The framework regulations § 23

§ 23 General requirements for material and information

The responsible party shall prepare and retain material and information necessary to ensure and document that the activities are planned and carried out in a prudent manner. The responsible party shall ensure that documentation demonstrating compliance with requirements stipulated in or pursuant to these regulations, can be provided. The responsible party shall establish criteria for what constitutes necessary documentation. The extent of the documentation shall be adapted to the nature of the enterprise and the activities carried out.
Such material and information as mentioned in the first subsection shall be available in Norway free of charge to the authorities mentioned in Section 67 of these regulations.
Section last changed: 01 January 2011

The section clarifies a general documentation obligation for the responsible party and applies within the entire health, safety and environment area. Such an obligation follows from Section 10-4 of the Petroleum Act, but is included here because a corresponding requirement does not follow directly from the other enabling acts. The provision does not say anything directly regarding where or how materials and information shall be stored, or who specifically shall do this. For example, it can be stored with a contractor, abroad, in an electronic format or in some other manner. The requirement is for materials and information to be made available to the supervisory authorities within a reasonable time. What constitutes a reasonable time, will for example depend on the importance of the materials or information and the matter.
The responsible party itself shall evaluate the need for documentation, and the provision facilitates utilising available documents and documentation systems at suppliers and sub-suppliers. The first subsection, fourth sentence, expressly indicates that the documentation shall be adapted to the character of the enterprise and the activity that is carried out, so that no more documentation is developed than what is necessary.
Reference is made to the supplementary Management Regulations, where more detailed provisions are provided as regards the duty to provide information to the authorities, including provisions regarding the duty of storage and discarding.