Glossary
The key terms of the cadastre, zoning and building rights in Switzerland, explained simply and connected to what you can do with your parcel.
The noise sensitivity level classifies each land-use zone according to the noise admissible there. Article 43 of the Swiss Noise Abatement Ordinance defines four, from level I (heightened protection) to level IV (industrial zones). The level assigned to your parcel drives the requirements applying to a project.
The EGRID is the unique federal identifier of a property recorded in the Swiss official cadastral survey. Made of fourteen characters beginning with CH, it designates a parcel unambiguously across the whole country and does not change as ownership changes. It is the key to a parcel's official data.
A building permit is the decision by which the municipal authority authorises a construction, an alteration or a change of use. Article 22 of the federal Spatial Planning Act makes it compulsory for any building or installation. The procedure — a public application and notice period — is governed by cantonal law.
The plan d'aménagement local (PAL) is the municipal instrument governing land use in the canton of Neuchâtel. It combines the plans — including the zoning plan — with the written prescriptions that accompany them, namely the planning regulations. It is adopted by the municipality and approved by the cantonal government.
A neighbourhood plan or detailed land-use plan is a binding plan that specifies, supplements or replaces municipal rules within a defined perimeter. It typically governs siting, volumes, heights, access and outdoor spaces. Cantonal names vary — plan de quartier, PPA, Quartierplan, Gestaltungsplan — for the same family of instruments.
Condominium ownership — propriété par étages (PPE), Stockwerkeigentum (STWE) — is the regime under articles 712a ff. of the Swiss Civil Code by which each owner holds an exclusive right over a defined part of a building, their unit, plus a co-ownership quota in the whole. Common parts belong to everyone.
The RDPPF — Public-Law Restrictions on Landownership — is Switzerland's official cadastral extract listing, parcel by parcel, the binding restrictions set by public law: zoning, protected perimeters, building lines, noise-sensitivity levels or water protection. Published through the federal ÖREB cadastre, it is authoritative for anyone buying, renovating or building.
The RegBL is the Federal Register of Buildings and Dwellings, maintained by the Federal Statistical Office. It assigns an EGID to every building and an EWID to every dwelling, and publishes the construction period, number of floors, use, energy reference area and heating energy source. Known as GWR in German.
Gross floor area — surface brute de plancher (SBP), Bruttogeschossfläche (BGF), superficie utile lorda (SUL) — is the sum of a building's floor areas measured to the outer face of the walls, expressing its construction capacity. It is the numerator of the land utilisation index used across Switzerland.
The energy reference area (SRE, or Energiebezugsfläche in German) is the sum of a building's heated or air-conditioned floor areas under standard SIA 380/1. It is the denominator of energy performance indicators and the basis on which cantonal subsidies paid per square metre are calculated.
The building zone (zone à bâtir, Bauzone) is the land that a Swiss municipal land-use plan assigns to construction. It is delimited under article 15 of the federal Spatial Planning Act and may not exceed the foreseeable needs of fifteen years. Outside its perimeter, building is allowed only exceptionally.
