The roof at Kristiansand's major shopping center buckling under the weight of snow. PHOTO: Torstein Øen/Fædrelandsvennen

Parts of the roof at Oslo's Valhall sports hall fell in on March 26 last year due to snow on the roof. The hall's design gives it far less capacity to withstand snow than regulations demand.

On March 26 several steel plates fell from Valhall's roof, just meters from the heads of shocked football players and parents. Between 800-1,000 children and adults had to be evacuated - luckily, no one was injured.

The newly shoveled roof had only a few decimeters of snow, and regulations require that the roof tolerate at least 1.5 meters.

Valhall was one of 15 constructions in eastern and southern Norway that collapsed last year due to snow, according to a survey from Norway's Association of Consulting Engineers (RIF). The buildings included halls, schools and shops.

The RIF found that while most of the buildings were regulated to withstand one to 1.5 meters of snow, damage and collapse occurred at around one third of this level.

"The rules give a false sense of security because property and home owners believe they are followed. So they think that their roof can stand far more snow than it really does and can therefore end up shoveling too late," said Øystein Løset of the RIF, who has researched construction technique and snow weight for ten years.

Løset despairs over the lack of action from relevant state authorities and points out that a report in 2003 pointed out this problem at sports halls around the country - including Valhall.

During the blizzard over much of Norway last week, a greenhouse, grocery store and post office all collapsed under moderate amounts of roof snow. The RIF believes these incidents are due to widespread violation of the regulations.

"It is only a matter of time before human life is lost under buildings that collapse due to moderate amounts of snow on their roofs," Løset said.

Løset advises that people ignore the state guidelines and clear their roofs early, and not wait until snow levels exceed 50-75 centimeters (19.7-29.5 inches), and warns that buildings older than 1980 are more at risk since requirements were lower then.

Løset believes cost-cutting methods from the construction industry are to blame, and urged an independent control agency be formed to ensure that standards are met.

The State Building Department said that this issue has been raised with local authorities on two occasions, since they are often the owners of sports halls and similar constructions.

Divisional director Lisbet Landfald of the department said that they "therefore hoped something would be done".