Boverkets byggregler (BBR)
Boverkets byggregler, abbreviated to BBR, is the collective term for Sweden's technical building requirements: what a building must, as a minimum, withstand and satisfy in order to be built lawfully. Until 2025, BBR was a single consolidated regulation covering everything from fire safety to accessibility, in the same way that TEK17 does in Norway. BBR is now being phased out, and the name will soon cover just one topic.
The requirements have their legal basis in plan- och bygglagen, chapter 8, section 4, which lists eleven technical properties a building must have: load-bearing capacity and durability, fire safety, hygiene, health and environment, safety in use, noise protection, energihushållning (energy efficiency) and thermal insulation, suitability for its purpose, accessibility, water and waste handling, broadband connection and sustainable mobility. Plan- och byggförordningen sets out the requirements in more detail, and Boverket determines the technical content in its own regulations under chapter 16, section 2 of PBL.
Between 2019 and 2024, Boverket carried out a full revision of the rules under the name Möjligheternas byggregler. New base regulations, one per subject area, replaced the old consolidated regulation BBR (BFS 2011:6) and the European construction standards EKS from 01/07/2025: BFS 2024:4 on due care during construction, demolition and ground works, BFS 2024:6 on load-bearing capacity (which replaced EKS in full), BFS 2024:7 on fire safety, BFS 2024:8 on hygiene, health and environment and water and waste, BFS 2024:9 on safety in use, BFS 2024:10 on noise protection, BFS 2024:11 on the suitability of dwellings, BFS 2024:12 on accessibility and BFS 2024:13 on site requirements. A transitional period allowed the old BBR and EKS rules to be followed optionally until 01/07/2026, a deadline that has now passed.
Energihushållning was the last area left, because Boverket had not yet adopted a new regulation for it. BBR therefore lived on in reduced form as BBR 31 (the amending regulation BFS 2024:14), with only the older energy requirements. On 28/08/2026, Boverket adopted the missing piece, BFS 2026:9 on energihushållning and thermal insulation, entering into force on 01/10/2026 with its own one-year transitional period until 30/09/2027. Boverket itself describes this as the final piece in the transition from BBR to separate base regulations. When the new regulation enters into force, the whole of the old BBR framework ceases to apply.
The new regulations are built throughout on pure functional requirements: few and clear provisions, neutral as to technology and materials, and largely without allmänna råd (general guidance) or references to specific standards. This is a deliberate change of course from the old BBR, which resembled the TEK17 model with performance requirements and pre-accepted solutions in the guidance. The difference from TEK17 has therefore become clearer with the reform: Norway keeps a single consolidated regulation with guidance from DiBK full of pre-accepted solutions, while Sweden has split the rules up by subject area and removed almost all supplementary guidance, so that the developer must, to an even greater extent, document that a chosen measure meets the functional requirement. Boverket is at the same time both the building authority and the planning authority for plan- och bygglagen, a broader mandate than the Norwegian DiBK has on its own.
From Placepoint's dictionary: Boverkets byggregler (BBR)
More information: Boverket: Boverkets byggregler (BBR), Boverket: Boverkets nya byggregler, Boverket: Nya krav på energihushållning og energideklarationer beslutade
English: Boverket's Building Regulations (BBR), Sweden's technical building code, now largely superseded by separate function-based regulations (Swedish-specific transition).
Frequently asked questions
What is Boverkets byggregler (BBR)?
BBR is Sweden's collective term for the minimum technical requirements for a building: load-bearing capacity, fire safety, hygiene and health, energihushållning, accessibility and similar. Until 2025 it was a single consolidated regulation, in the same way that TEK17 is in Norway.
Is BBR still in force?
Only in part. From 01/07/2025, nine of ten subject areas have been replaced by separate base regulations under Möjligheternas byggregler. Only energihushållning remained in BBR (as BBR 31) until Boverket adopted a new energy regulation on 28/08/2026, entering into force on 01/10/2026.
What was Möjligheternas byggregler?
Boverket's name for the revision of the building rules from 2019 to 2024, which replaced the old consolidated regulation BBR and the European construction standards EKS with separate regulations per subject area, built on pure functional requirements.
What is the difference between Boverkets byggregler and the Norwegian TEK17?
Both are the technical regulations under plan- och bygglagen and plan- og bygningsloven respectively. Norway keeps a single consolidated regulation with pre-accepted solutions in the guidance. Sweden has split the rules into separate regulations and removed most of the supplementary guidance.
Who administers Boverkets byggregler?
Boverket, which is at the same time the national planning authority for plan- och bygglagen. The Norwegian counterpart, Direktoratet for byggkvalitet (DiBK), administers only the building requirements, not plan- og bygningsloven itself.