Buying a Swiss condominium: the documents to read before committing

A bright apartment and a carefully finished kitchen make it easy to picture yourself moving in. When buying a condominium apartment, known in French-speaking Switzerland as propriété par étages or PPE, you also need to understand how the building operates. Before committing, gather the documents that connect your viewing with the advertised charges and collective projects. Reading them will help you put specific questions to the seller, the property administrator and the notary.

Identify exactly what you are buying

Start with the land register extract, the deed establishing the condominium and the allocation plans. In Neuchâtel, the cantonal service provides extracts and plans filed for condominium properties. A public extract does not include everything shown in a full extract, access to which is restricted. Canton of Neuchâtel: extracts and plans.

Then match these documents to what you saw: the apartment, cellar, parking and outdoor spaces. For each additional space presented, ask which document defines the associated rights. A marketing description such as “private garden” deserves a written explanation.

Read the regulations with your plans in mind

Are you considering changing the layout, replacing equipment or using the apartment differently? Read the administration and use regulations with those needs in mind. SwissEnergy explains that condominium renovations must comply with the relevant regulations and decision-making rules. SwissEnergy: building renovation, condominium chapter.

Note any passages to clarify with the administrator before requesting quotations. Attaching a sketch of your project can make the discussion more useful than asking a general question about whether renovation is possible.

Connect meeting minutes with proposed works

Request the minutes of several recent owners’ meetings, covering the past three years, for example. This is a suggested approach to reviewing the documents, rather than a statutory review period.

Follow the same topics from year to year. Does a water leak keep recurring? Is a study under way for the heating system? Has façade renovation been discussed, priced or approved? For each significant issue, look for the decision, its funding and the timetable. Work that has merely been mentioned raises different questions from a project already commissioned.

Read the accounts alongside the maintenance programme

Request the approved accounts, current budget and, where one exists, a statement of the renovation reserve fund. The Federal Office for Housing highlights the value of coordinating maintenance, renovation and funding over time. A fund balance therefore needs to be considered alongside the planned work. Federal Office for Housing: condominium toolkit.

Ask which expenses have already been committed and how subsequent work would be funded. Clarify any announced additional contributions, their payment dates and how they will be handled in the sale.

Finish with a viewing of the building

Keep the documents handy for a second viewing. Ask to see accessible communal areas and connect your observations with the work mentioned: the roof, façades, balconies and technical installations. If something remains difficult to assess, a viewing with a professional can help establish what needs closer examination.

Before signing, bring the answers and missing documents together in one file. You can then discuss both the apartment and the wider building using concrete information.

The building file complements the financing file. Our comparison of fixed-rate and SARON mortgages helps explain the commitments attached to different offers.