Wold, J., Lædre, O. and Lohne, J. (2019). “Questionable Practice in the Processing of Building Permits in Norway” In: Proc. 27 th Annual Conference of the International. Group for Lean Construction (IGLC), Pasquire C. and Hamzeh F.R. (ed.), Dublin, Ireland, pp. 1151-1162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24928/2019/0214. Available at: <www.iglc.net>. 1151 QUESTIONABLE PRACTICE IN THE PROCESSING OF BUILDING PERMITS IN NORWAY Jonas Wold 1 , Ola Lædre 2 and Jardar Lohne 3 ABSTRACT In recent years, several cases of questionable practice in the processing of building permits in Norway have been revealed. Meanwhile, authorities claim the risk of corruption associated with the processing of building permits is more obvious than before. This study investigates the size of the opportunity space for questionable practice in the processing of building permits. Questionable practice includes both illegal practice in the form of corruption and legal, but unethical practice. Further, this paper examines if the opportunity space is being exploited, before suggesting countermeasures. A greater predictability in the processing could increase the Lean Construction and reduce costs. It has been conducted a literature review and seven interviews with caseworkers and heads of departments in five municipalities in Norway. The study is limited to the examined municipalities. The results show that the processing of building permits is based on great responsibility delegated to the caseworkers and that there is a certain opportunity space. However, this space is not being exploited in the examined municipalities. Measures, e.g. implementing a new processing system, are anyhow proposed. KEYWORDS Sustainability, promise, trust, building permits, questionable practice. INTRODUCTION Unethical and unlawful practice has been reported to have gained significant impact within the Norwegian construction industry over the last years. Based on research analyses (e.g. Lohne et al. 2019), reports from official agencies and others (e.g. Departementene 2019; Riksrevisjonen 2015-16a, 2015-16b) and industry initiated reports (e.g. Slettebøe et al. 2003; Andersen et al. 2014), there appears to be a widespread understanding that present- day efforts towards countering crime are failing to control what is perceived to be an 1 Student M.Sc., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, +47 414 03 086, jonaswold@hotmail.com 2 Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, +47 911 89 938, ola.ladre@ntnu.no 3 Researcher, dr. art., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, +47 934 44 930, jardar.lohne@ntnu.no