27 September 2026
When the reminder goes unanswered, you start debt enforcement. What happens next, how an objection stops it, and why a claim for trade work expires after five years.
In Switzerland you enforce an unpaid invoice by filing a request for debt enforcement with the debt enforcement office. The office serves a payment order on the debtor: they have 20 days to pay and ten days to object. If they object, the proceedings stop until you assert your claim in court. A claim for trade work expires after five years, and debt enforcement interrupts that period.
How many reminders the law requires is covered in the article «Unpaid invoice»: where a due date was agreed, the customer is in default without any reminder, and debt enforcement is open. The three reminder letters before it are a habit of the business, not a legal condition. Whether to send them is a question of the customer and the amount. Anyone starting proceedings should, however, be able to show what was sent and when.
Debt enforcement is the procedure regulated by law through which a money claim is collected with the help of the state. It begins with the request for debt enforcement, addressed in writing or orally to the debt enforcement office (Art. 67 para. 1 SchKG). The law requires, among other things:
For an electrical contractor, that document is the invoice, ideally backed by the signed quote and the signed Rapport (see «Getting the Regie Rapport signed»). State the invoice number, its date and its due date on the request, so that the ground of the claim is clear to everyone involved.
A payment order is the document the debt enforcement office serves on the debtor after receiving the request (Art. 69 SchKG). It tells them to pay within 20 days, that they may object within ten days, and that the proceedings otherwise continue (Art. 69 para. 2 SchKG).
Two numbers that get mixed up: the debtor has 20 days to pay and ten days to dispute. Under Art. 74 para. 1 SchKG, a debtor who wants to object must declare it immediately to whoever hands over the payment order, or within ten days of service to the debt enforcement office, orally or in writing.
An objection is the debtor's declaration that they dispute the claim, or the right to pursue it through debt enforcement. It needs no reasons (Art. 75 para. 1 SchKG). So an objection does not mean your claim is weak: the debtor does not have to give the office any ground.
If the debtor disputes only part of the claim, they must state the disputed amount precisely; otherwise the whole claim counts as disputed (Art. 74 para. 2 SchKG). The undisputed remainder carries on.
With no objection, the proceedings continue: you can ask for them to be continued. The law sets a time limit for that (Art. 88 SchKG), which this article does not reproduce. The debt enforcement office will tell you what it is; do not let it lapse.
With an objection, the proceedings stop. Under Art. 79 para. 1 SchKG, a creditor against whose proceedings an objection has been raised must assert their claim in civil or administrative proceedings.
For your invoice, that means you have to sue. Whether a shorter route is open depends on what you hold in your hand. This is the point where a lawyer earns their fee. A simple rule: the more closely quote, Rapport and invoice agree, the better the claim stands.
A claim that is not enforced expires. Limitation means the debtor may refuse to pay because the period has run out. The law has a general period and exceptions (Art. 127 and 128 OR):
An electrical contractor's installation work is trade work in the plain sense of the word. In borderline cases, such as a plain supply of material or a large construction project, the classification can be disputed; in a dispute, the court decides. When in doubt, count on five years.
The period starts when the claim falls due (Art. 130 para. 1 OR), not on the invoice date and not at the last reminder. It is interrupted, among other things, by debt enforcement, by a request for conciliation or by a lawsuit (Art. 135 no. 2 OR), and by the debtor acknowledging the claim, in particular by paying interest or instalments (Art. 135 no. 1 OR). So if the customer pays an instalment, limitation starts running afresh (Art. 137 para. 1 OR). How the period continues after debt enforcement is governed by Art. 138 OR, which this article does not reproduce.
In practice: an open invoice you leave untouched for five years can no longer be enforced. For old items, note the due date and act before it.
Besides debt enforcement, the law gives tradespeople on construction projects the statutory lien for tradespeople: it must be registered in the land register no later than four months after completion of the work (Art. 839 para. 2 ZGB) — a separate deadline, far shorter than the five years above, and independent of debt enforcement. What it takes, see the article «The statutory lien for tradespeople: the four-month deadline».
The dunning view in elektro.box shows which open invoices are due for a reminder today, along the dunning stages the business sets up itself. Nothing goes out without confirmation: the letter is shown, a person sends it. For debt enforcement, the software prepares the request under Art. 67 SchKG as a PDF, with the invoice, interest and the reminders already sent. A person files it with the debt enforcement office; the software files nothing. You will find more on billing on the Invoicing page.
Do I have to send three reminders before I can start debt enforcement? No. The law requires default, not a number of reminders. Where a due date was agreed, the customer is in default once it has passed, as the article «Unpaid invoice» shows.
How long does the customer have after the payment order? 20 days to pay and ten days to object (Art. 69 para. 2 and Art. 74 para. 1 SchKG).
What do I do if the customer objects? The proceedings stop. You must assert your claim in civil proceedings (Art. 79 para. 1 SchKG). Take legal advice for that.
How long can I claim an open invoice? For a claim arising from trade work, the limitation period is five years from the due date (Art. 128 no. 3 and Art. 130 para. 1 OR). Debt enforcement, a request for conciliation and a lawsuit interrupt it.
When the customer is in default and what Skonto and retention change: see the article «Unpaid invoice». How to secure payments before the final invoice: see «Asking for an Akonto as an electrical contractor». How a signed Rapport holds up in a dispute: see «Getting the Regie Rapport signed».
Sources: Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (SchKG, SR 281.1), Art. 67, 69, 74, 75 and 79, and Swiss Code of Obligations (OR, SR 220), Art. 127, 128, 130, 135 and 137, fedlex.admin.ch, version of 1 January 2026, retrieved on 27 September 2026, read in the German text; the translation is ours and does not replace the official text. Art. 88 SchKG and Art. 138 OR were not read and are not reproduced here. This article does not replace legal advice: whether a claim is one for trade work within the meaning of Art. 128 no. 3 OR, and how to proceed in a specific case, is for the court to decide in a dispute.
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