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      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Basic cadastral surveying plan

      The basic cadastral surveying plan serves as a background plan in raster form. It may also be superimposed with additional thematic data.
      Themes Description
      Collection of the cadastral surveying data

      Learn more about Swiss cadastral surveying methods and measuring technology and geographic information system (GIS) data processing.
      Cadastral Surveying
      see
      Objectives & work methods
      Benefits & results
      Methods & data models
      The Swiss Cadastral Survey provides data relating to landownership and is the basis for a variety of geographic data and applications.
      CadastralWebMap-WMS

      CadastralWebMap WMS is a presentation service, providing digital cadastral surveying data in reduced form.
      Cadastralinfo – real estate data

      Use the Cadastralinfo service to access data relating to the Swiss cadastral system and to find plot numbers in Switzerland.
      Cadastral surveying status

      Overview of the status of the cadastral surveying and the standard of quality of the collected data.
      Cadastral survey data – procurement
      see
      Collection of the cadastral surveying data
      Utilisation of data
      Cadastral survey data are collected, managed and updated by the cantons. Here you can access the geoportals of the cantons.
      Themes Description
      Details for contact form

      Themes Description
      Extracts from the PLR-cadastre

      Get extracts from the Cadastre of Public-law Restrictions on landownership (PLR Cadastre) as an online map or a Pdf document.
      Themes Description
      Fundamentals of surveying

      Learn about geodetic fundamentals of Switzerland's Cadastral Surveying: coordinates, reference system and reference frame.
      Themes Description
      Geographic names

      The cadastral surveying enables standardisation of geographic names in Switzerland, including district, place, street and station names.
      GeoMeta-WMS

      The GeoMeta Web Map Service provides information about cadastral surveying status and the continuous adaptation process of official geodata.
      GNSS – low distortion areas

      This dataset provides information about the locations of low distortion areas, i.e. areas with a high degree of geometric precision.
      Themes Description
      History of the Swiss cadastral system

      The Swiss cadastral system is undergoing constant development – this page presents some milestones.
      Themes Description
      Information material & shop

      The information material about the world of Swiss cadastral surveying is available from the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying.
      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Legal bases

      Overview of the legal bases for the cadastral surveying and the PLR-cadastre
      Land registry offices

      In Switzerland, cantons are responsible for keeping records in their land registers. Access is usually organised through municipality.
      Land Registry

      Landowners’ rights in Switzerland are officially recorded in the Land Register. Together with the PLR Cadastre, this is the basis for safeguarding landownership.
      Themes Description
      MOpublic – simplified data model

      MOpublic is the simplified version of the cadastral surveying data model, and has been specified as the official Swiss standard.
      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Order form

      Official directory of towns and cities

      The official directory of towns and cities is a dataset containing postal codes and corresponding perimeters. Find Swiss localities and place names here.
      Themes Description
      Photos & videos

      Find photos and video clips about the Swiss cadastral surveying system.
      Publications

      Find publications available in English about the Swiss cadastral surveying and the Cadastre of Public-law Restrictions on landownership and the land register.
      Plan for the land register

      The plan for the land register records location, form and content of a plot of land. This is the most foundation for safeguarding landownership in Switzerland.
      PLR Cadastre
      see
      Objectives & organisation of the PLR Cadastre
      Content & products of the PLR Cadastre
      Further development of the PLR Cadastre
      The Cadastre of Public Law Restrictions on Landownership is the official information system concerning public-law restrictions on landownership in Switzerland.
      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Register of surveyors

      Only those persons who are listed in the register of surveyors are authorised to independently carry out cadastral surveying tasks.
      Themes Description
      Swiss cadastral system: portrait & mandate

      The cadastral system makes the real estate market transparent and creates the prerequisites for investment and economic development.
      Status of periodical update

      Overview of the status of the periodical update of the cadastral survey
      Swiss cadastral system: organisation

      The federal government is the supervisory authority for the Swiss cadastral system, while the cantons are responsible for its operational management.
      Themes Description
      Training & further education

      The cadastral surveying system offers a variety of attractive and specialised jobs for people with various levels of education, ranging from surveyors to geodata managers.
      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Web Map Services – Internet presentation

      Web Map Service is the presentation service for digital usage and representation of cadastral surveying maps and plans on the Internet.
      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Themes Description
      Themes Description

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Objectives & organisation

Landownership is secured in Switzerland thanks to the entry of the ownership rights in the land register and the fact that the latter is public in nature.

The land register is an official record of the rights pertaining to plots of land. These rights encompass ownership, easements, encumbrances and liens. The constitution, amendment, assignment and cancellation of these rights are effected via entries in the land register. In certain cases, personal rights such as purchase, pre-emptive and repurchase rights, or lease and tenancy agreements, may be included in the land register.

Organisation

The federal government is the supervisory authority for the land registry system. However, there is no central land register for the entire country. The cantons are responsible for establishing their land registry offices, for defining the region covered by each land register and for the management of each register. They are authorised to charge fees for entries in the land register, and in the majority of cantons the assignment of property and the establishment of mortgages are subject to a legal transaction tax.

Depending on the canton, land registers are either kept in paper form or, to an increasing extent, in electronic form.

Land registers record landownership details and comprise the following components:

  • Main register, in which each plot of land is allocated a number and its own sheet (i.e. one sheet per plot of land)
  • Logbook
  • Plans based on the cadastral survey
  • Auxiliary registers (ownership register, creditors register
  • Receipts

The recording of plots of land in accordance with the federal legal provisions governing the land register – which is often referred to in short form as the federal land register – occurs on the basis of cadastral surveying plans. The term «plot of land» encompasses the property itself together with independent and permanent rights (e.g. building rights, resource rights), and co-ownership shares.

The cited federal legal provisions governing the land register have not yet been implemented in all cantons. Thus there are still some cantonal land registers to which not all the impacts of the federal land register apply.

Public nature of the land register

Some sections of the land register are publicly accessible.

  • Anyone may receive the following information without having to demonstrate a specific interest:
    • Designation and description of a plot of land
    • Name(s) and identity/ies of the owner(s)
    • Form of ownership
    • Date of acquisition
    • Easements and encumbrances
    • Certain remarks.
  • In addition, anyone who is able to demonstrate a plausible interest is entitled to inspect the land register in order to obtain other information (e.g. regarding mortgages), or request an extract containing the desired information.

Claiming to have no knowledge of an entry in the land register is not accepted as a valid objection in a dispute.

 The cantons may publish details of land purchase (with certain restrictions), e.g. in their local gazette or on the Internet.

  • Specific questions on the land register

Specific questions on the land register

Federal Land Registry and Real Estate Law Office
Bundesrain 20, 3003 Berne

Telephone +41 58 462 47 97
E-Mail

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