KOFA (Complaints Board for Public Procurement)

KOFA (Klagenemnda for offentlige anskaffelser) is the Complaints Board for Public Procurement. It handles complaints about breaches of the Public Procurement Act (anskaffelsesloven) and the regulations under it, also for procurements below NOK 1.3 million and below the EEA thresholds, as long as they fall within the Act, which since 1 July 2026 applies from NOK 500,000 excluding VAT. The board was established on 1 January 2003, and as a rule each case is decided by three members. Contracting authorities have a duty to take part and to respond in the case. On this page, each § reference names the act or regulations it belongs to.

KOFA is an advisory body. In cases other than illegal direct awards (ulovlig direkte anskaffelse), the board gives its opinion on whether there has been a breach and whether the breach may have affected the outcome of the competition, but not on the legal consequences. It may give its opinion on whether the conditions for damages are met. Its opinions are public. They are not legally binding.

Cases about illegal direct awards are different. There, KOFA must impose an infringement fine (overtredelsesgebyr) on the contracting authority if the illegal direct award was intentional or grossly negligent, and may do so if it was negligent. The fine can be up to 15% of the value of the procurement. No fine can be imposed if the contracting authority published a voluntary ex ante transparency notice (intensjonskunngjøring) and waited ten days before signing. The fine is legally binding and cannot be appealed, but the contracting authority can bring legal proceedings against the decision within two months.

Anyone with a legitimate interest (saklig interesse) in having the lawfulness reviewed may complain. For an illegal direct award, no legitimate interest is required. Since 1 July 2026, only undertakings established in Norway or another EEA state, or in a state that is party to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) or another agreement binding Norway, have rights under the Act and the Regulations, and the latter only to the extent that agreement gives them rights (Public Procurement Act § 3). Other undertakings may take part in competitions but cannot rely on those rights.

As a supplier, you need to know two things: the deadlines, and that a complaint to KOFA does not stop the contract.

The main rule is six months from when the contract was concluded, or from when the contracting authority cancelled the competition. For an illegal direct award, the deadline is two years from the conclusion of the contract. The complaint must be in writing, state what is wrong in fact and in law, and have the documents attached. It is only handled once the fee has been paid.

The complaint fee is NOK 8,000, and NOK 1,000 if the complaint only concerns an illegal direct award. Under the KOFA Regulations (klagenemndsforskriften), the fee must be refunded if the board finds an illegal direct award or, in other cases, finds a breach that may have affected the outcome. The page of the KOFA secretariat (Klagenemndssekretariatet) itself uses the wording «has affected», so do not count on a refund until the board has decided the case. The secretariat gives an estimate of two months for priority advisory cases, three months for other advisory cases and six months for fine cases.

The complaint has no suspensive effect. The contracting authority may conclude the contract while the case is with KOFA, once the standstill period (karensperiode) has expired. If you want to stop an award, you must go to the district court (tingretten) and apply for interim measures (midlertidig forføyning). At or above the EEA thresholds, the application must be filed before the standstill period ends to trigger the automatic suspension. You can still apply later, but the contracting authority may then sign at any time, and once it has signed, the court cannot order interim measures. The district court is also the route for damages and, at or above the EEA thresholds, for having a contract declared ineffective. The time limits for legal proceedings can be short; see the question on the courts below.

The board's opinions are public. Advice: read cases on the same type of requirement or evaluation before you write a tender or consider a complaint.

You are told that another supplier has been chosen in a competition above the EEA thresholds. The standstill period is at least ten days. You believe the contracting authority breached the award criteria. If you want to prevent the contract from being concluded, you apply to the district court for interim measures within the standstill period, preferably early. The contracting authority's right to conclude the contract is suspended once the application has been served on it. If what you need is an assessment, you send a complaint to KOFA within six months after the contract was concluded, and pay NOK 8,000. The complaint does not stop the contract, and the secretariat gives an estimate of three months for an advisory case. If KOFA finds that the breach may have affected the outcome, the fee must be refunded under the KOFA Regulations.