Fitting out an office in Switzerland: budget, stages and mistakes to avoid
In short
Fitting out an office in Switzerland typically costs between CHF 400 and 900 per m² for a light refresh (paint, flooring, lighting), and between CHF 1,200 and 2,200 per m² for a full fit-out with partitions, electrics and building automation. On top of that comes workstation furniture, at around CHF 1,000 to 1,500 per desk. The final budget also depends on constraints specific to professional premises — LHand accessibility, fire safety and the works clause in the commercial lease — that simply don't exist in a residential renovation.
An office project isn't run the same way as an apartment renovation. The same budgets, the same timelines and the same assumptions don't apply, because professional premises answer to rules that no homeowner or residential tenant ever encounters at home — accessibility, fire safety, collective acoustics, and a lease that splits responsibilities between the parties differently. Here's what you actually need to plan for before starting a site.
How much does it cost to fit out an office in Switzerland?
Two levels of intervention cover most projects. A light refresh — paint, flooring, lighting, occasional IT cabling, without touching the partitions or the networks — is generally budgeted at between CHF 400 and 900 per m². A full fit-out, which adds the creation or removal of partitions, a complete overhaul of the electrical and data installation, and a building management system (automation, connected lighting, access control), climbs to between CHF 1,200 and 2,200 per m² — an order of magnitude consistent with the finishing costs seen in Zurich and Geneva for surfaces delivered as shell or "noble shell" space.
Price ranges per m² — office fit-out
- Workstation furniture: budget CHF 1,000 to 1,500 per desk for a table, a chair and storage, excluding shared furniture
- Meeting rooms and phone booths: often under-budgeted items, since they need dedicated acoustic insulation and technical equipment
- IT and network cabling: an item that weighs considerably more as soon as the number of workstations passes about thirty
- Bringing the electrics up to code: almost systematic in a commercial building built before the 1990s
These amounts remain indicative until they're checked against the actual surface and condition of your premises. Compare architects in your canton
Why professional premises can't be planned like a home
An apartment mainly has to satisfy comfort standards and, where structural work is involved, a building permit. An office, on the other hand, potentially hosts dozens of people who don't live there, which triggers an additional set of rules: fire evacuation, access for people with disabilities, collective acoustic comfort. These constraints aren't optional, and they need to be built into the project from the sketch stage, not once the site has already started.
Fire safety: what changes in a professional space
In Switzerland, building fire safety is governed by the fire protection directives of the Association of Cantonal Fire Insurance Institutions (AEAI, formerly VKF), applied locally by the cantonal fire authority — the ECA in the canton of Vaud, for instance. For an office building, the directive on escape routes generally requires one vertical escape route per 900 m² of floor area whenever the tenants' final layout hasn't yet been fixed. Any room accommodating more than 50 people must also have at least two separate exits.
- Doors located on an escape route must be able to open in the direction of travel, at all times and without any auxiliary means
- Lockable doors on an escape route generally need hardware compliant with SN EN 179 or SN EN 1125
- A single-exit individual office remains acceptable, unlike a meeting room or an open-plan space hosting a large number of staff
- Any change to partitioning must be checked with the cantonal fire authority before the works start, not after the site is handed over
LHand accessibility: from what point does it become mandatory?
The Federal Act on the Elimination of Discrimination against People with Disabilities (LHand), in force since 1 January 2004, requires accessibility for buildings open to the public, for residential buildings with more than 8 dwellings, and for any building with more than 50 workstations whose construction or alteration is authorised after that date. Below that threshold, LHand doesn't automatically apply to an office closed to the public — but as soon as the premises receive clients, the accessibility requirement applies regardless of the number of workstations.
A ramp or a level threshold, essential as soon as the building receives the public or has more than 50 workstations.
Mandatory as soon as the professional premises sit above ground level in a building covered by LHand.
At least one wheelchair-accessible WC, with sufficient manoeuvring space.
Corridors and doors sized for a wheelchair to pass through, including into meeting rooms.
Acoustics: the weak point of open-plan offices
The SIA 181 standard sets requirements for noise protection in buildings — airborne noise, impact noise, noise from technical installations — but it doesn't set out a specific rule for open-plan offices. It's the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the federal authority responsible for workplace health protection under the Labour Act, that recommends concrete measures for large open spaces: absorbent ceilings and partitions, separate concentration zones, dedicated phone booths. Without these measures, a poorly treated open-plan office degrades concentration and the confidentiality of conversations well before the noise becomes disruptive in the strict sense.
An office's acoustics can almost never be fixed after the fact — they're designed in with the partitions, not added as accessories once the premises are occupied.
Commercial lease: who pays for the works, tenant or landlord?
Under Swiss law, a commercial lease follows the general rules of tenancy law (art. 253 to 274g of the Swiss Code of Obligations). Any alteration of the premises by the tenant requires the landlord's prior written consent, based on plans, a quote and a description of the project. Unless otherwise agreed, the cost of adapting the premises to the needs of the business is borne by the tenant — the landlord's obligation is generally limited to providing bare premises, or premises in the condition agreed in the lease.
Article 260a of the Swiss Code of Obligations provides that a tenant who has added significant value to the premises with the landlord's written consent can claim compensation at the end of the lease — but only if that added value is substantial and nothing else was agreed in writing. Conversely, many commercial leases require a full reinstatement of the premises at the end of the contract, even for fit-out work that benefited the building. This point needs to be negotiated before signing, never after.
Get the cost split between structural work, fit-out work and activity-specific installations confirmed in writing.
Check the exact procedure — plans and quotes to submit, response deadline — before committing to any contractor.
Full reinstatement or keeping the installations in place: clarify this before the works start, not at termination.
An explicit clause avoids a dispute over article 260a CO when leaving the premises.
Typical timeline for an office fit-out project
The timeline mainly depends on the scale of the works and the tenancy status of the premises. For a light refresh with no change to the partitions, allow generally 6 to 10 weeks between the decision and handover of the keys. For a full fit-out with partitions, electrics and accessibility upgrades, the project more realistically spans 4 to 7 months once design, any permits and site execution are factored in.
- Diagnostic of the premises and brief: 3 to 5 weeks, including checking the lease constraints and the applicable standards
- Design and comparable quotes: 4 to 6 weeks for a medium-sized project
- Building permit, if required: variable by canton, generally 2 to 4 months as soon as the structure, the façade or the designated use of the premises is affected
- Execution of the works: 6 to 12 weeks for a typical office floor, more if the site runs while the premises stay occupied
A brief that builds in these constraints from the start avoids most of the hold-ups that come up mid-site. Compare architects in your canton
Office, retail, medical practice: three different logics
The term "professional fit-out" covers very different realities depending on the activity involved. An office, a retail unit and a medical practice share some basic constraints — fire safety, accessibility — but each adds its own requirements, which weigh directly on the budget and the timeline.
- LHand accessibility from 50 workstations, or as soon as clients are received
- Collective acoustics to treat as a priority in an open-plan layout
- Escape routes sized to occupancy, with no constraint linked to public footfall
- Open to the public from the first customer: LHand applies regardless of the number of employees
- Emergency exits and signage sized for footfall, not just for staff
- Shopfront and frontage often subject to approval from the commune or the co-ownership
- Operating licence issued by the cantonal health department, in addition to the building permit
- Patient / staff circulation and confidentiality to build into the plan from the outset
- Surfaces, ventilation and finishes subject to hygiene requirements specific to healthcare activity
Planning an office project?
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Describe my projectFAQ
Generally budget between CHF 400 and 900 per m² for a light refresh (paint, flooring, lighting, without touching the partitions or the networks), and between CHF 1,200 and 2,200 per m² for a full fit-out including partitions, electrics and building automation. On top of these amounts comes workstation furniture, at around CHF 1,000 to 1,500 per desk.
LHand, in force since 1 January 2004, applies to buildings open to the public, to residential buildings with more than 8 dwellings, and to any building with more than 50 workstations whose construction or alteration is authorised after that date. An office closed to the public with fewer than 50 workstations isn't automatically subject to it, but as soon as the premises receive clients, accessibility is required regardless of the number of workstations.
Unless otherwise agreed, the cost of adapting the premises to the needs of the business is borne by the tenant, who must obtain the landlord's prior written consent based on plans and a quote. Article 260a of the Swiss Code of Obligations, however, allows the tenant to claim compensation at the end of the lease if the works, carried out with the landlord's written consent, added significant value to the premises.
It depends on the scale of the works and the canton. A refresh that doesn't touch load-bearing walls, the façade or the designated use of the premises generally needs no authorisation. As soon as the project significantly alters partitions, the designated use of the premises or elements subject to fire safety, a permit application becomes necessary — to check with the commune and, for fire-safety aspects, with the cantonal fire authority before signing the first quote.
For a light refresh with no change to the partitions, allow 6 to 10 weeks between the decision and handover of the keys. For a full fit-out with partitions, electrics and accessibility upgrades, the project more realistically spans 4 to 7 months once design, any permits and site execution are factored in.
No. All three share common bases — fire safety, accessibility — but a retail unit is subject to LHand from the first customer received, regardless of the number of employees, while a medical practice additionally requires an operating licence issued by the cantonal health department and must meet hygiene requirements specific to healthcare activity.