Building maintenance pays off

Building maintenance – an annoying chore? Absolutely not. After all, those who maintain and take care of their house regularly benefit the most. Find out why here.

Proper maintenance of buildings is first and foremost a question of safety: People and the environment must be protected. Corresponding requirements are enshrined in the law. But investing regularly in building maintenance also brings financial benefits – and is therefore essential for anyone who owns real estate.

Building maintenance: What are my legal obligations?

Ensuring safe surroundings

As the owner, you are responsible for ensuring that no one is harmed by your building through no fault of their own. For example, you may be liable if someone is injured by a roof avalanche, a broken branch or an icy sidewalk. Premises liability insurance protects you. In many cases, you don’t need to take out separate premises liability insurance because you are already covered under another policy. For example, Personal liability insurance from AXA offers coverage for owner-occupied properties with a maximum of three apartments.

Inspection and maintenance checks

Electrical installations and heating pose particular risks. They must therefore be checked and maintained by specialists on a regular basis. Your duty of care as an owner is enshrined in law in Switzerland:

• Electrical installations: Ordinance on Low Voltage Electrical Installations (NIV) (in German)
• Heating systems and wood firing systems: Air Pollution Control Ordinance (LRV)

Why is building maintenance worthwhile?

Yes, building maintenance costs money in the beginning. But saving on maintenance is a false economy – for several reasons.

1. Risk of consequential damage: Over time, neglect can lead to consequential damage to your building – and thus unnecessarily high costs. This applies, for example, to water penetration, condensation, etc. As soon as you notice any moisture, moldy odor or mold in a room, you should investigate the cause immediately.
2. Rejection of insurance benefits: Building insurance expects you to actively maintain your house. If the necessary maintenance measures are neglected or omitted, coverage may be refused or insurance benefits may be reduced.
3. Potential depreciation: If you do not carry out proper building maintenance, you will probably lose more in the long term than you have saved in the short term. Imagine how disappointed you will be when your building has to be sold for less than your asking price due to lack of maintenance.

Tip: For building maintenance, remodeling and renovations, you need to have enough saved up. Take this into account when planning your financing.

What maintenance costs can I expect? 

Approximately ten years after the completion of a building, the first maintenance work must be carried out. Is your house brand new? Even so, you should regularly set aside your money now. On average, building maintenance costs around 1 percent of the purchase price or market value per year. However, this only applies to properties in good condition. An old or neglected building is more expensive; here it is more likely to cost 2.5 percent. In addition to reserves for repairs, renovations and major investments, maintenance costs also include ancillary costs.

What does building insurance cover?

No matter how well you take care of your house, there are still risks that cannot be controlled. This is where insurance companies jump into the breach. In most Swiss cantons, cantonal buildings insurance against damage from fire and natural hazards is mandatory. Their benefits are prescribed by law. Fire also includes conflagrations, explosions and lightning. Events caused by natural hazards include, for example, hail, storms, high water and floods. Additional coverage can be taken out as an option with private insurance.

These cantons are exceptions

The so-called GUSTAVO cantons do not have cantonal buildings insurance.

• In the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Obwalden, building owners must take out private building insurance against damage from fire and natural hazards.
• In the cantons of Geneva, Valais, Ticino, and Appenzell Innerrhoden, building insurance against damage from fire and natural hazards is even voluntary.

No coverage for lack of maintenance

The mandate of building insurance is to cover the cost of claims arising from sudden external influences that are no fault of your own. Insurance therefore does not cover damage caused by inadequate building maintenance. In the case of building components that are in noticeably poor condition, homeowners risk being (partially) refused coverage. In the interests of all insureds, an insurance company is even obliged to reject such claims: It would be unfair to finance the renovation of a building that had been overdue for years.

What does private building insurance cover?

In the GUSTAVO cantons (see above), homeowners simply choose private insurance. This includes both fire and natural hazards as well as the desired supplemental coverage.

In all other cantons, you have to deal with two different types of insurance:

1. with cantonal buildings insurance. Here, your building is insured against fire and natural hazards as required by law.
2. with your choice of private insurance. Here you can extend the insurance coverage for your building.

Supplemental insurance for your building

Building insurance includes a number of optional modules to provide comprehensive protection against expensive building damage. Some examples:

• Water damage (from pipes, sewers, aquariums, etc.)
• Damage to the surroundings (garden sheds, paths, pergolas, etc.)
• Damage to building technology (photovoltaics, heat pumps, heaters, etc.)
• Breakage of glass on buildings and sanitary facilities
• Damage to buildings due to burglary
• Extended coverage (malicious damage, damage due to martens, rodents, insects, etc.)
• Earthquake