The handover is the moment the building stops being the developer's problem and starts being yours. Whatever is written down that day you can pursue. Whatever is not written down, you will have to prove later, usually against a contractor who has moved on to the next site.
Two changes in Swiss law have shifted this in your favour, and most buyers do not yet know about either.
1 January 2025. A privately commissioned expert report counts as a document (Urkunde) in Swiss civil proceedings under Article 177 ZPO. Previously it counted only as a party's assertion. It is still subject to the court's free evaluation of the evidence.
1 January 2026. A statutory 60-day period to notify defects replaces the former requirement to notify immediately, in the central property and construction situations. A contract cannot shorten it. It applies to contracts concluded on or after that date.
Neither of these is legal advice, and which applies to your contract is a question for your lawyer.
What changed, and what it means
You now have 60 days to notify defects, not "immediately"
Until the end of 2025, Swiss law required defects to be notified sofort, immediately, after inspection for visible defects or after discovery for hidden ones. In practice that produced arguments about what "immediately" meant. Two days? A week? What if several trades were involved?
Since 1 January 2026, a statutory notification period of 60 days applies in the central construction and property situations: the purchase of land and buildings, contracts for immovable works, and goods destined to be integrated into an immovable work where their defect causes the building to be defective. The period is relativ zwingend, which means a contract cannot shorten it. Clauses that used to cut notification down to a few days no longer work where the new rule applies.
This is a lengthening, not a tightening. It is good news, and it is worth knowing before a developer tells you otherwise.
One important limit: the new rules apply to contracts concluded on or after 1 January 2026. If you signed before that, your position is governed by the previous law or by whatever your contract and the SIA norms provide. Ask your lawyer which regime applies to you.
Private expert reports are now documentary evidence
Separately, since 1 January 2025, the revised Swiss Code of Civil Procedure treats a private expert report commissioned by a party as an Urkunde, a document, under Article 177 ZPO. Before that revision, such reports counted only as a party's own assertion rather than as evidence.
Being admitted as a document is not the same as being decisive. A private report is subject to the court's free evaluation of evidence, and a court may still appoint its own expert. What changed is that the report is now formally in evidence rather than outside it. That is why it is worth having one written properly, dated, and tied to photographs taken on the day.
Where SIA 118 fits
Many Swiss construction contracts incorporate SIA 118. It commonly gives a two-year notification window from the Abnahme, after which defects had to be raised immediately on discovery. Under the revision, defects discovered after that two-year phase fall under the 60-day period from discovery instead, in the situations the new rules cover. The interaction between the norm text, your contract and the statutory minimum is a question for your lawyer, not for a surveyor.
Sixty days is still not long, and there is a duty to limit damage
The formal notification period is not permission to wait. Swiss law expects you to take reasonable steps to limit consequential loss. If you find water escaping, you are expected to consider immediate measures, stop the water, arrange drying, secure the evidence, and document how the situation develops. Leaving damage to run can reduce what you recover.
This is the real reason to move quickly, and it is a different reason from the one usually given. Not because the deadline is short, but because the evidence degrades and the loss grows.
What the report contains
- Every defect found, photographed individually, with its location identified
- A statement of what was expected, by reference to the Baubeschrieb, the plans and the applicable Swiss standards, and what was actually delivered
- A severity rating, so that a scratched handle and a failed seal are not given equal weight
- The recommended next step for each item, including where a specialist measurement is required
- Dates: when the inspection took place and when the report was issued
- A plain-English summary you can read in five minutes, and a detailed schedule your lawyer or the developer can work through line by line
The report is written in English or German, whichever you need. It is structured so that it can be attached to a Mängelrüge without being rewritten.
What this is not
Being clear about the limits is part of the job.
- It is a visual, non-invasive inspection. Nothing is opened up, no finishes are removed, no pipework or cabling is exposed. What sits behind a closed element can be measured and assessed, but not proven.
- Cause analysis often needs a specialist. Electrical safety requires a licensed Elektrokontrolleur. Ventilation and heating performance require measurement by the relevant trade. Where that is the right next step, the report says so and says why, rather than guessing.
- It is not legal advice. The report describes the building. Your rights, your deadlines and the wording of any notification are for your lawyer. Nothing here is a statement about how a court would decide, and no outcome is promised.
- It is not a valuation. Market value is a separate discipline and a separate instruction.
How the handover works in practice
- Before the date. Send the Baubeschrieb, the plans, the purchase or works contract and any earlier defect lists. Reading these first is what makes the inspection specific rather than generic.
- On the day. We attend the Abnahme with you, walk the property room by room, and record findings as we go. You are welcome to walk it with us, and most clients do. Nothing is signed off as accepted until it has been recorded.
- Within 24 hours. You receive the written report with photographs, ratings and recommended next steps.
- Afterwards. You or your lawyer use the report as the basis of the notification. If a specialist check is needed, you have it named in writing.
When to book
As soon as the handover date is set. The inspection has to happen at the Abnahme, and those dates move. If your date is already close, say so when you enquire and you will get an honest answer about whether it can be covered rather than an optimistic one.
If the handover has already happened and you are inside your notification period, an inspection is still worth doing. Bring the date of handover or discovery when you enquire, because it determines how much time there is.
Who carries out the inspection
Alice Carpenter. BSc (Hons) Building Surveying, London, on a course accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Eleven years in technical due diligence, building defects and valuation, across offices, hotels, care homes, logistics and residential portfolios in the DACH region. DESAG-certified, seal B/250907. Native English speaker, working also in German.
The practice is based in Germany, in Berlin, and works in Switzerland as a cross-border service provider, to Swiss standards including the SIA norms. Professional indemnity insurance is in place. Building surveying is not a protected profession in the canton of Zurich.
Currently working towards MRICS. No Swiss certification and no claim to one is made on this page.
If you are a lawyer or adviser considering instructing us, the for lawyers and advisers page sets out the scope and the limits in full. If you are buying rather than taking handover of a new build, see the pre-purchase survey instead.