Electrical Authorisation in Sweden: What Contractors Need

Setting up an electrical contracting business in Sweden involves more than knowing the trade. Since the Electrical Safety Act (elsäkerhetslagen) took effect in 2017, Sweden no longer issues personal "competences" the way it once did. Instead, the legal responsibility sits with the company. For anyone running or planning an electrical installation business, that translates into three concrete obligations: the right authorisation tied to the work you do, registration with Elsäkerhetsverket (the Swedish Electrical Safety Authority), and a working self-inspection program. This guide walks through what is genuinely required – and what gets misunderstood.

Authorisation replaced the old competence system

People still talk about "behörighet" (competence), but since 2017 the correct term is auktorisation (authorisation). It is a personal qualification that an individual electrician applies for with Elsäkerhetsverket – it follows the person, not the company. To be granted authorisation you must meet both an education requirement and a practical-experience requirement, set out in Elsäkerhetsverket's regulations (ELSÄK-FS 2017:4). Processing typically takes around three months, but check the current time with Elsäkerhetsverket as it varies.

There are three main authorisation types:

• A – full authorisation: covers all electrical installation work, both high and low voltage.
• AL – low voltage: covers all installation work on low-voltage installations (up to and including 1,000 V AC / 1,500 V DC).
• B – limited: restricted to work on existing final circuits, such as fitting and moving light fixtures, switches and sockets, plus permanently connecting and disconnecting electrical equipment.

Older competences such as ABL and BB1–BB3 were automatically converted to the equivalent new types, so if you hold a legacy qualification you usually do not need to reapply.

The three requirements placed on the company

This is the part newcomers most often miss: the company – not the individual – is what must satisfy the law. If you run an electrical installation business that works on other people's installations, you must meet three requirements.

1. Register the business

Companies that perform electrical installation work on someone else's installation must register their operations with Elsäkerhetsverket. Registration is done through their online service and is a precondition for taking on customer jobs at all. Anyone working only on their own installation is exempt.

2. Appoint at least one compliance electrician

Every electrical firm must designate at least one elinstallatör för regelefterlevnad (electrician for regulatory compliance). That person must hold an authorisation type covering the work the company performs – low-voltage work requires A or AL, while limited tasks can be covered by B. The role is to give management the expertise needed to understand and follow the rules, but management remains ultimately responsible for actual compliance. A company can have several compliance electricians but normally registers one with the authority.

3. Maintain a self-inspection program

The company must have an egenkontrollprogram (self-inspection program) – a documented description of how you ensure work is carried out correctly and the installation provides adequate safety. It should cover your routines, how you check the work, and who holds which role. During an inspection, it is often the first thing Elsäkerhetsverket asks to see.

Low voltage, high voltage and the jobs you can take

Your authorisation type sets the boundaries of what you can take on. For the typical installation firm – houses, apartments, commercial premises – AL is more than enough, because almost all of that work is low voltage. If you intend to work on high voltage, such as switchgear or transformer stations, you need full A authorisation. Crucially, the type of activity (verksamhetstyp) you register must match the authorisation held by your compliance electrician – otherwise it does not actually cover the work you perform.

Common misconceptions that get expensive

Three traps recur with newly started electrical firms:

• "I'm authorised, so I can take jobs." No – authorisation is personal, but the company must still be registered and have a self-inspection program.
• "We're too small to register." Size is irrelevant. If you work on someone else's installation, you must be registered.
• "The self-inspection program can wait." It must be in place before you take on jobs, and kept alive – not thrown together the day before an inspection.

Rules change and interpretations evolve. Always verify the current requirements, fees and processing times directly with Elsäkerhetsverket before making decisions.

Get the paperwork right from day one

Once authorisation, registration and the self-inspection program are in place, the rest is about proving you work according to the program – job by job. This is where many firms lose time. With FieldApp, you build digital self-inspections and protocols that the technician fills in directly in the field, complete with photos and timestamps, then signs off and stores as a PDF. Checklists, ROT-aware quotes with e-signature, and material logging all live in the same system, so the documentation is exactly where it should be when an inspection comes. It does not replace your authorisation – but it turns compliance into part of the daily workflow instead of a binder gathering dust.

Want to see how it works for your electrical business? Start a free 14-day trial or read more about per-user pricing.