The Norwegian Construction Industry Association, (Byggenæringens Landsforening, BNL), has established a common registration scheme for the construction industry. This originates from a pilot project called "Seriousness in the Construction Industry". The purpose of the registration is to assist Buyers and Suppliers within the construction industry and ensure that suppliers compete for contracts on equal terms. In addition, the registration scheme is an efficient system for sharing updated supplier information and thus very costefficient.
Contractors for new projects will only use suppliers with a valid registration certificate from StartBANK. If required for a specific contract, contractors may ask for additional information from the suppliers.
By using suppliers that have been through the registration process, both Contractor and Supplier will enter into a contract with a greater confidence that the project involves serious participants. StartBANK will in addition function as a market gateway for suppliers. Construction industry contractors can through the database identify suppliers based on a number of criteria. Such criteria could be geographical location, financial information, capacity, insurance, quality control systems, health, safety policies (HSE), paid taxes, products and services available, references etc. In order to be registered in StartBANK the suppliers must, in addition to providing details on products and services that they wish to offer to the industry, also meet some formal requirements during the registration process.
To become registered in StartBANK the supplier must;
- Perform sales in his own name.
- State financial Key figures.
- Be up-to-date with the payment of imposed taxes and fees.
- Have adhered to the legal requirements with regard to the submittal of last year's Annual Report and Accounts to the appropriate authorities.
- Not be in debt-settlement proceedings or in any other respect be placed under public administration.
- Offer products/services that are comprised by the system at the time of registration.
- Submit full application for registration, i.e. StartBANK online questionnaire and supporting documentation.
- Enclose the latest version of the Certificate of Incorporation.
- Enclose valid Liability Insurance and Occupational Injuries Insurance certificates.
- Enclose a valid Tax certificate.
- Have paid the annual registration fee.
It is mandatory to accept StartBANK supplier requirements in order to gain access to registration.