In the trial against architect Rune Breili and former building case manager in Tjøme municipality, Harald Svendsen, two architects have assessed the design work Breili did for Svendsen. Breili designed the house for the former building case manager, at the same time Svendsen processed building applications from Breili. Harald Svendsen, former construction case manager in former Tjøme municipality. Photo: Philip Hofgaard / news Both are accused of gross corruption. They themselves have explained that it was a friendly service. – I have helped Breili build both a roof and a terrace on one of his homes. It was natural to ask him for help in designing my house, Svendsen explained. In court, Breili said that Svendsen drew the house on a grid sheet and that he was only responsible for the digitization in a computer program. According to Breili, he spent 6–8 hours on the job. It is not possible, say Michael Lommertz and Ole Tørklep, who are expert architects in the matter. – Architectural drawings – Architectural assessments have been made here. We can see that in the placement of doors and windows. It is obvious that there was an architect in the picture, explained Tørklep. The architect believes the house drawings were more than a technical drawing of finished drawings. – Although Svendsen is a structural engineer and has processed many building applications, I do not think he is capable of drawing this himself, Tørklep explained in court. He estimated that Breili may have spent 65 hours on the drawings, if he has received good basic material from Svendsen. If Breili has done the whole job, Tørklep estimated that the job could take 135 hours. EXPERTS: Architects Michael Lommertz and Ole Tørklep are experts in the corruption case. Photo: Aina Indreiten / news – Not possible Architect Michael Lommertz also does not believe that Rune Breili could have spent only one day drawing the house. – With the computer programs we had in 2010, it is not possible to do the job in eight hours, explained Lommertz. Lommertz’s assessment was that Breili may have spent 68 hours on the drawings of Svendsen’s house, including meetings and inspection of the site. In court, it emerged that Svendsen had more professional background than the experts were aware of when they made their assessments. When asked by the defender, he therefore reassessed the number of hours. – If the drawings he received from Svendsen were complete with all measurements, the time spent could have been between 25 and 30 hours, explained Lommertz. He was nevertheless adamant that the drawing job could not have been completed in one day. ARCHITECT’S DRAWINGS: One of the drawings Breili drew for Svendsen. Scott Blakely Campbell is an architect and expert on the computer program Breili used. He estimated in court that an architect would spend between 40 and 80 hours on the drawing job Breili carried out. When asked by the defender, he could not rule out that it was possible to do it in one day. – That is a bit optimistic. I think you need to spend more than one day. – But can you rule that out, asked Thomas Skjelbred, Breili’s defender. – No, replied Campbell. The market value is central The value of the architect’s drawing is central to the assessment of the corruption allegations. Økokrim believes that Svendsen’s position in the municipality means that this was corruption. Breili did not take payment, but has assessed the value of the work he did for Svendsen at NOK 7,000. Architect Rune Breili Photo: Hans Philip Hofgaard / news It is too low, say the experts. In the report to Økokrim, Lommertz estimated the value of the drawing at NOK 70,000. It is based, among other things, on the hourly payment to an architect in 2010. Because Svendsen has done much of the work himself, he adjusted it down to NOK 50,000 in court. In the district court, Breili showed that he was quick to draw, but Tørklep believes that the market value is independent of the number of hours. Tørklep has estimated the value of the architectural drawings at NOK 77,000.
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The house could not have been drawn in one day – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
