Renovating a 1960s apartment in Zurich: where to start
A large share of Zurich's residential stock built between 1955 and 1970 shares the same characteristics: generous ceiling height, non-load-bearing partitions that are easy to rework, but electrical and plumbing systems at the end of their service life. Here's what concretely sets this type of project apart.
What works in your favour
Unlike older buildings (pre-1920), the structure of these buildings is generally reinforced concrete with non-load-bearing interior partitions. That leaves real freedom to rethink the layout — a wall can often be moved or removed without major structural work, to be confirmed with a structural engineer.
Non-load-bearing walls: written confirmation is still essential
"Non-load-bearing" is never something you can tell just by looking — it's a fact that needs to be verified against the original plans or by a structural engineer, who takes on liability if it turns out to be wrong. The SIA 260 to 269 norms govern the design assessment of existing structures and apply without exception to 1960s buildings, including for seismic resistance. Removing interior partitions between rooms within the same unit can be exempt from a building permit under the cantonal building regulations, but as soon as a wall potentially touches the structural shell, fire protection or the interests of third parties — neighbours, the condominium — a permit application becomes mandatory in Zurich.
The contract signed with the contractor or the engineer generally falls under the SIA 118 norm, which sets out, among other things, the warranty periods that apply once the works are handed over: two years for apparent defects, five years for hidden defects. This norm doesn't apply automatically — it has to be explicitly included in the contract to be binding in case of a dispute, a point to check before signing rather than after a disagreement.
What to check before anything else
Rarely up to current code, to be budgeted for systematically.
At the end of their technical service life in most buildings that haven't been renovated since construction.
Materials from the period (flooring adhesives, certain sprayed coatings) commonly contained it — a pre-work survey is mandatory in Zurich, as in the rest of Switzerland, as soon as these elements are disturbed.
The original façades are poorly insulated by current standards, which affects thermal comfort as much as running costs.
A technical survey before work begins avoids most of the bad surprises listed above. Compare architects in your canton
The budget for a 1960s apartment is rarely decided by what you can see — it's decided by what you find once you open the walls.
This is why an upfront technical survey — before even finalising the layout — genuinely changes the outcome of the project. It allows the cost of bringing things up to code to be budgeted for from the start, rather than discovered mid-project.
Heating: the item many people underestimate
A good share of the buildings built between 1955 and 1970 in Zurich still run on an oil or gas boiler installed at construction or replaced only once since. Since the cantonal Energiegesetz (energy law) came into force on 1 September 2022 — approved by around 62% of Zurich voters in a popular vote on 28 November 2021 — any replacement of a heat generator must use renewable energy as soon as it's technically feasible and the extra lifecycle cost doesn't exceed 5% compared with an equivalent fossil-fuel replacement. In practice, an oil or gas boiler at the end of its life is therefore no longer replaced like-for-like in the vast majority of cases: a heat pump or connection to district heating becomes the norm.
In a co-owned building (PPE), this change is decided and financed collectively, not at the scale of a single apartment — a point to clarify with the PPE administration before drawing up an individual budget. For a single-family home or a small building you own outright, budget around CHF 25,000 to 35,000 for an installed air-water heat pump, against roughly CHF 25,000 for a like-for-like replacement with a gas boiler — an option the cantonal law makes difficult to justify today in any case.
Cantonal grants for energy renovation
The Gebäudeprogramme — the Buildings Programme jointly funded by the cantons and the federal CO2 levy — subsidises replacing fossil-fuel heating and improving insulation. For 2026, the canton of Zurich is carrying its 2025 amounts forward unchanged: an air-water heat pump qualifies for CHF 4,000 plus CHF 60 per kW of installed thermal capacity, a heat pump on a geothermal probe for CHF 8,000 plus CHF 180 per kW, and a top-up of CHF 1,600 plus CHF 40 per kW is added if a low-temperature distribution system (underfloor heating, for example) is installed at the same time. On a full replacement project, this can represent several thousand francs of direct subsidy — to be applied for before the works begin, never after.
Scaled to a medium-sized apartment (around 90 m², about ten windows), the main work items specific to this type of property give the following orders of magnitude — excluding the electrical and plumbing code-compliance work already mentioned above, and excluding the heavy-envelope renovation share which, in a PPE building, generally falls under a collective decision.
Orders of magnitude — typical 1960s apartment in Zurich
These amounts vary considerably depending on the actual condition of your building and its maintenance history — a reliable costing requires knowing its current heating type and the date of the last renovations. Compare architects in your canton
Windows, floors and finishes: what to replace, what to restore
Replacing a window with triple glazing, installation included, costs between CHF 500 and 1,200 depending on the material — budget the top of the range for wood or wood-aluminium. For parquet, the question is worth asking before deciding: if the original oak parquet, common in these buildings, is still in good structural condition, sanding and sealing it costs between CHF 35 and 55 per m², against CHF 80 to 240 per m² for new parquet installed — 3 to 4 times cheaper, for a result that's often more in keeping with the original building than a full replacement.
If the apartment is rented out: what tenancy law allows
Many of these Zurich buildings are still rented out at the point their owner considers works. Article 260 of the Swiss Code of Obligations allows the landlord to renovate or alter the rented unit during the lease, provided the works can reasonably be imposed on the tenant — which rules out a heavy renovation that deeply affects the structure, the electrics and the plumbing of an occupied unit. In that case, most owners wait for a tenant changeover or negotiate a departure rather than carry out the works with the unit occupied.
- The landlord must inform the tenant in advance of the nature, duration and foreseeable disruption of the works (art. 260 CO)
- The tenant must tolerate necessary maintenance or renovation works, provided they are announced in good time and carried out with due consideration
- A rent reduction is owed if the use of the unit is significantly hindered during the works
- Refresh works cannot be imposed on a tenant whose lease has already been terminated and who won't benefit from the works
A realistic timeline, from diagnostic to handover
Between the decision to renovate and handover of the site, a project of this scale rarely takes less than six months — and longer as soon as the structure or the façade are involved. Here are the main stages, in the order they actually occur on the ground.
- Technical and asbestos diagnostic: 2 to 4 weeks, before any commitment on the plans
- Preliminary design, quotes and choice of contractors: 4 to 8 weeks depending on the complexity of the programme
- Permit procedure in Zurich: around 2 months under the notification procedure for simple works, 3 months under the accelerated ordinary procedure, up to 5 months under the long ordinary procedure for complex alterations touching the structure or the envelope
- Execution of the works: 3 to 6 months for a full apartment renovation, excluding surprises discovered once the walls are opened
A project in an older building in Zurich?
Describe your apartment and its year of construction: the architects you're put in touch with will know exactly what to check first.
Describe my projectFAQ
Not systematically: removing non-load-bearing partitions between rooms within the same unit can be exempt from a permit under the cantonal building regulations. As soon as the load-bearing structure, fire protection, the designated use of the rooms or the interests of third parties — the condominium, neighbours — are involved, a permit application becomes mandatory. In all cases, get written confirmation from a structural engineer that a wall really is non-load-bearing before touching it.
No — the cantonal energy law, in force since 1 September 2022, applies at the point the heat generator is replaced, not before. As long as your boiler works, you're not obliged to change it. But when it reaches the end of its life, the law requires the use of renewable energy unless there's a technical or cost exception, which in practice rules out a like-for-like replacement with a new fossil-fuel boiler in most cases.
Budget between CHF 600 and 1,200 for a survey targeted at a kitchen or bathroom, and up to CHF 2,000 to 3,000 for a full analysis of a 4 to 5-room apartment. This survey is mandatory as soon as the works touch a building built before 1991, which covers almost the entire 1960s residential stock in Zurich.
You can start works during the lease if they can reasonably be imposed on the tenant (art. 260 CO), but you must inform them in advance of their nature, duration and expected disruption, and they're entitled to a rent reduction if the use of the unit is hindered. For a heavy renovation that deeply affects the structure, electrics and plumbing, most owners still wait for a tenant changeover, since the scale of the works often exceeds what remains reasonable to impose on a sitting tenant.
Yes, replacing fossil-fuel heating with a heat pump is subsidised independently of other works under the cantonal Gebäudeprogramme: budget CHF 4,000 plus CHF 60 per kW of thermal capacity for an air-water heat pump, or CHF 8,000 plus CHF 180 per kW for a geothermal-probe solution. The application must be submitted before the works begin — once the site work has started, the subsidy is no longer available.