> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://resources.getvolt.dk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Temporary Power at Nordic Events: Who Is Responsible? - URL: https://resources.getvolt.dk/guides/temporary-power-nordic-events-responsibility/ - Published: 2026-09-25T12:12:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-25T12:12:40.000Z - Description: What Denmark, Norway and Sweden require for temporary power at events: who owns which part of the chain, the standards, and what inspectors keep finding. - Author: The Volt Team - Tags: guide, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, For Organisers The organiser owns the power on site. Not the grid company, not the stallholders, not the supplier who dropped off the boards. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden the regulators all land in the same place, and all three say the same next thing: settle who owns which segment of the chain before anything gets plugged in. Most organiser guidance in English comes from the UK's Health and Safety Executive, which is useful and is not the law in any Nordic market. Here is what Denmark, Norway and Sweden actually publish, what their inspectors keep finding, and what it means when you bring powered kit like Event Lockers or charging stations onto your ground plan. ## Every year it is a brand new installation This is the rule that surprises people who have run the same site for a decade. Denmark's Sikkerhedsstyrelsen puts it flatly: a temporary electrical installation "betragtes nemlig som en ny installation, hver gang den bygges op, uanset om det drejer sig om præcis samme udformning af området som året før". It counts as a new installation every time it is built, even when the layout is identical to last year. The consequence is that it has to meet the current rules, not the rules that applied when your site plan was first drawn. Norway's DSB reaches the same conclusion from the other direction. In its [guide to safety at large events](https://www.dsb.no/siteassets/rapporter-og-publikasjoner/veileder/veileder-for-sikkerhet-ved-store-arrangementer.pdf?ref=resources.getvolt.dk), it notes that practically every electrical installation inside an event is normally to be regarded as provisional, because it goes up for the event and comes down at the end of it. Sweden adds a point worth holding onto. [Elsäkerhetsverket](https://www.elsakerhetsverket.se/yrkespersoner/aga-en-elanlaggning/anlaggningar-a-o/tillfalliga-elanlaggningar/?ref=resources.getvolt.dk) states that the law sets no limit on how long an installation may stay provisional, and that under the electrical safety act every installation, temporary included, has to be built so that it is safe. A long run does not make it permanent, and a short run does not excuse it. ## Who owns which segment Denmark's guidance for [temporary installations at festivals and market squares](https://www.sik.dk/erhverv/elinstallationer-og-elanlaeg/vejledninger/elinstallationer/midlertidige-installationer/midlertidige-elinstallationer-festivaler-markedspladser-mv?ref=resources.getvolt.dk) describes the split that most festivals actually run on, and then tells you to write it down. The common pattern it sets out: the grid company or the generator supplier is responsible up to the supply point, which is the cable cabinet or the generator set. The festival is responsible from that supply point up to and including the socket boards where stalls and music connect. From there the stallholder or the production takes over for their own equipment. Its advice on that split is one sentence long and worth acting on: agree the responsibility split, including where the supply point physically sits, in good time before the temporary installation is built, and preferably in writing. Norway assigns the coordinating role explicitly. DSB's guide says the organiser is usually the one who coordinates and is responsible for the provisional electrical installation, and that the organiser has a duty to make sure the installation and equipment are in a condition that gives the necessary safety for people and property, and that work on electrical installations happens under the direction of someone who knows the rules for that work. Sweden frames it as an identity question. Elsäkerhetsverket says that in many cases it is unclear who is responsible for the installation used at a temporary activity, and that clearing up who the holder is *before the installation is taken into use* is how you raise the safety level. The holder then has to produce documented routines for ongoing checks, based on a risk assessment. ## What the inspectors keep finding Both Denmark and Sweden have published inspection results, and they do not make comfortable reading. [Sikkerhedsstyrelsen checked](https://www.sik.dk/erhverv/elinstallationer-og-elanlaeg/nyheder/markeder-byfester-og-festivaler-skal-have-mere-fokus-paa-reglerne-elsikkerhedsloven?ref=resources.getvolt.dk) electrical installations at 52 sites during 2022 where town festivals, festivals and markets were held. It found faults at 40 of them. Eleven sites received a formal order to fix them and the rest were told to correct the faults as soon as possible. Among the findings: missing RCDs at the supply point for the temporary installation and in front of sockets and connection points, ten distribution boards that were not correctly protected against contact with live parts, and twelve cases of cable systems installed incorrectly, including cables lying across driving routes and walkways. Sweden's numbers come from a [2024 follow-up published on 5 May 2025](https://www.elsakerhetsverket.se/om-oss/press/nyheter/2025/tillfalliga-elanlaggningar-aterkommande-brister-oroar-elsakerhetsverket/?ref=resources.getvolt.dk), covering fifteen sites in central Sweden. More than three quarters had problems with how extension cables were laid, and every single site lacked cable protection in some form. More than half of the distribution boards were unlocked. Around half of the socket boards had placement faults leaving them exposed to damage. Documentation of ongoing-check routines was deficient, although it is mandatory. Magnus Karlsson, an electrical inspector at Elsäkerhetsverket, said in the announcement that the authority still sees limited knowledge of the applicable electrical safety rules among organisers. The study was a follow-up to one run in 2019, and its conclusion was that the 2019 findings largely still stood. Three failures dominate both countries: RCDs, boards, and cables where people walk. That is a short enough list to check yourself on a site walk. ## The standards carry the same numbers in all three countries This is the part that makes a Nordic tour manageable rather than three separate problems. Denmark applies DS/HD 60364-7-711 to what it calls 711 areas, in practice the stage area and installations directly related to it, and DS/HD 60364-7-740 to everything else: stalls, marquees, toilets, administration, backstage, non-public areas and the temporary camping areas. Norway's NEK 400 uses the same pair, 400-7-711 for exhibitions, shows and stalls and 400-7-740 for provisional installations at circuses, markets and funfairs, plus 400-8-818 for outdoor installations. The numbers match because both are national versions of the same harmonised European series. One Danish detail catches people out on camping festivals. The temporary camping areas are not treated under the campsite standard DS/HD 60364-7-708, because that standard is written for permanent campsites. They are built under 7-740 instead, so the specific 7-708 requirements on socket counts, RCDs and buried cables do not carry over. ## What all three say about the boards and the cables Norway's guide is the most concrete on hardware. Provisional distribution boards, indoors and out, are to be fitted with earth fault breakers and marked with warning signs, and it adds a practical warning that some older boards lack one, so check with the supplier that the boards you ordered actually have them. Boards have to be clearly labelled, separated, out of reach of the public, and protected from rain and damp if they sit outdoors. On cables it is blunt. Cables lying in the public area must not have joints, because joints are the weakest point on a cable run. Cables on the ground must be covered with suitable protection that is clearly visible. Suspended cables hang on an earthed carrier line at a height that puts them out of reach, and buried connection cables sit in ducting they can be pulled out of for inspection. It also asks for sectioning, meaning separate circuits for stages, special effects, emergency lighting, general lighting, and stalls and sales areas, so that pulling one part of the site does not pull the rest of it. On generators, the guide wants them placed clear of pyrotechnics and open flame, with safe fuel storage and refuelling, fenced off or otherwise blocked if they stand in a public area, and connected by qualified electricians in every case. If the generator is to run alongside the local grid, it says to contact the grid owner or electricity supplier first. ## Where powered kit like lockers and charging sits in this Anything you bring on site that needs a feed lands somewhere on the chain above, and it is worth knowing where. Volt's Cubic Locker, the self-contained outdoor unit, takes 240V/10A CEE. The Volt Locker Container runs on a single 230V outlet. Those are plug-connected loads rather than fixed installation work, and Danish guidance notes that installations supplied through a plug and socket, including CEE, may be carried out by anyone able to do it safely, while fixed installations need an authorised electrical contractor. Confirm the boundary with your own contractor rather than assuming it, because where your supply point sits decides which side of the line a given connection falls on. The standard Event Lockers most festival goers use are roughly 30 x 30 x 50 cm, sited under cover, with no power outlet inside them. The hardware detail on outdoor units, including protection ratings and what happens to access codes when the site loses signal, is in our guide to [outdoor Event Lockers](https://resources.getvolt.dk/guides/outdoor-event-lockers-weather-power-connectivity/). On charging, the honest position is the simple one. A charging fleet draws whatever the site supplies, so it sits inside your own tariff or your own generator hours rather than outside them. Anyone telling you otherwise owes you a meter reading. Our [organiser's guide to event phone charging stations](https://resources.getvolt.dk/guides/event-phone-charging-stations-guide/) works through the sizing conversation, and [Event Lockers](https://resources.getvolt.dk/lockers/) covers the locker side. ## Six things to settle before build week 1. Where exactly is the supply point, and is that written down anywhere both parties have signed? 2. Do the boards you have ordered have RCDs fitted, confirmed with the supplier rather than assumed? 3. Who is the named holder or responsible person for the installation, and do they know they are it? 4. Which circuits are separated, and can you drop a stall area without dropping emergency lighting? 5. Where does every cable cross a route people or vehicles use, and what is covering it? 6. What are your documented routines for checks during the run, and who signs them off each day? None of those six needs an electrician to answer. All six are the organiser's to own. ## Frequently asked questions ### Who is responsible for temporary electrical installations at a festival? The organiser, in all three Nordic markets covered here. Denmark's Sikkerhedsstyrelsen places responsibility with the owner or user of the installation and describes the festival as responsible from the supply point up to and including the socket boards. Norway's DSB says the organiser is usually the one who coordinates and is responsible for the provisional installation. Sweden's Elsäkerhetsverket says the holder is always responsible, including for temporary installations. ### Does a festival power setup have to meet the current rules every year? Yes. Danish guidance states that a temporary installation counts as a new installation each time it is built, even if the site layout is identical to the previous year, which means it follows the newest rules rather than the ones in force when the layout was designed. ### Which standards apply to temporary power at events in Denmark and Norway? Denmark uses DS/HD 60364-7-711 for the stage area and directly related installations, and DS/HD 60364-7-740 for stalls, marquees, backstage, service areas and temporary camping. Norway's NEK 400 uses the same pair, 400-7-711 and 400-7-740, plus 400-8-818 for outdoor installations. ### What do inspectors find most often at events? Missing RCDs, unprotected or unlocked distribution boards, and badly routed cables. Denmark found faults at 40 of 52 sites checked in 2022\. Sweden's 2024 follow-up of fifteen sites found more than three quarters had problems with extension cable routing and all of them lacked cable protection of some kind. ### Do Event Lockers need their own power supply? The powered units do. Volt's Cubic Locker takes 240V/10A CEE and the Volt Locker Container runs from a single 230V outlet. Standard Event Lockers of roughly 30 x 30 x 50 cm have no power outlet inside for the festival goer. ### Do I need an authorised electrician to connect a locker or charging unit? Danish guidance distinguishes fixed installations, which require an authorised electrical contractor, from installations supplied through a plug and socket such as CEE, which may be carried out by anyone able to do it safely. Norway is stricter on provisional installations and requires qualified electricians for any intervention that needs a tool. Confirm the boundary with your own contractor for your site. If you want the short version to take into your next production meeting: the installation is new every year, the organiser owns the middle of the chain, and the three things that fail are RCDs, boards and cables underfoot. Everything else is detail on top of that. [Talk to us](https://resources.getvolt.dk/for-organisers/) if you want the powered kit on your site scoped against your own supply point.