Between notice and re-letting there are many small steps. Each one is simple; miss one and it gets expensive: a defect that is not reported immediately when the flat is returned is usually lost as a claim, and a flat that is not ready on the agreed date puts a strain on the new lease. This checklist sorts the points by timing. The process and scheduling of the renovation are described in the article Renovating a vacant flat at change of tenant.
1. Once notice has been received
- Confirm the return date and time in writing.
- Tell the tenants what is expected at handover: a cleaned flat, all keys, minor defects such as nail holes properly repaired beforehand.
- Prepare the flat’s file: lease, move-in report, key list and the dates of the last renewals (paintwork, parquet, appliances). Without them, the residual value of a damaged item cannot be determined.
- Arrange a pre-inspection a few weeks before move-out.
- Only commit to a handover date with the new tenants once the scope of the work is roughly known.
2. Pre-inspection and measuring
- Record room by room what the tenants will still put right themselves before handover and what is due anyway.
- Note items at the end of their lifespan (paintwork, floor coverings, appliances, joints): the tenants are no longer liable for them; this work can be planned regardless of the handover.
- With the tenants’ consent, bring the contractor along to take measurements. The quote is then ready at move-out, and materials with delivery times can be ordered early.
- Clarify access: key handover to the contractor, lift, space for materials, informing the neighbours.
3. On the day of handover
Under Art. 267a para. 1 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR), when the object is returned the landlord ‘must inspect its condition and immediately inform the tenant or lessee of any defects for which he is answerable’. If the landlord fails to do so, he forfeits his claims ‘save in respect of defects not detectable on customary inspection’ (para. 2). Handover is therefore an inspection, not a formality:
- Inspect in the empty, cleaned flat and in good light; try the lights, water, blinds and appliances.
- Report room by room (Abnahmeprotokoll): floor, walls, ceiling, doors, windows, blinds, built-in cupboards, switches and sockets, radiators; in the kitchen and bathroom also appliances, sanitary fittings, taps and joints. Add the cellar, loft storage, balcony, letterbox and garage.
- Describe defects with location, size and type — for example ‘kitchen, ceramic hob, crack approx. 10 cm, front left’ instead of ‘cooker damaged’.
- Photograph every room, overview and detail, filed straight away under the flat and the date.
- Record the meter readings: electricity, gas, water, hot water and, depending on the building, heating oil.
- Count the keys by type (flat, building, letterbox, cellar, garage); note any missing ones in the report.
- Take the tenants’ new address — for notice of defects, the service-charge statement and the deposit.
- Have the report signed by both sides and hand over a copy. Confirming the condition and agreeing to pay costs are two different things: according to the tenants’ association’s report form, tenants may refuse to sign their agreement to the costs; for larger costs it recommends a maximum amount or a reservation pending a cost estimate.
- Report defects the tenants are to answer for immediately and in writing — ideally with the report on the same day.
4. Normal wear or damage
The tenants return the flat ‘in a condition that accords with its contractually designated use’ (Art. 267 para. 1 OR). They are not liable for normal wear and tear. For damage beyond that, they are liable only for the residual value of the item and only to the extent of the damage. The yardstick is the joint lifespan table (paritätische Lebensdauertabelle) of the tenants’ association and the homeowners’ association. Some values from the excerpt in the tenants’ association’s handover report form (2021 edition):
- Wall and ceiling paint, emulsion or distemper: 8 years
- Fitted carpet, medium quality: 10 years; laminate, medium quality: 15 years
- Parquet: lacquer 10 years, multi-layer parquet with 4 mm or more of usable wood 30 years, solid parquet 40 years
- Beech or oak skirting boards: 25 years
- Fridge: 10 years; ceramic hob: 15 years
- Lock cylinders and keys: 20 years
What counts is the age of the item or the time since it was last renewed, not the length of the tenancy — if an item was taken over unrenovated from the previous tenants, the years before also count. Example: emulsion paint is 6 years old and has to be renewed because of damage; 2 of 8 years are still open, so a quarter of the cost. The share is set by the property management, and in a dispute by the conciliation authority (Schlichtungsbehörde). For parquet, see Sand or replace parquet?
5. After handover: keep an eye on deadlines
- Hidden defects: if the landlord later discovers a defect that was not detectable on customary inspection, he must also inform the tenants immediately (Art. 267a para. 3 OR). Document anything that comes to light during strip-out with photos first.
- Rent deposit: the bank may release the security only with the consent of both parties or on the basis of a final payment order or a final court decision. If the landlord has brought no claim against the tenants within one year of the end of the lease, they may ask the bank to return the security (Art. 257e para. 3 OR).
- Service charges: the meter readings from handover day are the basis of the final statement.
6. Commission the work in the right order
- First fix the scope (report and measurements), then approve the quote, then commit to the handover date with the new tenants.
- Order materials with delivery times — appliances, parquet, tiles — straight after approval.
- Plan the trades so that each one works on a finished base: strip-out, installations, plastering, tiling, painting, floors, fitting, cleaning.
- Have work chargeable to the outgoing tenants shown as separate items in the quote and the invoice.
- Allow time before the handover date for final cleaning and your own acceptance.
7. Handover to the new tenants
Under Art. 256 para. 1 OR, the landlord must make the flat available ‘on the agreed date in a condition fit for its designated use’. If the landlord fails to hand it over on the agreed date or hands it over with defects that rule out or substantially impair its fitness for use, the tenants may proceed under the rules on non-performance (Art. 258 para. 1 OR). The handover date should therefore not be planned down to the last day.
- Accept the work before the handover date, with a report; open points with a completion date.
- Move-in report with the new tenants, room by room and with photos — it is the basis for the next handover.
- Keep the outgoing tenants’ handover report ready: the new tenants may ask to see it when the flat is handed over and to be told the amount of the previous rent (Art. 256a OR).
- In the canton of Zurich, use the form for notifying the initial rent when concluding the new lease (Art. 270 para. 2 OR, § 229b of the cantonal introductory act to the Civil Code, EG ZGB). The obligation applies as long as the canton’s vacancy rate (Leerwohnungsbestand) is 1.5 per cent or less; according to the Federal Office for Housing it was 0.52 per cent on 1 June 2026. Other cantons also require the form, for example Bern, Basel-Stadt, Lucerne and Zug.
- Hand over the keys counted, record the meter readings, pass on the manuals for new appliances.
How we support property managers
We take on the craft-work part of the list and supply the documents for the rest:
- Site visit and measurements by our chief engineer, with the tenants’ consent even before move-out
- Fixed-price quote within 48 hours of the site visit, item by item, labour and materials separate; items chargeable to the outgoing tenants shown separately on request
- Contract for work (Werkvertrag) with a fixed handover date; we report any foreseeable delay immediately
- Keys taken over and returned with a record, showing date, number and names
- Anything unexpected during strip-out: photos and a supplement with a price, carried out only after your approval
- Acceptance report and before-and-after photo report; under the framework agreement as a PDF per flat, with one collective invoice per month
You can register a flat on the page Renovating a vacant flat in Zurich. For a whole portfolio there is the framework agreement; more under For property managers.
This checklist is not a substitute for legal advice. Sources: the OR on fedlex.admin.ch (version of 1 October 2026), the Federal Office for Housing’s 2026 list on the form requirement, and the excerpt of the joint lifespan table in the tenants’ association’s report form (2021 edition). Quotations from the OR follow the English translation on fedlex.admin.ch, which has no legal force; other quotations are our own translation. The law, your lease and the current edition of the table are what count.