2 September 2026
In a tenancy, it is not the owners' meeting that decides but a single provision of tenancy law. It also settles who has to remove the wallbox when the tenant moves out — and that is rarely what landlords expect.
The customer rents the parking space, not the property, and still wants a wallbox. Unlike in condominium ownership, there is no owners' meeting here that could pass a resolution — there is only the landlord, and a single provision of the Code of Obligations that sets out what he may do and what he may not.
The article «Wallbox in condominium ownership» dealt with the consent of a community of owners under the law of co-ownership (Art. 647d ZGB, the Swiss Civil Code). If, on the other hand, the customer rents the flat or the parking space from a private landlord, a different legal basis applies: the tenancy law of the OR (Swiss Code of Obligations). The duty to notify the distribution network operator, described in the condominium article, does not change — it falls on the electrical contractor regardless of who owns the space.
Art. 260a para. 1 OR (SR 220) states:
«The tenant may renovate or modify the object only with the landlord's written consent.»
A wallbox is a modification of the rented object — it involves the fixed electrical installation, whether a socket or a dedicated supply line is fitted. On the wording of the law, verbal agreement from the property management is not enough. For the electrical contractor this means, in practice: the written consent belongs among the documents that should be in hand before work starts, not only at the quote stage — it is a condition of the tenancy between customer and landlord, not of the contract for work with the contractor.
The second paragraph of the same provision is the part that most often comes as a surprise in practice:
«Where the landlord has given consent, he may demand that the object be restored to its original condition only if this was agreed in writing.»
If the landlord consents to the wallbox without agreeing a restoration obligation in writing, he cannot demand that it be removed when the tenant moves out. The restoration obligation is the exception that has to be expressly agreed — not the rule that applies without an agreement. A customer who does not know this often assumes he will have to remove everything on moving out anyway, and a landlord often assumes the opposite. Both assumptions are wrong as long as nothing is in writing — the default under the law is that the installation may stay.
The third paragraph does not concern the electrical contractor directly, but belongs to complete advice to the customer:
«If on termination of the lease the object shows a significant increase in value as a result of the renovation or modification approved by the landlord, the tenant may claim appropriate compensation for such added value; more extensive compensation claims agreed in writing are reserved.»
If the wallbox stays in the rented object when the tenant moves out and significantly increases its value, the tenant can claim compensation from the landlord — regardless of any separate written agreement on the point, as long as the landlord had consented to the installation. A proper invoice from the electrical contractor, with line item and amount, is exactly the document a customer needs to substantiate this claim later.
Three points, before work begins:
The electrical contractor decides none of these three points — they are a matter for tenant and landlord. But it carries the same risk as in condominium ownership: an installation that is technically flawless but lacks valid consent can be ordered removed in a dispute.
On 19 June 2026 the Federal Council opened a consultation on an amendment to the Energy Act: property owners would be obliged, at the request of tenants or condominium owners, to provide the basic installation for charging electric vehicles — «the supply line to the parking space concerned, a system for allocating electricity consumption and, where necessary, load management». It is based on motion 23.3936 (Grossen), which Parliament adopted in June 2025. The consultation runs until 12 October 2026 — this is a draft, not law in force, and until it enters into force, Art. 260a OR remains decisive for a rented flat: the landlord's written consent remains a precondition; it is not replaced by an entitlement of the tenant.
Sources: Swiss Code of Obligations (OR, SR 220), Art. 260a, fedlex.admin.ch; quotations follow the unofficial English translation. Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE (BFE), press release «Bundesrat will Zugang zu Ladeinfrastruktur zu Hause verbessern» of 19 June 2026, bfe.admin.ch. This article is not legal advice; in a dispute, the parties to the tenancy decide, or where in doubt the court.
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