Tenancy Act (husleieloven); the Norwegian Tax Administration (voluntary VAT registration); together with commentary from Estate Nyheter and NE.no and Spacefinder's own experience from tenant assignments.
