Building contractor in NO
What this register publishes today, what is missing, and the smallest change that would move it up.
What was found
A free REST API over the register of centrally approved construction firms, listed in the national data catalogue, with no registration required and no key: the directorate states plainly that system owners do not need to register their usage. Each approved firm has a certificate page stating its approval, that the approval is valid only while the fee is paid, and that it shall be withdrawn on serious or repeated breaches of the building act. Two caveats matter. The scheme is voluntary, so absence from this register does not mean a firm is unlicensed, which is a different thing from every other row here. And the directorate asks users not to store the data permanently but to use the API for direct or regular lookups. That request is reasonable, it keeps answers fresh, and it is the opposite of what a durable proof needs: no copy, no provenance, and no way to show what the register said on the day of the contract.
What it publishes
| Check | Answer | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| A public page per licence | Yes | Gives a reader something to look at and a checker something to archive and attest against. |
| A bulk export | No | Lets a consumer hold the whole list instead of fetching one licence at a time, and lets anyone hash it. |
| Machine readable | Yes | A CSV or JSON rather than a page built for a browser. Decides whether checking can be automated at all. |
| Signed | No | Makes the file impossible to forge or mirror convincingly. Nothing reaches grade A without it. |
The next step
Sign the file
The export exists and is machine readable, which is the expensive part. What remains is a key and one DNS record on a domain the authority already controls, which makes the file impossible to forge and takes this row to grade A.
A grade describes a register, not the authority behind it and not the quality of its supervision. An authority can run an excellent register and still sit at grade D because it is a search form.
If this row is wrong, it gets corrected with the correction published beside it. The index is useful only if it can be argued with. Tell the lab.