¹ Marking involves establishing boundaries and placing boundary markers (monumentation).

² Marking is required for territorial boundaries, property boundaries and boundaries of distinct and permanent rights over others' land (easements), provided the latter can be clearly delimited by boundary lines. Article 17 is reserved.¹⁹

The cantons shall enact regulations on the procedure for legally valid marking in accordance with this Ordinance.

¹ In general, boundaries shall be established by inspecting the location.

² The cantons may specify that boundaries be established on the basis of plans, aerial photographs or other suitable means:

a.²⁰

in agricultural and forest land in mountainous and summer pasture areas as defined in the agricultural production register²¹, and in unproductive areas;

b.²²

in the course of an updating process, subject to the agreement of the landowners concerned.

¹ A valid boundary line between two adjacent border points may be a straight line or an arc.

² In the initial survey, or when finalising or updating the survey, a simple boundary line should be aimed for. Existing boundary lines should be improved where possible.

Discrepancies between the cadastral survey data and the situation on the terrain or between the land register plan and other official cadastral survey plans shall be resolved ex officio, taking into account Article 668 paragraph 2 of the Swiss Civil Code.

Boundary markers shall be placed so that boundaries are permanently identifiable on the ground or can be found by simple means.

¹ As a rule, the boundary markers must be placed before the boundaries are surveyed for the first time.²⁵

² Individual boundary markers may be placed after the data is recorded in accordance with paragraph 1:

a.

in the course of updating, unless the boundary was established by inspecting the location;

b.

if there are compelling reasons why it was not possible or expedient to carry out the work earlier.

³ The boundary markers that are missing in accordance with paragraph 2 must be placed as soon as circumstances allow.

¹ If boundaries are defined by natural or artificial limits that are permanent and clearly identifiable, monumentation is generally not required.

² The cantons may provide for further exceptions, in particular:

a.

in areas where properties and distinct and permanent rights defined in area are made subject to consolidation;

b.²⁶

for properties and distinct and permanent rights defined in area whose boundary markers are continually threatened by agricultural activity or other encroachments;

c.²⁷

on agricultural and forest land in mountainous and summer pasture areas as defined in the agricultural production register, and in unproductive areas.

¹ An initial survey is the production of the components of official cadastral surveying in areas that have not been previously subject to a fully approved cadastral survey and in areas defined in Article 51 paragraphs 3 and 4.

² Finalisation is defined as the revision or expansion of a fully recognised official cadastral survey in order to adapt it to current regulations.²⁹

³ Updating is the modification of the components of official cadastral surveying to reflect changes in the legal or factual circumstances.

The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying³⁰ may issue directives concerning methods for initial survey, finalisation and updating.

The position and height references for official cadastral surveying are governed by Articles 4 and 5 GeoIO³².

¹ The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying and the competent cantonal authority shall plan official cadastral surveying on the basis of a programme agreement.

² The canton shall determine when individual surveys are to be carried out. It shall regulate the consultation procedure.

³ …³⁴

All components of the official cadastral survey are subject to updating.

¹ In cases where a reporting system for updating can be organised, the components of the official cadastral survey shall be updated within one year of a change occurring.

² The cantons may, after consulting the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying, provide for different time limits in justified cases.

³ They shall regulate the reporting system.

¹ All data that is not subject to continuous updating shall be updated periodically.

² Each periodic updating process must cover a large area forming a cohesive whole.

³ The periodic updating cycle should, if possible, correspond to that of the National Land Survey. It shall not exceed twelve years. The DDPS shall regulate the details of updating.³⁶

All of the components of official cadastral surveying are subject to verification of quality and completeness by the cantonal oversight authority for surveying in accordance with the directives of the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying;

¹ After completion of an initial survey or the finalisation of an official cadastral survey and the elimination of discrepancies in accordance with Article 14a where the rights of landowners are affected, a public inspection procedure with objection procedures shall be arranged.⁴¹

² The subject of the public inspection procedure is the land register plan for the area concerned and other extracts from the official cadastral survey data relating to the maintenance of the land register.

³ The cantons shall regulate the procedure, subject to the following principles:

a.

The public inspection procedure lasts for 30 days.

b.

Official notice is given of the inspection procedure.

c.⁴²

Property owners whose addresses are known shall in addition be informed by standard post of the public inspection procedure and of the legal remedies available to them.

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d.⁴³ On request, the landowner shall be provided with an extract from the plan for the land register relating to his or her property in accordance with Article 7 paragraph 2 letters a-c.

e.

An appeal against the objection decision may be filed with a cantonal authority; the authority shall review the decision without restriction.

f.

A final appeal at cantonal level may be made to a court in accordance with Article 75 paragraph 2 of the Federal Supreme Court Act of 17 June 2005⁴⁴.

⁴ The cantons may stipulate that the public inspection procedure be conducted and official notice thereof be given exclusively by electronic means.⁴⁵

¹ After completion of the public inspection procedure and after first instance objections have been dealt with, the competent cantonal authority shall approve the cadastral survey data, the extracts derived from them and, in particular, the land register plan, irrespective of any disputes yet to be resolved by court action, provided that the data meet the technical and quality requirements under federal law.⁴⁷

² This approval confers the probative value of official public documents on the cadastral survey work.

¹ The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying shall recognise the cadastral survey if:

a.

its formal examination has shown that the data meet the requirements of federal law; and

b.

the surveying work has been approved by the canton.

² It shall specify the documents to be submitted by the competent cantonal authority.

¹ The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying may authorise pilot projects relating to official cadastral surveying in individual cantons or in specific geographical areas in order to test and develop:

a.

new processes and competences;

b.

new technologies;

c.

new content, and geodata and cartographic specifications.

² The DDPS shall, with the agreement of the federal authorities concerned, issue in a separate ordinance for the pilot project concerned the provisions that derogate from:

a.

this Ordinance;

b.

the GeoIO⁵¹;

c.

the Land Register Ordinance of 23 September 2011⁵²;

d.

the Ordinance of 21 May 2008⁵³ on Geographical Names;

e.

the FDJP and DDPS Technical Ordinance of 28 December 2012⁵⁴ on the Land Register.

³ Pilot projects must be for a limited period and must be evaluated.

¹ The Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying (FDCA) is the specialist federal agency. The FDCS is headed by a registered surveyor.⁶⁸

² The FDCS is responsible for the overall management and oversight of all aspects of official cadastral surveying.

³ The FDCS shall ensure the implementation and enforcement of regulations on the technical and quality requirements for official cadastral surveying.⁶⁹

^3bis The FCDS shall, in cooperation with the cantons, the Federal Office for Land Registry and Real Estate Law and the partner organisations, ensure the continual development of the geodata model for official cadastral surveying; it may set up working groups for this purpose.⁷⁰

⁴ The FDCS shall also ensure coordination between official cadastral surveying and other federal surveying programmes, advise the federal authorities on the acquisition of official cadastral survey data, and represent the interests of the Confederation in dealings with the cantons and third parties.⁷¹

⁵ In cooperation with the cantonal surveying oversight authorities, the FDCS is entitled to process data on individual surveying projects and on the contractors responsible therefor.⁷²

⁶ …⁷³

¹ The canton shall appoint the agency (the Oversight Authority for Surveying) responsible for the oversight of official cadastral surveying. This agency shall be headed by a registered surveyor, who shall not be subject to directives on technical matters.⁷⁷

² The Oversight Authority for Surveying shall manage, monitor and verify the official cadastral surveying work. It shall ensure the coordination of the official cadastral surveying work with other surveying programmes and geoinformation systems.⁷⁸

³ If a canton is unable to fulfil its oversight role due to its actual circumstances, it may delegate its responsibilities in whole or in part to the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying, subject to repayment of the costs involved.

⁴ The cantons may delegate survey oversight to each other or establish joint institutions for survey oversight.⁷⁹

The DDPS may conclude a rescindable fixed-term agreement under international law with the Principality of Liechtenstein covering the full or partial delegation of survey oversight for Liechtenstein to the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying.

¹ The canton is responsible for carrying out official cadastral surveying.

² The canton shall appoint the agency which is to be responsible for the original and definitive data set of official cadastral surveying.

¹ The work of official cadastral surveying may only be carried out by registered surveyors not subject to directives, or under their technical supervision.

² The DDPS may permit the conduct of official cadastral surveying work by other specialists provided the quality of their work satisfies the requirements for official cadastral surveying and the work does not relate to the minimum content of the land register plan in accordance with Article 7 paragraph 2 or territorial boundaries.

¹ The award of contracts for work such as marking, initial survey, finalisation, periodic updating and provisional digitising must comply with the regulations on public procurement in force in the canton.

² Official cadastral surveying work to be carried out in a specific geographical area must be the subject of a public invitation to tender.

¹ The FDJP and the DDPS shall jointly regulate the main aspects of electronic business transactions between the official cadastral surveying offices and the land register offices.

² The cantons shall otherwise regulate the relations between official cadastral surveying and the land register.

¹ The cantons shall determine which registered surveyors:

a.

may sign deeds of mutation;

b.

may issue certified extracts under Article 37.

² The electronic issue of certified extracts shall be governed by the Ordinance of 8 December 2017⁸⁶ on the Issue of Electronic Public Documents and Electronic Certifications.

The rules on calculating the federal contribution to the funding for official cadastral surveying are set out in the Annex.

¹ The only allowable costs are those incurred in accordance with the regulations and in the cost-effective execution of the task.

² The following costs are not allowable:

a.

the costs of continuous updating and administration;

b.⁹⁶

…

c.

the costs of the cantonal oversight authority for surveying;

d.

compensation paid to cantonal and communal bodies for their assistance in the work of marking and surveying;

e.

the costs of cantonal verification and public inspection procedures;

f.

compensation for crop damage during surveying work;

g.

interest on advance payments for marking and surveying work;

h.

additional costs resulting from non-observance by the contracting parties of the relevant regulations or of the terms of the contract;

i.

the determination of building addresses;

j.

the costs of correcting discrepancies in accordance with Article 14a.

¹ For work that was awarded in accordance with the regulations on public procurement, the allowable costs shall correspond to the stipulated price, subject to Article 47d.

² For work that was not awarded in accordance with the regulations on public procurement, the canton shall fix the allowable compensation in accordance with current market rates.

³ Compensation fixed by the canton requires the approval of the Confederation.

⁴ A flat-rate federal contribution may be agreed in the programme agreement instead of the allowable costs.

The cantons shall specify who is to be responsible for the remaining costs after deduction of the federal contribution.

The following are repealed:

1.

the Instruction of 10 June 1919¹⁰¹ on Order IV. triangulation;

2.

the Instruction of 10 June 1919¹⁰² on marking and surveying of land parcels;

3.

the Federal Council Decree of 6 January 1920¹⁰³ on the Repeal of the Federal Council Decree of 17 November 1911 on the payment of federal contributions to the costs of monumentation of traverse points;

4.

the Ordinance of 12 May 1971¹⁰⁴ on Cadastral Surveying.

¹ Provisionally approved surveys must be modified by an initial survey (resurvey) in accordance with the new regulations.

² Fully approved surveys must be finalised subject to the reservation of paragraph 3.

³ The DDPS shall regulate which fully approved surveys carried out under the regulations in force before 10 June 1919 must be replaced by initial survey (resurvey) in accordance with the new regulations.

⁴ In fully approved surveys based on fixed point networks that are not in the national coordinate system, the adjustment of the control network to satisfy the new regulations is deemed to be equivalent to an initial survey.¹⁰⁵

⁵ Surveys approved in accordance with this Ordinance are considered to be valid surveys under the new regulations.¹⁰⁶

¹ The cantonal oversight authority for surveying shall determine whether initial surveys and finalisation that began less than two years after this Ordinance comes into force are to be conducted in accordance with the old or the new regulations.

² The cantonal oversight authority for surveying shall decide, in consultation with the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying, whether, and if necessary to what extent, surveys in progress at the time this Ordinance comes into force should be completed in accordance with the new regulations.

The cantonal oversight authority for surveying shall, in consultation with the Federal Directorate of Cadastral Surveying, decide whether, and if necessary to what extent, surveys carried out under the old regulations should be updated in accordance with the new regulations.

For work carried out or continued in accordance with the previous regulations as a result of a cantonal decision under Articles 52 or 53, the Instruction of 10 June 1919¹⁰⁷ on the marking and surveying of land parcels and the Ordinance of 12 May 1971¹⁰⁸ on Cadastral Surveying continue to apply.

¹ The cantons may decide that original general maps or reproductions thereof may continue to be drawn up until the cadastral surveying data required for their replacement becomes available.

² Existing general maps must continue to be updated in areas for which the cadastral surveying data necessary for their replacement is not yet available.

³ …¹¹⁰

¹ Provisional digitisation is considered to be covered under special measures for the preservation of land parcel surveys in accordance with Article 5 paragraph 3 of the Federal Decree of 20 March 1992¹¹¹ on Compensation for Official Cadastral Surveying.¹¹²

² Provisional digitisation is defined as the conversion of a provisionally or fully approved cadastral surveys under the old regulations into a digital form that does not or does not fully satisfy the requirements of the new cadastral surveying regulations.

³ Provisionally digitised surveys are deemed to be surveys under the old regulations.

⁴ The DDPS shall specify the requirements for provisional digitisation.

¹ Until the agreement in accordance with Article 14 paragraph 3 GeoIA comes into force, data supplied to the federal authorities from official cadastral surveying shall be charged for only in accordance with actual time and associated costs.

² …¹¹⁴

¹ If the DDPS amends the requirements for the geodata model (Art. 6), it shall regulate the transition from the current to the amended geodata model.

² In doing so, it shall specify which current provisions of this Ordinance on the geodata model continue to apply for a limited period.

³ The information level for pipelines shall be abrogated in the following stages:

a.

The official geodata set for pipelines (Identifier 222) created with the Pipeline Safety Ordinance of 4 June 2021¹¹⁶ and the information level for pipelines in official cadastral surveying shall provisionally be managed and updated in parallel.

b.

The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) shall verify the data in the official geodata set for pipelines by using the data from the information level for pipelines.

c.

The Federal Office of Topography shall in consultation with the SFOE determine the date on which the information level for pipelines for official cadastral surveying can be abrogated and deleted; it shall notify the cantons of this date and publish the decision in the Official Federal Gazette.

This Ordinance comes into force on 1 January 1993.