New in SiO
How do I connect to the internet? When do I need to pay my first rent? Here you can find answers to some of the most common questions newcomers to student housing often have.
Storage
If you have a storage unit outside your residence, you typically find it in the basement, attic, or in the corridor on the floor you live on. You can easily identify the correct storage unit by looking for the one marked with your room number, for example "H0304."
Remember to secure your storage unit with a sturdy padlock!
Securing your storage unit
Unfortunately, theft from storage units may occur. It is important that you use a sturdy padlock and always check that the door to the storage areas is locked upon leaving.
There is never any guarantee against theft and break-ins. Valuable objects should not be placed in external storage units. You have sole responsibility for the contents of your unit and we recommend that you have contents insurance.
Secure against theft
Fire safety
When you live in student housing with us, it is important for you to familiarize yourself with what to do if the fire alarm goes off.
It is also important that you become acquainted with evacuation routes, emergency exits, and firefighting equipment where you live.
What to Do If the Fire Alarm Goes Off
Leave the building immediately.
If you encounter smoke, stay in your room and call 110.
Activate the fire alarm in the building and attempt to alert other tenants.
Automatic Alarm
When the fire alarm goes off in one location, the entire building is alerted. The fire department also receives notification and will automatically respond.
How to avoid triggering the fire alarm
When the alarm goes off, it is usually caused by cooking. Here are some tips to avoid that the alarm accidentally goes off in your residence or common kitchen.
Tips for avoiding triggering the fire alarm
Read more about fire safety here
Common kitchens and shared bathrooms
When sharing common kitchens and bathrooms, it's important to be aware that these shared spaces are used by others. As a result, the common areas will naturally show signs of daily use.
It is the collective responsibility of the residents to keep the common kitchens and shared bathrooms clean and tidy. Therefore, it is crucial to communicate and agree on how cleaning and tidying should be done in these shared spaces.
Tips for good collaboration.
You may want to invite to a kitchen meeting where you agree on common solutions; for example, routines for cleaning, purchasing cleaning products, who owns what, what is okay to share, where things should be located, etc.
Keep in mind that you can have different standards for cleaning in the kitchen, make compromises where you disagree.
Here is a tool that you can use.
In SiO, we have a cleaning system for shared housing. Read more under "cleaning week".
Cleaning week
What is cleaning week?
The cleaning week for common kitchens is in rotation. In your common kitchen you will find a cleaning schedule stating when it is your turn, with the corresponding week number.
If there is a room in your corridor that is uninhabited, everyone who shares the common kitchen has joint responsibility for the cleaning in the week that belongs to this residence.
If you are absent yourself, you are responsible for exchanging your cleaning week with someone else.
Tasks during cleaning week
Take out the rubbish - every day.
Make sure the sinks, tables, countertops, tiles, and the kitchen cabinets are kept tidy and clean.
Garbage cabinet and other common cabinets must be cleaned, both exterior and interior.
Clean the kitchen floor
Make sure that garbage, drying racks and such are not left in the corridor or other shared spaces.
Keep the fridge and freezer tidy and clean. Throw away spolied food.
Clean the stove, exterior and interior, including the plates.
Clean kitchen fan
How do we follow up on your common kitchen?
SiO follows up on shared kitchens and bathrooms where 3 or more people are sharing.
A rule of thumb is that all kitchens should be so clean and tidy that you should be able to make food here without having to clean first. We follow up on kitchens where this is not the case.
In addition to the daily cleaning that residents themselves are responsible for, SiO also carry out a thorough main cleaning of all common kitchens once a year, where we clean all ceilings, walls, behind the stove and the like.
If it's challenging to cooperate, we recommend that you directly communicate with those you share common areas with about the issues.
Rent
The rent must be paid in advance, and is due on the 1st of each month.
The exception is the month you move in, and sometimes the month after, where the rent is paid later.
You will receive the invoice from us by e-mail, direct debit or e-invoice around the 17th of each month. You can also find the invoice on My page under Finances. Remember to update your e-mail and mobile phone number on My page.
Read more about rent here
House rules
In the house rules, you can find useful information about:
How to hang up pictures
Visits and overnight stays
Rules for peace and order
Cleaning rules
Read about house rules here
Home Contents Insurance
You must have your own home contents insurance when living in student housing. You are not insured through SiO.
You can check if you are insured through your parents insurance, an organisation you are a member of or buy your own insurance. Many insurance companies offer reasonable insurances to students.
Why do I need a home contents insurance?
If unexpected incidents such as fire, water damage, burglary in your housing and storage room occurs, this can lead to expenses and losses for you as a tenant. You can use your home contents insurance to decrease your own financial loss in such situations. If you do not have this insurance, you will have to cover these extra expenses yourself. It may be expenses for a place to live if your housing becomes uninhabitable, or costs for clothes, books, bicycle, computer etc. that you need in your daily life.
There can be differences in what the individual home contents insurance covers and how much deductible you have to pay to use the insurance. This is something you should find out before buying your own insurance.
Internet
To connect to wifi, you need to get your own router. Connect the router to the internet outlet in your residence. Log into the router with the name and password for your router.
If you want, you can alternatively connect your computer directly to the internet, using a network cable from the wall socket.
Read more on Telia's pages
Problems with the Internet?
Troubleshooting
Telia is responsible for troubleshooting and correcting all types of faults with the line, also inside your residence. If you experience trouble with your internet connection, please contact Telia directly. Before contacting Telia, you can first do a simple troubleshooting yourself:
Unplug the router, wait about 30 seconds, and plug it back in.
If this does not help, try connecting the PC directly to the wall socket with a cable.
You can also try the other wall socket if you have two.
Lastly, you can try restarting your PC if it does not connect to the internet straight away.
Old router
If you have an old router, this can affect the network in a negative way. Therefore, try to have the PC connected directly to the wall socket with a cable, also when you call Telia for help.
If the router causes network problems, you need to get another router that can handle the speed Telia delivers.
Wall sockets
In some SiO residences, there are multiple identical wall sockets, but only one of them is connected to Telia. Double-check that you are connected to the correct wall socket.
Common kitchens
There is no internet in the common kitchens.
Contact Telia
You can call Telia on 92 40 50 50.
When you call support at Telia, you will automatically be notified to enter the customer number.
To talk to the customer service, you have to listen past this automatic message until it stops - that is, ignore the message about customer number. In the event of a long queue, you can enter your telephone number and you will be called back, regardless of whether you have entered the customer number or not. You keep the place in the queue.
If the queue is extra long, the callback option is turned off. Then you just need to stay in line until you get through. You only need to provide them with your address for assistance.
My page
On My page you can find useful information about your lease, such as:
Information about your accommodation
Your contract
Overview of bills and account information
Information about SiO's caretaker service and practical self-help tips
Keys
You must hold your access card to a lock for a few seconds to lock/unlock a door.
If you use your card on five doors you do not have access to, the card will be blocked.
Picking up keys when moving in
Issues with the key card or a lock?
If you are experiencing issues with your card, you can try to update it on a black encoder. The encoder is in the entrance area of your building, or near the laundry or waste room.
Read here for more information on what you can do.
If you are experiencing issues with a lock, you can contact the caretaker here.
Lost key or access card?
If you have lost your access card, you can buy a new one in the Customer Service Centre for 100 NOK.
If you have lost the metal key to your residence, contact the Customer Service Centre
If you have lost your mailbox key, the Customer Service Centre can order a new one for you. A new mailbox key costs 150 NOK.
If you lose your key or access card outside of opening hours, you can call 22 85 32 00 to be locked in by Securitas. Read more about being locked in here.
Can someone else pick up my keys?
If you are unable to collect the keys yourself, and someone else will pick them up on your behalf, you must send us an authorization.
Parking
APCOA rents out parking spaces at many of our student houses. You can get a student discount when you rent with us.
Read more about parking
There are parking spaces at Bjølsen, Blindern, Carl Berner, Grünerløkka, Iladalen, Kringsjå, Lillo, Nedre Ullevål 7-9, Pilestredet Park, Rodeløkka, Stensbergsgata, Sofienberg, Sogn, St. Hanshaugen and Vestgrensa.
Parking permit upon moving in
If you are moving your things in by car, you can contact the customer service centre and get a temporary parking permit through Apcoa's parking app. You will receive a code and instructions for the app when you collect the keys.
Please note that not all our student houses and student villages have parking spaces!
Post
For mail to be delivered to your student residence, you must report your address to Posten and your contacts.
Please make sure to report you name, street address, and room number. You must also mark your mailbox with your name.
Remember to report your new address and mark your new mailbox if you are moving from one SiO-residence to another.
Read more on Posten's pages
Cohabitant
In SiO, a partner does not have the same rights as the tenant. This means, among other things, that a partner:
Cannot view or modify the lease agreement
Does not have access to My Page
Does not receive information from SiO
Cannot report issues to the caretaker
Cannot collect keys upon moving in (but see authorization)
The tenant can grant authorization to the partner to collect keys or be let into the apartment. Click the link below to learn more.
Authorization
Waste and recycling
Remember to separate all waste for recycling. Think about the environment and learn how to sort waste where you live!
Recycling in Oslo
In Oslo, it's easy to recycle all types of waste. Here you'll find all the information you need about where to dispose of different items.
Also, check out this video for a simple introduction to sorting food, plastic, cardboard, and residual waste.
Here's how you recycle in Oslo
... and this for glass, metal and other waste!
Recycle glass, metal and other waste
Recycling in Lillestrøm
If you live in Lillestrøm, you can find all the information you need about recycling here.
Also, check out this video for a simple introduction.
Here's how you recycle in Lillestrøm
Caretaker
If you notice any damage or missing things in your accommodation or the common areas, please contact the caretaker on My page. If you have just moved into your student residence, it is important that you notify us immediately. Then we will be able to follow up the case quickly and help you.
Did you know that there are many things you can actually fix by yourself? On My Page, we have compiled many useful self-help tips.
You can also call 22 85 32 00 around the clock for urgent matters.
Laundry
In some student accommodations, there is a washing machine or connections for a washing machine. In cases where this is not available, you can launder your clothes in the communal laundry room.
You can use the communal laundry room by downloading the AppWallet app. In the app, you can pay for laundry services and check for available machines. There will also be an option to make payments at a separate payment terminal in the laundry room.