Documents for selling your house – and the file that saves tax

Do I need a GEAK or an electrical inspection to sell?

No law in the Canton of Zurich requires a GEAK, the cantonal building energy certificate, when you sell. The Energy Act only allows the cantonal government to require one for certain buildings.¹⁴ In 2008, the government called it a «voluntary instrument».¹⁵

Electrics are different. If the last inspection of the electrical installation was more than five years ago, a new one is due on every change of ownership. This applies to ordinary homes too.¹⁶ The ordinance calls the resulting document a safety certificate (Sicherheitsnachweis). The owner is responsible for the installation being safe.¹⁶ Who arranges and pays for the inspection on a sale is something to clarify with the notary’s office. It asks for the date of the last inspection.⁷

The heating can leave a mark in the land register. If financial hardship is claimed when a heating system is replaced, the authority can grant a deferral. At most until three years after the next change of ownership, noted in the land register.¹⁴ In practice, this means the deadline keeps running for the buyer. Whether such a deferral is noted, you can see in the land register extract.

What if the property is in the register of polluted sites?

The register of polluted sites (Kataster der belasteten Standorte, KbS), often simply called the contaminated sites register, lists a good 5,700 sites in the Canton of Zurich, on just under 2 per cent of its area (as of February 2022).¹⁹ If your property is listed, the sale itself needs a permit. This also applies to inheritance and gifts.^{17 18}

For light-yellow and dark-yellow entries, the canton treats the permit as generally granted. You go straight to the notary’s office. Blue, orange and red entries always need a permit from the cantonal Office for Waste, Water, Energy and Air (AWEL). The seller or the notary’s office applies.¹⁸

A look at the canton’s GIS browser shows whether there is an entry.¹⁸

Which extra documents do I need to sell a flat?

With a flat under Swiss condominium ownership (Stockwerkeigentum), important papers sit with the property management. Later changes to the owners’ rules apply even without a note in the land register, and they bind the buyer.^{23 24} In older buildings, often only the seller and the management can say reliably which exclusive use rights apply, such as to a parking space.²⁴ More on this under selling a flat.

• Deed of establishment and allocation plansThey set out the division and the value quota, the flat’s share in the value of the whole building.²³ The land registry keeps the original plans. They are not official plans. Whether they match the building is for the buyer to check.³⁴
• The current rules with all amendmentsAsk the management for them, not just for the version in the land register.²⁴
• Parking rights and parking space numberThe parking space is often listed only in the rules, sometimes as an easement in the land register.^{24 7}
• Balance of the renewal fundThe notary offices recommend stating the saved share in the contract, and whether it is included in the price.²⁵
• Annual accounts, minutes, confirmation from the managementFor contributions from the last three years, the owners’ association can demand that a lien be registered, against the buyer too. So the notary offices recommend a confirmation that everything is paid.^{23 25}
• Official dwelling numberIt must appear in the contract. The municipal building office provides it; in the City of Zurich, Statistik Stadt Zürich.⁷

Selling for your parents: is a power of attorney enough?

Not always. An ordinary power of attorney generally lapses when the person can no longer decide for themselves, for example with advanced dementia. Unless something else was agreed.⁶

For that case, Swiss law has the advance care directive (Vorsorgeauftrag), a power of attorney for the time when you can no longer decide yourself. It is written entirely by hand, dated and signed, or recorded as a public deed.²⁶ Only a person with legal capacity can make one.²⁶ That is why the family conversation is worth having early.

It only takes effect once the adult protection authority (KESB) has checked it. The authority then issues a document to the appointed person. The notary’s office needs that document.²⁶

Without an advance care directive, a spouse may be able to represent the person by law. To sell the house, though, they need the KESB’s consent. The same applies if a deputy (Beistand), a representative appointed by the KESB, acts.²⁶ Clarify the form of the power of attorney with the notary’s office in advance. More on later life under care and later life.

Why do complete documents also protect you as the seller?

As the seller, you are liable for defects, even ones you did not know about.⁶ The notary offices cite examples such as contaminated soil, a faulty heating system or undisclosed tenancies.²⁹ Excluding the warranty, the liability for defects, is very common. It never covers defects concealed on purpose.^{6 29}

Since 1 January 2026, for every property purchase: the buyer has 60 days to report a defect, for a hidden defect from when it is discovered. Shorter periods are invalid. The buyer’s claims become time-barred five years after acquiring ownership.⁶ For older houses, excluding the warranty remains possible, as I read the new law.

What this means for you: disclose what you know about the house, and back it with documents. That protects you, too.

Which documents does the buyer receive at the handover?

Existing tenancies pass to the buyer together with ownership. The purchase contract must set out what happens to them.^{6 7} For flats, the current owners’ rules with all amendments belong in the handover, because they bind the buyer.²⁴

The owner must keep the technical records of the electrical installation, such as diagrams and plans, for its whole life.¹⁶ As I read it, they therefore belong with the house and go to the buyer.

Private insurance for the building itself passes to the buyer. The buyer may refuse it in writing or another text form within 30 days.²² Contents insurance and your own liability cover do not transfer; you adjust them yourself. The land registry informs the building insurer of the change of owner automatically.³⁰

You tell the electricity and water utility about the handover and arrange a date for the meter to be read.⁷

What applies to property gains tax after signing?

The seller owes the property gains tax.⁸ The tax return for it goes to the municipal tax office within 30 days of the transfer, the change of ownership in the land register. The deadline can be extended.⁸

The property itself is liable for the tax through a statutory lien. That is why the tax is usually secured in the purchase contract.^{8 31} The municipality’s assessment is binding. What you can document by then helps decide the figure.