The handover: the inspection report decides your deposit
The handover takes half an hour and settles whether you get your whole deposit back. What counts is what the report says, and what the landlord can still raise afterwards.
Normal wear is the landlord’s cost
A tenant is liable for damage going beyond contractual use, not for ordinary wear. What governs is the service life of the item. A carpet with an assumed ten-year life that has to be replaced after eight is compensated at two tenths, not in full. The joint service-life tables published by the tenant and landlord associations are the yardstick.
What to do on handover day
- 1Hand the flat over emptied and cleaned, cellar, attic, balcony and garage included.
- 2Walk through every room together and have each objection entered in the report.
- 3Sign nothing you do not accept. Write “disputed” next to the contested item and sign with that note.
- 4Take the electricity, gas and water readings, and record the number of keys in the report.
- 5Photograph every room yourself, with the date. It costs nothing and decides disputes.
- 6Leave with a signed copy of the report; do not settle for a promise to send it on later.
Defects not raised at once on handover can no longer be asserted later, so far as an ordinary inspection would have shown them (Art. 267a CO). A careful report therefore protects both sides, and you most of all.
These articles set out Swiss law in general terms and are not a substitute for legal advice on an individual case. Cantonal rules differ. In a dispute, contact the rent conciliation authority or a lawyer.