28 September 2026
The statutory lien for tradespeople (Bauhandwerkerpfandrecht) must be registered in the land register no later than four months after completion of the work (Art. 839 para. 2 ZGB) — regardless of the claim itself expiring after five years. What an electrical contractor needs for the provisional registration.
The statutory lien for tradespeople secures an electrical contractor's claim for work and material supplied on a property, by being registered in the land register (Art. 837 para. 1 no. 3 ZGB). Registration must happen no later than four months after completion of the work (Art. 839 para. 2 ZGB) — a separate deadline, far shorter than the five-year limitation period that applies to the claim itself. Anyone who lets those four months pass loses the lien, even though the invoice remains open and can still be pursued in court.
Tradespeople or contractors who have supplied material and labour, or labour alone, on a property for construction or other works, demolition work, scaffolding, securing an excavation pit or similar are entitled to have a statutory lien registered (Art. 837 para. 1 no. 3 ZGB). That holds regardless of who owes the claim: the owner of the property, another tradesperson or contractor, a tenant, a leaseholder or another person entitled on the property. For an electrical contractor working on behalf of a tenant or a client who is not themselves the owner, that does not, in principle, change the entitlement.
The statutory lien for tradespeople is an indirect statutory lien: it does not arise automatically with the work performed, but only with its registration in the land register. Until then it is merely a claim to registration — no entry, no lien, even where the underlying claim is undisputed.
What counts is neither the invoice date, nor the payment due date, nor the date of a reminder, but the completion of the work — the actual finish of the (last) work on site (Art. 839 para. 2 ZGB). Four months run from that day, and once they have passed, the lien can no longer be registered.
That is a separate, and much shorter, deadline than the five-year limitation period for a claim arising from trade work under the Code of Obligations, described in the article «Debt enforcement for an unpaid invoice». A claim can therefore still be enforceable while the lien securing it has already lapsed — the two deadlines run independently of each other, and a request for debt enforcement does not preserve the four-month deadline for the statutory lien.
Because settling a dispute conclusively usually takes longer than four months, the procedure provides for provisional registration. The competent court is the one at the location of the property, usually the single judge of the district court; it decides in summary proceedings (Art. 252 et seq. ZPO) and levies an advance on costs. Where urgent, an ex parte application is also possible.
For provisional registration it is enough to make it plausible — not to prove — that
The documents needed are usually already at hand where a business documents its jobs properly: the works contract, order confirmation, work and Regie Rapporte, invoices and reminders, plus a current land register extract and, where represented, a power of attorney.
If the court grants the application for provisional registration, it sets a deadline within which final registration must be requested by way of a lawsuit — depending on the amount in dispute, in simplified or ordinary proceedings (Art. 219 et seq., 243 et seq. ZPO). From that point, making it plausible is no longer enough: the contractor must prove the claim. If no lawsuit is filed within the deadline set, the property owner can request that the lien be struck off.
When does the four-month deadline for the statutory lien start running? From completion of the work — the actual finish of the last work on site, not the invoice date or the payment due date (Art. 839 para. 2 ZGB).
Does the statutory lien apply if it was not the property owner but a tenant, or a client acting for someone else, who ordered the work? Yes. The entitlement exists regardless of who owes the claim — the property owner, a tenant, a leaseholder or another person entitled on the property (Art. 837 ZGB).
What happens if the four months pass without registration? The lien can no longer be registered and is lost — even though the claim itself has not expired and can still be pursued in court.
Is provisional registration enough, or must a lawsuit be filed immediately? Provisional registration first preserves the four-month deadline. For final registration, the court then sets its own deadline within which a lawsuit must be filed (Art. 252 et seq., 219 et seq., 243 et seq. ZPO).
Sources: Swiss Civil Code (ZGB, SR 210), Art. 837 and 839, and Swiss Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO, SR 272), Art. 219 et seq., 243 et seq. and 252 et seq., fedlex.admin.ch — read in the German text and cited from the information sheet on the statutory lien for tradespeople of the Schwyz district court (Bezirksgericht Schwyz, October 2023), bezirk-schwyz.ch, and the overview by the notaries of the canton of Zurich, notariate-zh.ch. This article does not replace legal advice; in a specific case, the competent court at the location of the property decides.
We look at a real week from your business — 45 minutes, at your place or on screen.