Swedish Building Regulations: One Rule Book, Rewritten in 2025

Check the project’s transition status. New cases from 1 July 2026 use the new regulations. Eligible projects under the transition provisions may still use the older rules; a later construction start does not by itself settle the question. Confirm the permit/notification dates and chosen rule set with the authority. See Boverket’s transition update.

One rule book for the whole country

Sweden builds to one national set of building regulations, and they apply the length and breadth of the country. There is no county-by-county or kommun version of the technical rules — every byggnadsnämnd (building committee) checks a job against the same national rule book, set by Boverket, the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning.

For years that rule book was known simply as BBR — Boverkets byggregler. If you’ve built in Sweden before, or read about Swedish stair, ceiling-height or handrail rules anywhere online, “BBR” is almost certainly the name you’ve seen. That’s no longer the whole story.

BBR was replaced on 1 July 2025 — and the old numbers have expired

On 1 July 2025, Boverket replaced BBR (BFS 2011:6) and the structural rules known as EKS (BFS 2011:10) with nine new, separately-numbered regulations, each covering one subject: structure, fire safety, hygiene and health (which now covers room height, daylight and ventilation), safety in use (stairs, ramps, guards), noise, dwelling suitability, accessibility, and site requirements. BBR itself still technically exists — as “BBR 31” — but Boverket’s own guidance is explicit that it now contains only the old energy-efficiency rules, kept in force only because a replacement for that one chapter isn’t ready yet. BBR 31 has no bearing on stairs, foundations, ramps or room sizing any more.

That would matter on its own, but there’s a second, sharper edge to it: each new regulation carried a one-year transition window, letting a project still use the old BBR figures if a building permit or notification was submitted, or the work itself began, before 1 July 2026. That date has now passed. For a new dwelling project starting from today, the old BBR numbers are no longer a lawful basis for design — the new regulations govern instead.

Numbers, mostly replaced by judgement

Here’s the part that surprises people most: the new regulations aren’t just renumbered — many of them removed the fixed number altogether. Where old BBR gave a hard figure — a maximum stair riser, a minimum ceiling height, a fixed handrail height — Boverket’s own guidance for the new rules often says, plainly, that no dimension is given, because the requirement is now performance-based: a case-by-case risk assessment or suitability test, not a number you read off a table.

Not everything changed. A handful of figures — ramp gradient, ventilation rates, the daylight factor, and the small set of child-safety guard-opening dimensions — carried through unchanged into the new regulations, and those are the numbers this hub can still give you straight. But for a lot of what people expect from “Swedish building code” — ceiling height, stair rise and going, handrail and guard height — the honest, current answer is that the new rules use a performance test. Older figures may still apply to eligible transitional projects. Check the rule set for the job.

Boverket regulations contain binding duties. General advice is distinct from those duties. Check any permitted variation against the exact rule and document its basis. Check the current text of a regulation on boverket.se before you rely on any figure — old and new material both still circulate online.