I am looking for some advice. I am in the early stages of a RE project for my main residency. I am based in Swiss Romande and I am looking to build a house from scratch, ideally on the mountains (> 1000m).
My question is around the project itself. I know that Switzerland is very well regulated (for a good reason, and I guess regulations differ by canton) regarding the type of houses you can build and materials but I am wondering how “atypical” a house can actually be. Is it possible to build something very different than a “conventional” house, villa, building appartment, chalet?
I am looking to do a very “ecological” type of housing, like a swedish naturhus or Earthships for example. Is that even possible here?
I guess that certain mountain village are required to maintain a certain architectural homogeneity, which makes sense. I am wondering why there are no this types of architectures in Switzerland, if anywone knows… Additionally, if you know companies, architects,… that may help in guiding this project I would be interested.
Walter Andreas Müller, one of the more famous actor/comedians of a past generation lives in a “earthhouse”, so at least something like this seems possible:
I’d consult with local architects in your desired places and explore with them what is realistically feasible in the given canton or municipality. You might even be able to have these exploratory discussions without getting charged to find the suitable place / architect.*
Maybe an “earth house” isn’t really what you want, but maybe talking to them will give you pointers to people who can realize what you have in mind and maybe also tell you where this is feasible.
* Pretty sure the architect of your choice will charge for the actual project to compensate for their “free” initial consulting.
Yeah, see my edit above, I would start with talking to this guy: Peter Vetsch - vetsch architektur. Maybe he can point you to his architect friends who do things that you have in mind.
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but construction laws and rules in Switzerland (not even local rules in terms of architecture) make it difficult to build something “different” in Switzerland.
For instance, Tiny houses could be popular, but the fact that they need to be connected to the sewage and electricity networks makes it difficult to build such atypical houses cost-effectively (or defeats the purpose: if the tiny house isn’t mobile, it doesn’t really make sense to build one).
Switzerland needs to open to more eco-friendly and “light” buildings.
You are right that regulations vary from place to place; in fact, they vary by municipality.
What I would suggest at this stage is to find the PAcom (plan d’affectation communal) of each municipality you’re interested in. This document lists all the rules you must follow to receive a building permit. Please note that each municipality is segmented into different zones with specific sets of rules.
You could then directly contact the municipality (the “bureau technique” department) if you have a good idea of what you would like to do.
Otherwise, I would recommend hiring an architect for a feasibility study, as it will certainly reduce the lengthy back-and-forth with the authorities at this stage of the project.
In any case, this sounds like a great project, and I wish you all success with it!
My partner works in this area. There are two possible laws. Outside of the building zone, the regulations are defined by the RPG 2 (in German) (Fedlex). This is a federal law and the cantons and municipalities have little room for deviations.
In the building zones, regulations can vary.
When reading the comments above, it seems you’re not really talking about the building zone. Be very careful. I know that even architects are sometimes (often) not aware of the strict regulations. In general, it’s usually not allowed to build something new outside of the building zone. So, if planning something like this, consider talking to the cantonal authorities before spending too much money.
Yes, sure, I was aware of this and it was an idea that I quickly discarded. I guess that our project is bigger and it will for sure be connected to the system. I guess that there is no issue to be connected to the system and only using it when I run out of energy with my solar panels and so on, right? In any case, I don’t think a house is capable of producing 100% of the energy needed the whole year, specially during the winter.
Ah great, that kind of information is what I needed too, thanks! I am already looking at this and found interesting information to start with
I think this is the most important aspect actually. As I understand this law, a construction permit can be delivered for buildings not related to agriculture according to the article 24d. It is not clear to me what are the specific limitations as this looks very broad (sorry, I read the french version):
"Article 24 En dérogation à l’art. 22, al. 2, let. a, des autorisations peuvent être délivrées pour de nouvelles constructions ou installations ou pour tout changement d’affectation si: a. l’implantation de ces constructions ou installations hors de la zone à bâtir est imposée par leur destination; b. aucun intérêt prépondérant ne s’y oppose."
I guess I will spend time reading this to try to understanding well before contacting architects and communes so I don’t come with a crazy idea that they will instantly reject!
I don’t know about future changes but that bit you’ve quoted about new constructions that require a specific location outside of the building area usually applies to public or more rarely business infrastructures (think tapwater reservoir or hydropower plant, for example). New housing very seldom absolutely has to be made outside of the building area.
Renovating is more lax and exceptions, in particular, can be granted for patrimonial reasons (preserving the appearance of the building - which probably complicates things for you).
Hmm yes, that’s how I understood that as well. Another idea would be to become a farmer… but that’s not in my plans!
I have another -very naive- question. If I buy a land like for example this one https://neho.ch/fr/a-vendre/terrains/canton/berne/2613-villeret-15
(not looking to buy this, it is just a random example in a random search), it means that I can build ““whathever”” I want on it as long as it enters in the “Plan d’affectation” of the Commune/Geimende? Because this land is within the building zone, right?
Some municipalities fall within the scope of the Lex Weber and new construction can only be used as main residency (which is what you’re after but can alter resellability). They’re shown in slate blue here: Maps of Switzerland - Swiss Confederation - map.geo.admin.ch
That’s not the case here. In any case, you should theoretically be able to build what you want if it follows the legislation (federal, cantonal and municipal). For that particular plot of land, Neho provides very little information without an account and I would want to at least know in what zoning area it is located in order to assess whether my project could be done on it or not.
Strange things can happen in some of the smaller municipalities. There sometimes can be some back and forth with the local authorities who might try to force some changes in the project even if the law/code doesn’t support their claims. Neighbors can also oppose the project (though they won’t have a foot to stand on if your project falls within the boundaries of the law) and that can also make the project more complicated. In some situations, you may have to lawyer up even though you’d be likely to win in the end.
That’s another reason why local knowledge is useful and a way in which a local architect or general contractor can help.
it means that I can build ““whathever”” I want on it as long as it enters in the “Plan d’affectation” of the Commune/Geimende? Because this land is within the building zone, right?
I am not sure what you mean exactly by “whatever”, but between all the regulations there’s not a whole lot of space left for choice. Your whatever will have a lot of * next to it.
I’m currently in the process of trying to get a building permit, for what should be a straightforward case (no derogations requested, very typical construction in a new neighbourhood, …), and it’s a nightmare.
Like, apparently it’s mandatory to have dedicated outside parking spaces for bicycles, one per bedroom/office room. Or after having to remove a roof window from the attic because otherwise the room would be considered too liveable (and thus the ratio of the overall liveable area over the ground area would be too high), now we have to remove the stairs (and rely on folding stairs) for the same reason.
I’m no architect, so maybe there’s still space to get something a bit atypical that fits the countless regulations, but given how painful they’ve been about windows, I don’t see the greenhouse-like homes having any chance for instance.
Or maybe my (future, maybe at this rate) town is particularly strict.
Hi, yes, that may be a bit discouraging! The “whatever” was quite optimistic, yes… I meant wathever fit the regulations of the commune, which is actually a very restrictive sets of rules.
I am seeing next year and architect to discuss what the possibilities are… I guess that these rules you are describing are a generality in Switzerland and I am hoping to find somme communes (where I can see myself living) with a bit more relaxed rules. The main thing is get a very competent architect that knows very well how all these regulations works because otherwise is a very exhausting process of adapting a hundred times the project before getting the building permit.
In your case, your architect is not supossed to know that a bicycle parking was needed and the attic roof windows was not allowed or these rules are not really written anywhere? This is not part of the “plan d’affectation”?
In your case, your architect is not supossed to know that a bicycle parking was needed and the attic roof windows was not allowed or these rules are not really written anywhere? This is not part of the “plan d’affectation”?
Yes and no. A lot of regulations are very local (they change, often subtly, for every municipality), so an architect will never know them by heart for everywhere. And I guess there are spread all over the place, and change regularly, so missing one or two is probably expected. There are like thousands. Others, like the stairs stuff, are subjective: the architect had already made sure the roof was low enough, and the windows were too small/few not to be considered liveable space. But apparently that’s not enough, and they really want to make sure you won’t use the space.
Plan d’affectation is a lot more high level from what I understand. It’s essentially “this place will have low density housing, this place medium density, this zone is commercial”. In some places, it will be a more detailed, like “chalet only”, but it won’t be the document describing what a chalet is, how big the windows can be, whether solar panels are mandatory, what standard the used water pipes need to be and so on.
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