211.432.2 — OMU
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
of 18 November 1992 (Status as of 1 January 2024)
The Swiss Federal Council,
based on Article 48 a paragraph 1 of the Government and Administration Organisation Act of 21 March 1997 1 ,
Article 38 paragraph 1 of the final title of the Civil Code (CC) 2 and
Articles 5 paragraph 2, 6 paragraph 1, 7, 9 paragraph 2, 12 paragraph 2,
14 paragraph 2, 29 paragraph 3, 31 paragraph 3, 32 paragraph 2, 33 paragraph 3,
38 paragraph 1quater and 46 paragraph 4 of the Geoinformation Act of 5 October 2007 3 (GeoIA9), 4
ordains:
Official cadastral surveying:
Official cadastral surveying is governed by the Geoinformation Ordinance of 21 May 2008 7 (GeoIO), unless there are special provisions in this present Ordinance.
When preparing technical standards and other federal requirements that fall within the scope of this Ordinance but do not exclusively concern the Federal Administration, the Confederation shall ensure the participation of the cantons and the consultation of partner organisations in an appropriate manner.
The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) shall define the strategic plan for official cadastral surveying in consultation with the cantonal authorities responsible.
The cantons shall prepare implementation plans, which shall serve as the basis for the conclusion of programme agreements in accordance with Article 31 paragraph 2 GeoIA.
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Provisions concerning the surveying of military installations that derogate from those in this Ordinance are reserved.
Where military installations are transferred to civilian use, the DDPS shall regulate the procedure for their inclusion in the official cadastral survey and the allocation of costs. 11
The components of the official cadastral survey are:
The DDPS shall regulate the details, in particular the products derived from the official cadastral survey data. Article 7 is reserved.
The DDPS shall define the requirements for the geodata model for official cadastral surveying, in particular with regard to content, dimensions, accuracy and reliability. The geodata model may have a modular structure.
Cantonal extensions to the geodata model are not permitted.
The land register plan is an analogue or digital extract from the official cadastral survey data.
It shall contain as a minimum the data on:
The minimum content of the plan has the effect of being recorded in the land register (Art. 971-974 CC).
The cantons may, in addition to the official cadastral survey data, require boundaries of easements to be indicated, provided their positions are clearly defined on the ground.
The Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) and the DDPS shall jointly determine the requirements for the land register plan and other extracts, in particular with regard to content and presentation.
Marking involves establishing boundaries and placing boundary markers (monumentation).
Marking is required for territorial boundaries, property boundaries and boundaries of distinct and permanent rights over others’ land (easements), provided the latter can be clearly delimited by boundary lines. Article 17 is reserved. 19
The cantons shall enact regulations on the procedure for legally valid marking in accordance with this Ordinance.
In general, boundaries shall be established by inspecting the location.
The cantons may specify that boundaries be established on the basis of plans, aerial photographs or other suitable means:
A valid boundary line between two adjacent border points may be a straight line or an arc.
In the initial survey, or when finalising or updating the survey, a simple boundary line should be aimed for. Existing boundary lines should be improved where possible.
Discrepancies between the cadastral survey data and the situation on the terrain or between the land register plan and other official cadastral survey plans shall be resolved ex officio, taking into account Article 668 paragraph 2 of the Swiss Civil Code.
Boundary markers shall be placed so that boundaries are permanently identifiable on the ground or can be found by simple means.
As a rule, the boundary markers must be placed before the boundaries are surveyed for the first time. 25
Individual boundary markers may be placed after the data is recorded in accordance with paragraph 1:
The boundary markers that are missing in accordance with paragraph 2 must be placed as soon as circumstances allow.
If boundaries are defined by natural or artificial limits that are permanent and clearly identifiable, monumentation is generally not required.
The cantons may provide for further exceptions, in particular:
An initial survey is the production of the components of official cadastral surveying in areas that have not been previously subject to a fully approved cadastral survey and in areas defined in Article 51 paragraphs 3 and 4.
Finalisation is defined as the revision or expansion of a fully recognised official cadastral survey in order to adapt it to current regulations. 29
Updating is the modification of the components of official cadastral surveying to reflect changes in the legal or factual circumstances.
The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying 30 may issue directives concerning methods for initial survey, finalisation and updating.
The position and height references for official cadastral surveying are governed by Articles 4 and 5 GeoIO 32 .
The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying and the competent cantonal authority shall plan official cadastral surveying on the basis of a programme agreement.
The canton shall determine when individual surveys are to be carried out. It shall regulate the consultation procedure.
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All components of the official cadastral survey are subject to updating.
In cases where a reporting system for updating can be organised, the components of the official cadastral survey shall be updated within one year of a change occurring.
The cantons may, after consulting the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying, provide for different time limits in justified cases.
They shall regulate the reporting system.
All data that is not subject to continuous updating shall be updated periodically.
Each periodic updating process must cover a large area forming a cohesive whole.
The periodic updating cycle should, if possible, correspond to that of the National Land Survey. It shall not exceed twelve years. The DDPS shall regulate the details of updating. 36
All of the components of official cadastral surveying are subject to verification of quality and completeness by the cantonal oversight authority for surveying in accordance with the directives of the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying;
After completion of an initial survey or the finalisation of an official cadastral survey and the elimination of discrepancies in accordance with Article 14 a where the rights of landowners are affected, a public inspection procedure with objection procedures shall be arranged. 41
The subject of the public inspection procedure is the land register plan for the area concerned and other extracts from the official cadastral survey data relating to the maintenance of the land register.
The cantons shall regulate the procedure, subject to the following principles:
The cantons may stipulate that the public inspection procedure be conducted and official notice thereof be given exclusively by electronic means. 45
After completion of the public inspection procedure and after first instance objections have been dealt with, the competent cantonal authority shall approve the cadastral survey data, the extracts derived from them and, in particular, the land register plan, irrespective of any disputes yet to be resolved by court action, provided that the data meet the technical and quality requirements under federal law. 47
This approval confers the probative value of official public documents on the cadastral survey work.
The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying shall recognise the cadastral survey if:
It shall specify the documents to be submitted by the competent cantonal authority.
The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying may authorise pilot projects relating to official cadastral surveying in individual cantons or in specific geographical areas in order to test and develop:
The DDPS shall, with the agreement of the federal authorities concerned, issue in a separate ordinance for the pilot project concerned the provisions that derogate from:
Pilot projects must be for a limited period and must be evaluated.
The components of the official cadastral survey must be managed so as to guarantee their continued existence, integrity and quality at all times.
The DDPS shall regulate the technical and organisational requirements for administration, in particular data security, as well as archiving and historicisation in accordance with Articles 13-16 GeoIO 55 . 56
Repealed
Any person may have access to the official cadastral survey data on demand, in accordance with the regulations in Articles 10–13 GeoIA.
The canton shall designate the agency which is to be responsible for deciding on access and use and for providing extracts and derived products.
The Federal Office of Topography shall operate a geoservice for networked access to cadastral surveying data (Art. 36 let. e GeoIO 58 ). 59
Extracts and derived products from official cadastral surveying should be provided together with the available metadata, including, as a minimum, information on the currency, quality and completeness of the data.
Access to official cadastral survey data must be guaranteed by means of a download service.
The DDPS shall regulate the technical and organisational details of the service.
It may provide for other interfaces.
Certified extracts are extracts from the official cadastral survey data in analogue (hard copy) or digital form whose conformity with the definitive official cadastral survey data has been authenticated by a registered surveyor who is authorised to certify extracts under Article 46 a paragraph 1 letter b. 61
Certified extracts are official public documents in accordance with Article 9 of the Swiss Civil Code.
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Unless the exchange of data among authorities is regulated by an agreement under Article 14 paragraph 3 GeoIA, payment for the supply of official cadastral survey data to federal authorities shall be based solely on the time involved and the order-related costs.
The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying (FDCA) is the specialist federal agency. The FDCS is headed by a registered surveyor. 65
The FDCS is responsible for the overall management and oversight of all aspects of official cadastral surveying.
The FDCS shall ensure the implementation and enforcement of regulations on the technical and quality requirements for official cadastral surveying. 66
The FCDS shall, in cooperation with the cantons, the Federal Office for Land Registry and Real Estate Law and the partner organisations, ensure the continual development of the geodata model for official cadastral surveying; it may set up working groups for this purpose. 67
The FDCS shall also ensure coordination between official cadastral surveying and other federal surveying programmes, advise the federal authorities on the acquisition of official cadastral survey data, and represent the interests of the Confederation in dealings with the cantons and third parties. 68
In cooperation with the cantonal surveying oversight authorities, the FDCS is entitled to process data on individual surveying projects and on the contractors responsible therefor. 69
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The canton shall appoint the agency (the Oversight Authority for Surveying) responsible for the oversight of official cadastral surveying. This agency shall be headed by a registered surveyor, who shall not be subject to directives on technical matters. 74
The Oversight Authority for Surveying shall manage, monitor and verify the official cadastral surveying work. It shall ensure the coordination of the official cadastral surveying work with other surveying programmes and geoinformation systems. 75
If a canton is unable to fulfil its oversight role due to its actual circumstances, it may delegate its responsibilities in whole or in part to the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying, subject to repayment of the costs involved.
The cantons may delegate survey oversight to each other or establish joint institutions for survey oversight. 76
The DDPS may conclude a rescindable fixed-term agreement under international law with the Principality of Liechtenstein covering the full or partial delegation of survey oversight for Liechtenstein to the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying.
The canton is responsible for carrying out official cadastral surveying.
The canton shall appoint the agency which is to be responsible for the original and definitive data set of official cadastral surveying.
The work of official cadastral surveying may only be carried out by registered surveyors not subject to directives, or under their technical supervision.
The DDPS may permit the conduct of official cadastral surveying work by other specialists provided the quality of their work satisfies the requirements for official cadastral surveying and the work does not relate to the minimum content of the land register plan in accordance with Article 7 paragraph 2 or territorial boundaries.
The award of contracts for work such as marking, initial survey, finalisation, periodic updating and provisional digitising must comply with the regulations on public procurement in force in the canton.
Official cadastral surveying work to be carried out in a specific geographical area must be the subject of a public invitation to tender.
The FDJP and the DDPS shall jointly regulate the main aspects of electronic business transactions between the official cadastral surveying offices and the land register offices.
The cantons shall otherwise regulate the relations between official cadastral surveying and the land register.
The cantons shall determine which registered surveyors:
The electronic issue of certified extracts shall be governed by the Ordinance of 8 December 2017 83 on the Issue of Electronic Public Documents and Electronic Certifications.
The subject matter of programme agreements between the Federal Office of Topography and cantons are in particular:
A programme agreement shall have a duration of four years. Sub-goals may be agreed for a shorter duration.
The canton shall submit a report to the Federal Office of Topography each year on the use of the contributions.
The Federal Office of Topography shall carry out random checks on:
The Federal Office of Topography shall withhold payment, in whole or in part, of instalments of federal contributions during the programme if the canton:
If it becomes apparent after the programme that performance was inadequate, the Federal Office of Topography shall request the canton to remedy the situation; it shall specify an appropriate period for doing so.
If performance is still inadequate after this period, the Federal Office of Topography shall request repayment to cover the value of inadequate performance, together with interest of 5 per cent (Art. 28 para. 2 of the Subsidies Act of 5 October 1990 89 ).
The rules on calculating the federal contribution to the funding for official cadastral surveying are set out in the Annex.
The only allowable costs are those incurred in accordance with the regulations and in the cost-effective execution of the task.
The following costs are not allowable:
For work that was awarded in accordance with the regulations on public procurement, the allowable costs shall correspond to the stipulated price, subject to Article 47 d .
For work that was not awarded in accordance with the regulations on public procurement, the canton shall fix the allowable compensation in accordance with current market rates.
Compensation fixed by the canton requires the approval of the Confederation.
A flat-rate federal contribution may be agreed in the programme agreement instead of the allowable costs.
The cantons shall specify who is to be responsible for the remaining costs after deduction of the federal contribution.
The following are repealed:
Provisionally approved surveys must be modified by an initial survey (resurvey) in accordance with the new regulations.
Fully approved surveys must be finalised subject to the reservation of paragraph 3.
The DDPS shall regulate which fully approved surveys carried out under the regulations in force before 10 June 1919 must be replaced by initial survey (resurvey) in accordance with the new regulations.
In fully approved surveys based on fixed point networks that are not in the national coordinate system, the adjustment of the control network to satisfy the new regulations is deemed to be equivalent to an initial survey. 101
Surveys approved in accordance with this Ordinance are considered to be valid surveys under the new regulations. 102
The cantonal oversight authority for surveying shall determine whether initial surveys and finalisation that began less than two years after this Ordinance comes into force are to be conducted in accordance with the old or the new regulations.
The cantonal oversight authority for surveying shall decide, in consultation with the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying, whether, and if necessary to what extent, surveys in progress at the time this Ordinance comes into force should be completed in accordance with the new regulations.
The cantonal oversight authority for surveying shall, in consultation with the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying, decide whether, and if necessary to what extent, surveys carried out under the old regulations should be updated in accordance with the new regulations.
The cantons may decide that original general maps or reproductions thereof may continue to be drawn up until the cadastral surveying data required for their replacement becomes available.
Existing general maps must continue to be updated in areas for which the cadastral surveying data necessary for their replacement is not yet available.
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Provisional digitisation is considered to be covered under special measures for the preservation of land parcel surveys in accordance with Article 5 paragraph 3 of the Federal Decree of 20 March 1992 107 on Compensation for Official Cadastral Surveying. 108
Provisional digitisation is defined as the conversion of a provisionally or fully approved cadastral surveys under the old regulations into a digital form that does not or does not fully satisfy the requirements of the new cadastral surveying regulations.
Provisionally digitised surveys are deemed to be surveys under the old regulations.
The DDPS shall specify the requirements for provisional digitisation.
Until the agreement in accordance with Article 14 paragraph 3 GeoIA comes into force, data supplied to the federal authorities from official cadastral surveying shall be charged for only in accordance with actual time and associated costs.
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If the DDPS amends the requirements for the geodata model (Art. 6), it shall regulate the transition from the current to the amended geodata model.
In doing so, it shall specify which current provisions of this Ordinance on the geodata model continue to apply for a limited period.
The information level for pipelines shall be abrogated in the following stages:
This Ordinance comes into force on 1 January 1993.
(Art. 47 c )
When calculating the federal contribution to the funding for cantonal projects in accordance with Article 47 c , the following percentages apply; they determine the share of allowable costs in accordance with Articles 47 d and 48:
1. Initial survey:a.for built-up areas and building zones (Zone I): 15 per cent;b.for agricultural and forest land in valleys according to the agricultural production register (Zone II): 30 per cent;c.for agricultural and forest land in mountainous and summer pasture areas according to the agricultural production register (Zone III): 45 per cent.
2. New surveyIf a survey that was carried out in accordance with the regulations that applied before 10 June 1919 is replaced, the values in Number 1 apply.
3. Finalisation:a.for built-up areas and building zones (Zone I): 15 per cent;b.for agricultural and forest land in valleys according to the agricultural production register (Zone II): 20 per cent;c.for agricultural and forest land in mountainous and summer pasture areas according to the agricultural production register (Zone III): 35 per cent;d.in the case of overall improvements and land reallotments in agriculture and forestry, provided the Confederation does not make payments for the same purpose under other legislation and provided these costs are not borne by third parties: 25 per cent.
4. MarkingMarking of territorial and property boundaries for agricultural and forest land in mountainous and summer pasture areas according to the agricultural production register (Zone III), provided the canton bears an appropriate share of the costs: 25 per cent.
5. Measures following natural eventsFor measures carried out following natural events or permanent landslip incidents and which are equivalent to an initial survey, the rates for an initial survey and marking apply.
6. Special adjustments and periodical updating:a.for special adjustments of exceptional national interest, provided the canton demonstrates that the funding is guaranteed: 60 per cent;b.for the costs of periodical updates that are not borne by the person responsible and the funding of which according to information from the canton is guaranteed, for each period in accordance with Article 24 paragraph 3: 60 per cent.
7. Pilot projectsInnovative pilot projects to develop official cadastral surveying and to test new technologies: 50–90 per cent, depending on the innovative content and the federal interest.