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Understanding and reading an RDPPF extract

The RDPPF records the public-law restrictions enforceable against your plot. Here is what the extract contains, how to decode it theme by theme, and the limits not to forget.

3 min readUpdated on 18 June 2026
Understanding and reading an RDPPF extract
On this page
  1. What the RDPPF is
  2. What the extract contains
  3. Reading the extract theme by theme
  4. Uncertified extract or certified extract
  5. What the RDPPF does not cover

The RDPPF is arguably the most important document — and the least read — when assessing a plot. Free and official, it records the public-law restrictions that bear on your property, and it can wipe out a theoretical potential that is nonetheless compliant with the zone.

What the RDPPF is

A single extract per plot, linking each restriction to its legal basis and its plan.

RDPPF stands for public-law restrictions on landownership (the PLR cadastre). It is the French name for the corresponding federal cadastre — called OEREB (ÖREB-Kataster, the German acronym) and CDPF in Italian: one and the same cadastre, now rolled out across the whole of Switzerland. Its principle: to bring together in a single extract, plot by plot, the public-law restrictions arising from federal, cantonal and municipal law — with a systematic cross-reference to the legal bases and the plans on which they rest.

What the extract contains

The extract is organised by themes, drawn from a federal list (around fifteen themes) that the cantons may supplement. Depending on the plot, it notably includes:

  • the zoning and land-use plans (municipal and cantonal) and special plans;
  • the building lines and building limits;
  • transport infrastructure (roads, rail) and its restrictions;
  • the hazard zones (floods, landslides, avalanches);
  • the noise sensitivity levels (Environmental Protection Act / LPE);
  • the setbacks from forests and from water;
  • the contaminated sites (register of contaminated sites);
  • other sectoral themes (drinking water, pipelines, etc.).

Not all themes are documented everywhere: the roll-out and the cantonal themes vary from one canton to another.

Reading the extract theme by theme

  1. Spot the active themes

    Only the themes that concern your plot are documented; the others are flagged as not applicable or with no data.

  2. Read the restriction, not just the colour

    Each theme refers to a text and to a plan. The graphic overlay shows where; the legal cross-reference says what and with what force.

  3. Follow the legal bases

    The extract cites the applicable provisions. That is where the exact effect lies (prohibition, condition, mere information).

Uncertified extract or certified extract

Two forms coexist. The uncertified extract, free, is provided for information purposes (marked "without guarantee"): perfect for getting informed and preparing a project. The certified extract, paid for, is the only one that engages the authority's liability and protects the good faith of those who rely on it. To understand a plot, the free one is enough; to ground a contractual commitment (offer, deed), require the certified extract.

What the RDPPF does not cover

Private-law easements appear in the land register, not in the RDPPF.

Likewise, the absence of a theme from the extract does not mean the absence of any constraint: the municipal building regulations set rules (index, building envelope) that do not fall under the RDPPF. The extract is an essential layer, not the whole picture — see the guide knowing a plot's building rights.

Parcellis retrieves and reads the RDPPF extract at its source, cross-references it with the regulations and the land register, and clearly flags what is confirmed and what calls for a manual reading.