It started in 1934 when a Norwegian fire insurance company granted Nkr 30.000 to the technical university to set up and carry on fire research. The funding was however not sufficient for such a laboratory, but when another company allocated the same amount of money, the planning could start.

The first building was ready spring 1937. The floorage was 157 m², and the laboratory was equipped with a vertical and a horizontal furnace. For many years the laboratory was run by the university staff, but in 1953 the Norwegian fire insurance companies managed to allocate NKr 100.000 for operating capital. This made it possible for the laboratory to hire 3 persons, a laboratory engineer and two laboratory assistants. The laboratory engineer was Hans Anton Bakke.

The number of tasks were constantly increasing, as well as the lack of space. The laboratory needed a new and larger site, and the construction work was started in 1958. The new laboratory was finished in 1960 and the total floorage was 735 m², containing an office building and a test hall with brand new test furnaces. The laboratory was organized as an institute with the same status as the other institutes at the university.

The need of space was continuously growing, and an extension (750 m²) was finished in 1970. The new building was financed over the state budget and by the insurance companies.

A reorganization of the university in 1976, led to new ownership for the Norwegian Fire Research Laboratory. From 1977 NBL was organized as a department in SINTEF (The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology).

In 1984, 50 years after the establishment, Norwegian Fire Research Laboratory had 23 employees. The Norwegian oil activity demanded research and testing in a scale that the laboratory facilities were unfit for. Time was in to start all over again, at a new site.

From the start the new laboratory had financing from the Norwegian insurance companies and in 1986-87 the oil companies Hydro and Statoil allocated additional funds.
The project was divided into 3 construction stages.

The first construction stage was the large testhall. The building has a total floorage of 740 m², including the test hall floorage of 590 m². The building was ready for use in May 1987.

The second construction stage started in 1988. This stage included office space, storerooms, workshops and a hall for testing heating appliances and chimneys (170 m²)., and was funded by the Government. The official opening was in June 1990.

The SINTEF board decided in a board meeting in Dec. 1992 to extend the laboratory further. This extension was funded by SINTEF, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the Norwegian Fire Research Laboratory. The construction work started spring 1993, and in February the next year the very last employees could move to new offices at the new site. The extension included office space (350 m²), laboratories for testing reaction to fire (175 m²), test hall with new furnaces for fire resistance tests (650 m²) and a conditioning room.

When the third construction stage was finished in 1994 the laboratory´s total floorage was 3749 m² and the total cost was 55.5 million NKr.

In 1995 SINTEF reorganized. The institution was devided into 9 research institutes, and NBL became a depatment in one of them; namely SINTEF Energy.
January 1st 1998 most of the departments in SINTEF Energy were  merged into the subsidiary company named SINTEF Energy Research. However, NBL remained in the SINTEF-institution as a department in SINTEF Building and Infrastructure.
From January 1st 2001 this institution was reorganized as well. A result of this restructuring was that NBL became a private limited company, 100% owned by SINTEF. The name of the company was Norwegian Fire Research Laboratory as, and from January the 1st 2005 the name was changed to SINTEF NBL as.