Renovation work in Geneva: prices, permits, timelines and quotes

Renovation is the restoration, even partial, of a dwelling that improves existing comfort without altering the layout (the cantonal law on the demolition, transformation and renovation of residential buildings, LDTR, art. 3 para. 1 let. d).

It is distinct from routine maintenance, which the LDTR does not cover: ordinary work that brings no gain in comfort. Beyond that, a project touching the structural work or the external appearance counts as a conversion, dealt with here alongside renovation.

This article covers the cost of renovation work in Geneva, dated and broken down by item, the permit regime, the timelines and how to commission contractors. It then deals with the warranties after acceptance, the order of the works, the offices to approach, energy grants, taxation and the case of co-ownership.

How much does renovation work cost in Geneva?

Renovation work in Geneva costs between 1,550 and 3,100 francs per m2 in April 2026, depending on the scale of the project.

This price is rebuilt from the survey by the Federal Office of Energy (OFEN) and the Federal Housing Office (OFL) covering 20 renovated apartment buildings in Switzerland, 2,560 francs per m2 of usable floor area in 2019. The cost per dwelling is divided by the average usable floor area of 87 m2, then reindexed against the Geneva housing renovation price index (cantonal statistical office): 88.5 points in October 2019, 100.3 in April 2026, a factor of 1.133.

Four levels of renovation structure these prices. This breakdown is economic, not legal; only refresh work is counted per m2 treated.

Level of renovation	What it covers	CHF/m2	Basis and date
Refresh	Paint, floors replaced, installations left intact	55 to 180 per m2 treated	OFEN-OFL 2019 quality thresholds, indexed
External renovation	Façade, windows, roof	1,550 per m2 of usable floor area	120,000 CHF/dwelling, OFEN-OFL 2019, indexed
Internal renovation	Kitchen, bathroom, floors, electrics	1,950 per m2 of usable floor area	150,000 CHF/dwelling, same survey
Full renovation	Envelope and interior together	3,100 per m2 of usable floor area	240,000 CHF/dwelling, same survey

The costs of the 20 buildings surveyed by OFEN and OFL in 2019 range from 800 to 6,600 francs per m2 once indexed, against 700 to 5,800 before indexation. An 80 m2 flat renovated internally costs 156,000 francs (80 x 1,950). The Geneva reindexation index is understood excluding VAT.

A Geneva tradesperson charges 95 to 134 francs an hour excluding VAT on a time-and-materials basis, from the painter to the specialist sanitary fitter (2026 directory of the Fédération genevoise des métiers du bâtiment).

What budget per item: kitchen, bathroom, floors, electrics?

The budget per item runs from 90 francs per m2 laid for a floor covering to 100,000 francs for a complete kitchen.

Sanitary installations account for 14.75% of the budget of a Geneva apartment building renovation, kitchen and wet rooms included, the second largest spending group behind building shell 2 (17.75%). On a single dwelling, this share holds as an order of magnitude: on a full renovation at 3,100 francs per m2, around 460 francs per m2.

These are the weightings of October 2025, the date of the last rebasing of the Geneva construction price index, excluding VAT. Six items concentrate most of the spend.

Item	Reference unit	CHF range	What the range includes
Kitchen	One complete kitchen	20,000 to 100,000	Units, appliances and installation; excluding relocation of the pipework
Bathroom	One m2 of room	2,500 to 7,500	Fixtures, tiling, taps, installation; excluding a relocated soil stack
Floor covering	One m2 laid	90 to 180	Laying included, from vinyl to solid parquet; excluding screed and skirting
Electrics	One hour of a qualified fitter	123	Time and materials excluding VAT; excluding devices, light fittings and drilling
Windows	One m2 of usable floor area	65	Windows and external doors fitted; excluding blinds and reveals
Façade insulation	One m2 of usable floor area	390	Rendered external insulation; excluding scaffolding and windows

Kitchen and bathroom take up the 2026 orders of magnitude from Swiss renovation platforms. Floors take up the OFEN-OFL 2019 quality thresholds, reindexed; windows and façade, the cantonal weightings applied to the 3,100 francs; the electrician, the 2026 directory of the Geneva building trades.

Across all consultants, fees account for 12.21% of the budget and preparatory works for 6.86%, before any making-good plastering and cleaning.

This chart ranks the groups of items in a Geneva apartment building renovation by their share of the total cost, from building shell 2 to lifts and ancillary costs.

The six items priced above are spread across these groups.

Do the prices quoted include VAT?

No, the time-and-materials rates quoted do not include VAT: those of the Geneva building trades are understood without it, invoiced separately (same directory, 2026 edition).

The standard rate stands at 8.1% since 1 January 2024 (federal VAT act, Federal Tax Administration): 100,000 francs of work is paid as 108,100 francs.

A time-and-materials price excludes four items.

• Travel costs for the finishing trades.
• Foreman hours.
• Machinery, plant and transport in masonry work.
• Materials and major supplies.

Why does renovation cost more in Geneva?

Renovation costs more in Geneva because of the density of the urban fabric, full order books, the weight of the building envelope and the impossibility of turning to cheap foreign labour.

Since October 2010, the cantonal renovation index has risen by 22.3% in Geneva against 20.8% in Switzerland (April 2026).

• Dense urban fabric. The 2019 OFEN-OFL survey of 20 Swiss apartment buildings, split by location, gives 240,000 francs per dwelling in the city against 155,000 in peri-urban areas: scaffolding over the street, no storage space.
• Order books. The canton carries a 1.4 billion work backlog in conversion works in 2024: full order books, firm prices.
• Weight of the envelope. Rendered external insulation accounts for 12.5% of the cost, the largest single trade item.
• Posted companies. A foreign company that bypasses the notification procedure risks a fine of up to 30,000 francs and a five-year ban: cheap foreign labour is not an option.

What makes a renovation budget spiral in an older building?

Asbestos, the real condition found at strip-out, bringing the property up to standard and additional works ordered along the way make a renovation budget spiral in a Geneva building predating 1991.

Keep at least 10% of the budget uncommitted in an older building. Regulations 102, 105 and 108 of the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA) already allow an accuracy of ± 10% on the cost estimate for the project: the contingency reserve comes on top of that tolerance.

These four mechanisms widen the gap between the signed quote and the final account.

• Asbestos. The owner has the affected parts of a building predating 1991 surveyed, with or without a building permit, under the cantonal environment office directive of 17 May 2022. The federal asbestos ban dates from 1990. Remediation comes before the other trades and pushes back their work.
• Real condition found at strip-out. Crumbling screeds, corroded soil stacks, missing insulation: the contractor prices the visible condition and invoices the condition found.
• Bringing the property up to standard. The standards applying to the works are those in force when the permit becomes final, not those of the original construction (the cantonal law on constructions and various installations, LCI, art. 7).
• Additional works ordered along the way. Standard SIA 118 deals with variations to the order in its art. 84 et seq.: additional services are ordered before execution, and their payment agreed at the same moment. On a lump-sum price, every change of mind by the owner opens a new order, invoiced on top (art. 373 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, CO).

Which renovation works require a permit in Geneva?

Works that improve existing comfort require a permit: an upgraded kitchen, a rebuilt bathroom, rewired electrics, a load-bearing wall, windows and façade (LDTR, rsGE L 5 20, art. 3 para. 1 and 2, art. 9 para. 1). Routine maintenance escapes it.

The LDTR covers every residential building located in a building zone, apart from single-dwelling houses and villas in the 5th zone (art. 2). Two cantonal procedures exist: the accelerated procedure permit (APA) for ordinary interior works and the definitive application (DD), as soon as the structural work or the external appearance is touched.

Works	Cantonal permit	Co-ownership approval	If the dwelling is let
Paint and floors like for like	None, routine maintenance (art. 3 para. 2 LDTR)	None, private unit	The tenant needs your written consent (art. 260a CO)
Upgraded kitchen	APA (art. 3 para. 1 let. c LDTR)	None if the shared pipework is untouched	The landlord decides, rent capped
Rebuilt bathroom	APA (art. 3 para. 1 let. c LDTR)	Majority if the soil stack is affected (Swiss Civil Code, CC, art. 647c)	Works the tenant must accept (art. 260 CO)
Rewired electrics	APA, interior alteration (art. 3 para. 7 let. b LCI)	None, private unit (art. 712b para. 3 CC)	Works the tenant must accept (art. 260 CO)
Load-bearing wall, windows or façade	DD, structural work and external appearance (art. 1 para. 1 let. b LCI)	Double majority, common part (art. 712b, 647d CC)	The landlord alone files it

The department sets the maximum rent applicable after the works as a condition of the permit and monitors it for 3 years, or up to 5 years for a major conversion (LDTR art. 10 and 12). The owner may file an APA themselves (LCI implementing regulation, RCI, art. 1A); a DD must be filed by a registered agent.

How long does it take from the first quote to acceptance?

Six to twelve months pass between the first quote and acceptance for a Geneva flat subject to a permit: statutory time limits and waiting times add up instead of overlapping.

• Quotes and comparison. Comparable offers from each trade are gathered before any filing, no regulatory deadline applying to this phase.
• Processing. 30 days under the accelerated procedure, 60 days under the ordinary procedure (DD) from registration (LCI art. 4 para. 1). The department extends it in the event of a derogation and suspends it when it asks for documents (para. 2 and 3).
• Appeal. 30 days from the day after the permit is published in the cantonal official gazette, the Feuille d'avis officielle (cantonal administrative procedure act, LPA, art. 62 para. 1 let. a and 3), an appeal suspending execution (LPA art. 66 para. 1).
• Waiting for the contractor. At the end of March 2026, the structural work backlog recorded by the Swiss Contractors' Association stood 14.6% above its level a year earlier.
• Site works. Demolition, plumbing, electrics, screeds, tiling, joinery and paint follow one another, each waiting for the previous one to finish and to dry.
• Acceptance. An altered dwelling is reoccupied once the certificate of compliance is filed (LCI art. 7 para. 1).

This timeline sets out the six stages of a project subject to a permit, with the time limit specific to each one where there is one.

The ranges of 2 to 6 weeks in circulation measure the site works alone, not the project. The permit lapses if the works do not start within the 2 years following its publication (LCI art. 4 para. 5). Works carried out in occupied premises are split room by room and take longer.

Who should you appoint to run your project?

Appoint an architect in construction management to run your project in the most common case, the renovation of a Geneva flat that involves three trades or more. Two other set-ups are practised: trades appointed directly and the general contractor.

Set-up	Who runs it	Who carries the liability	What it costs
Trades appointed directly	The owner	Each contractor, for its own lot	No management fee
Architect in construction management	The architect	Each contractor for its lot, the architect for their mission	Around 4 to 6% of the cost of the works for construction management alone, that is 29% of a full renovation mandate charged at 15 to 22%
General contractor	The general contractor	The general contractor alone, towards you	Up to 15% on top of the trade costs

These ranges are industry orders of magnitude published by French-speaking Swiss practices, not tariffs: since its 2020 edition, SIA regulation 102 on the services and fees of architects no longer sets fees according to the cost of the works, the Competition Commission having seen a price-fixing agreement in it. The 29% weighting comes from the 2014 edition.

A file published in the Feuille d'avis officielle (FAO) automatically puts an agent in the budget: the plans are signed by a person listed on the register of professionally qualified agents (art. 2 para. 3 LCI). The same register governs the management of works subject to a permit (art. 6 para. 1 LCI).

How should you compare construction quotes?

To compare construction quotes, send every contractor the same written specification before asking for a price. Offers built on different specifications cannot be compared.

Seven checkpoints make the comparison usable.

• Have the specification drafted from the Catalogue des articles normalisés (CAN), the commercially neutral catalogue of standardised items, and send it identical to all three contractors.

• Check the particulars on the quote: company name, business identification number (IDE), itemised lines, quantities, unit prices, total amount, how long the offer is valid.

• Distinguish the fixed price from time and materials. On a lump sum, the contractor performs for the agreed amount without claiming an increase, even if the works demand more labour (art. 373 para. 1 CO); on time and materials, you pay the actual hours, with no cap.

• Compare the totals excluding tax against each other.

• Set the completion date and the interim milestones in the contract.

• Stipulate a contractual penalty for delay, art. 160 para. 2 CO allowing you to demand both performance and the penalty.

• Hunt down the “to be defined” lines and the caveats, which shift the risk onto you.

Standard SIA 118, general conditions for the execution of construction works, applies only to a contract that expressly refers to it. Require that reference before signing: it imposes staged payments and the warranties after acceptance.

How should you stage the payments for the works?

Payments for the works are staged on deliveries: the price is paid on delivery, and each instalment on delivery of the corresponding part of the works (art. 372 CO), neither all up front nor all at the end.

One mechanism protects your balance, another threatens the owner who has already paid.

• Retention: 10% of each instalment, held back until acceptance. After acceptance, the contractor recovers this balance against a joint and several guarantee from a bank or an insurer, which takes over during the warranty period. Standard SIA 118 governs this mechanism in its art. 181.
• Statutory mortgage right for tradespeople and contractors: registered in the land register within the four months following completion of the works (art. 839 para. 2 CC). A subcontractor left unpaid by the general contractor obtains it over your building even if you have paid everything, the owner's agreement not being required when the debtor is a contractor (art. 837 para. 1 no. 3 and para. 2 CC). Waiving it in advance is excluded (para. 3).

Require the subcontractors' receipts before releasing each instalment paid to a general contractor.

What warranties do you have if the works are done badly?

Your warranties fall under the defects regime of the Swiss Code of Obligations as revised on 1 January 2026: notice within 60 days, a 5-year limitation period. The ten-year warranty does not exist in Swiss law.

Since that revision, three time limits govern your rights.

• 60 days from delivery (art. 367 para. 1bis CO), to report the defects found when inspecting immovable works. Without notice, the works are accepted and the contractor discharged.
• 60 days from discovery (art. 370 para. 4 CO) of a defect not detectable during a proper inspection. Failing that, it stays at your expense.
• 5 years from acceptance (art. 371 para. 2 CO), to act against the contractor as against the architect. This time limit can no longer be varied to your detriment (para. 3).

Any agreement shortening these notice periods is void, as is any clause restricting or excluding the right to have a construction defect repaired (art. 368 para. 2bis CO).

A contract stipulating a reference to standard SIA 118 adds a 2-year warranty period from acceptance, during which the contractor repairs reported defects without your having to prove their origin.

Have an acceptance report drawn up listing the defects found, and give written notice, within 60 days, of any defect discovered afterwards.

In what order should the works follow one another?

Run the works by demolishing and making good the structural work, then installing the technical services, then carrying out the finishes, each family conditioning the next.

1. Demolish and make good the structural work: strip-out, drilling, partitions, making good the substrates. Volumes and routes become final.
2. Install the technical services: electrics, plumbing, heating, ventilation, recessed into the walls, then pouring the screeds.
3. Carry out the finishes: floor coverings, plastering, paint, fitting the kitchen and the sanitary fixtures.

Reversing the last two families means paying twice for the paint item, around 5,300 francs for a three-room flat of 75 m2 according to the prices recorded in 2026 by a Swiss renovation platform.

Which office should you approach for your project in Geneva?

The offices that share a Geneva housing project are the building permit office, the cantonal energy office, the municipality where the works are located and the condominium administrator.

Office	What it handles	When to approach it
Building permit office (OAC)	New builds, conversions, demolitions	Before commissioning
Cantonal energy office (OCEN)	Energy subsidies	Before committing to the works
Municipality where the works are, in Geneva the Service de l'espace public	Occupation of public land	10 working days, 4 weeks for a use exceeding common use
Condominium administrator	Common parts of the building	From the design sketch onwards

The OAC, attached to the territorial department, handles conversions of an existing dwelling: an application for a renovation permit is filed there, not with the municipal planning department. Energy grants, the taxation of the works and cost sharing in co-ownership follow.

What support exists for energy works?

Two forms of support exist for energy works on a Geneva dwelling: the cantonal GEnergie programme and the Programme Bâtiments run by the Confederation and the cantons.

The OCEN receives the application at least 14 days before the subsidised works start. Once the grant decision becomes final, 24 months are available to carry out the works.

Measure M-10 of the GEnergie programme targets an improvement in the envelope class and in the overall energy efficiency class of the cantonal energy certificate for buildings (CECB). Its subsidy decision requires the CECB and the CECB Plus to be submitted.

Which works can you deduct from your taxes?

Your maintenance works are deductible from your taxable income; your value-enhancing works are not.

The cantonal tax administration separates the two. Maintenance costs are intended to preserve the value the property had when it was acquired, for example the renovation of a roof. Value-enhancing works increase the market value, such as the installation of a lift, and are set against the gain on resale.

Your declaration goes through two steps.

• Declare value-enhancing works with a detailed schedule of costs or an architect's account, stating the building permit number.
• Choose, for each tax period, between actual costs and the flat-rate deduction, the latter reserved for cantonal tax and for your own home.

Who pays for works on the common parts in a PPE?

The community of co-owners pays for works on the common parts of a condominium (propriété par étages, PPE), in proportion to the shares (art. 712h para. 1 CC).

Four elements set the appearance of the building or serve the other co-owners, and remain common despite private use (art. 712b para. 2 CC).

• The façade and its insulation.
• The roof and the external face of the balconies.
• The soil stacks.
• The ventilation and its ducts.

The owners' meeting decides on these works; its calendar governs that of the project. It may set up a renovation fund (art. 712m para. 1 no. 5 CC), whose balance reduces the bill per unit by the same amount.