Fabriks och Handtwerksordning ('Factory and Handicrafts Regulation') was a business law reform introduced in Sweden 22 December 1846. It is foremost remembered as the reform that abolished the system of the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

s in Sweden. The law transformed the guilds to handicrafts associations with the task to approve the qualifications of those applying to the authorities for permission to practice a certain profession within trade and handicrafts. Male applicants were still required to study under a master, pass the test and apply for membership of the guild. Female applicants of legal majority, meaning widows, divorced women and unmarried women who had been legally declared of legal majority by court petition, as well as married women with permission from their husbands, were allowed to apply for any profession within trade and handicrafts without having to become a guild member.Du Rietz, Anita, Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år, 1. uppl., Dialogos, Stockholm, 2013, s 270 The former restriction of the guilds from being active within more than one profession were lifted. It was introduced in parallel with the '' Handelsordningen''. The reform abolished the '' 1720 års skråordning'', and was followed and completed by the '' 1864 års näringsförordning''.

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1846 in law 1846 in Sweden Social history of Sweden Women in Sweden 1846 in women's history