1Die Landesvermessung ist Sache des Bundes.
2Der Bund erlässt Vorschriften über die amtliche Vermessung.
3Er kann Vorschriften erlassen über die Harmonisierung amtlicher Informationen, welche Grund und Boden betreffen.
Overview
Art. 75a FC regulates the official surveying of Switzerland at three levels. The provision creates the constitutional foundations for a unified system for the collection and management of spatial data (geodata).
National Survey (Paragraph 1): The Confederation conducts the national survey (BBl 1997 I 1, 282). This creates the geodetic framework for the entire Switzerland — like an invisible coordinate network that precisely determines every point in the country (Hoffmann/Griffel, BSK BV, Art. 75a N. 5). This includes survey points, satellite positioning services and the national map. The Federal Act on Geoinformation (GeoIA) and the National Survey Ordinance (NSO) implement this competence.
Official Survey (Paragraph 2): The Confederation regulates the official survey; the cantons conduct it (Art. 34 GeoIA). This documents every square metre of Swiss soil: property boundaries, buildings, roads, watercourses (Hoffmann/Griffel, BSK BV, Art. 75a N. 8). An example: If someone buys a house, the official survey shows exactly where the property begins and ends. The legally binding survey enjoys public faith — it is deemed correct until proven otherwise (Art. 9 GeoIA; VGE BE 100.2024.34U of 31.10.2024). The Ordinance on Official Survey (OSO) specifies the implementation.
Harmonisation (Paragraph 3): The Confederation may enact regulations on the harmonisation of official information about land and soil (BBl 2006 7817, 7825 ff.). This competence, introduced in 2008, enables uniform standards for all official geodata. The scope is disputed in legal doctrine: Lendi sees a comprehensive federal competence (BSK BV, Art. 75a N. 20), while Biaggini assumes a substantively limited competence (BSK BV, Art. 75a N. 6).
Practical Significance: The surveying system significantly shapes everyday life. Land register entries, building permits, tax assessments — all are based on the official survey (Huser, Vermessungsrecht, 34 ff.). In boundary disputes, the survey usually decides. The costs of surveying are partially borne by property owners (Art. 42 para. 3 OSO), with regular contributions for initial surveys.
Case law deals mainly with award procedures for updating work (public procurement law) and the correction of survey errors. The Administrative Court of Bern has repeatedly confirmed that the award of updating surveyor work is subject to public procurement law (VGE BE 100.2024.38U of 31.10.2024).
Art. 75a FC – Surveying
#Doctrine
#1. Legislative History
N. 1 Art. 75a FC was newly codified as a standalone provision during the total revision of the Federal Constitution of 1999. The Federal Council based this on the legislative competence of the Confederation over the land register and official cadastral surveying previously contained in Art. 64bis aFC (1950), transposing its regulatory content into the new Constitution (BBl 1997 I 285). Compared to the predecessor provision, the allocation of competences was structured into three functionally distinct paragraphs, and in particular an autonomous harmonisation competence (para. 3) was enshrined, which had not previously been explicitly anchored.
N. 2 The Federal Council's message on the Federal Constitution of 1997 emphasised that national surveying must remain a federal task due to its whole-of-state character, whereas the carrying out of official cadastral surveying was deliberately intended to remain with federal execution (BBl 1997 I 217, 285). This fundamental decision in favour of a legislatively centralised, executively decentralised system reflects the principle of subsidiarity enshrined in Art. 3 FC.
N. 3 With the Federal Act on Geoinformation of 5 October 2007 (GeoIA; SR 510.62), in force since 1 July 2008, the Confederation created a comprehensive statute for geo-referenced data on the basis of Art. 75a FC. The Federal Council's message on the GeoIA (BBl 2006 7817 ff.) designates Art. 75a FC as the «indispensable constitutional basis» for a uniform regulation of national surveying, official cadastral surveying, and the harmonisation of land-related official information.
#2. Systematic Classification
N. 4 Art. 75a FC appears in Chapter 4 of the Federal Constitution («Environment and Spatial Planning», Art. 73–80 FC) and is to be characterised as a competence norm. It neither establishes subjective rights nor affords fundamental rights protection, but exclusively governs the allocation of tasks and legislative competences between the Confederation and the cantons in the field of surveying. Häfelin/Haller/Keller/Thurnherr, Schweizerisches Bundesstaatsrecht, 10th ed. 2020, N 735 describe such norms as subject-matter competence articles, which authorise the Confederation to enact federal law and restrict the cantons' residual competence.
N. 5 In relation to other constitutional provisions, there is a close functional connection with → Art. 75 FC (spatial planning) and → Art. 26 FC (guarantee of property): official cadastral surveying constitutes the basis of the land register (Art. 950 CC) and thus of the law of immovable property. The Federal Supreme Court emphasises in judgment 1C_664/2024 of 6.9.2025, consid. 1, that disputes concerning official cadastral surveying «are only indirectly connected to civil law» and are to be treated as public law matters (Art. 82 lit. a BGG).
N. 6 Art. 75a FC contains three levels of competence of differing scope and binding force, regulated in paragraphs 1–3 (→ N. 9–11).
#3. Content of the Provision
N. 7 Paragraph 1: National surveying as an exclusive federal task. National surveying — the comprehensive cartographic work of the Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo) — is exclusively a matter for the Confederation. This constitutes an exclusive federal competence within the meaning of Rhinow/Schefer/Uebersax, Schweizerisches Verfassungsrecht, 3rd ed. 2016, N 2710 ff.: the cantons retain no independent regulatory latitude. The subject matter comprises the topographic maps (national maps 1:25,000 to 1:1,000,000), the national levelling network, and the geodetic reference frameworks (trigonometric network, gravity and geoid model). This infrastructure forms the reference system for all other surveying work.
N. 8 Paragraph 2: Federal legislative competence for official cadastral surveying. Official cadastral surveying encompasses the parcel-accurate representation of the cadastre of real estate — in particular property boundaries, boundary markers, land cover, parcels, and public immovable property (Art. 1 of the Ordinance on Official Cadastral Surveying [OOCS; SR 211.432.2]). The Confederation enacts the relevant provisions; implementation rests with the cantons pursuant to Art. 34 para. 2 lit. a GeoIA. The Administrative Court of St. Gallen held in B 2020/95 of 10.2.2021 that the Federal Council «on the basis of Art. 75a paras. 2 and 3 of the Federal Constitution» prescribes the carrying out of official cadastral surveying and delegates this to the cantons. This constitutes a concurrent legislative competence with delegated implementation: federal law is authoritative; cantonal law governs procedure and competences in implementation (Kettiger, Das neue Geoinformationsrecht, Jusletter of 27.10.2008, para. 46 ff.).
N. 9 Paragraph 3: Harmonisation competence (optional competence). The Confederation may enact provisions on the harmonisation of official information relating to land. This competence is structured as a facultative competence: the federal legislature is not obliged to act (cf. Rhinow/Schefer/Uebersax, op. cit., N 2688). The subject matter is broader than official cadastral surveying itself: it covers all land-related official information, including data from soil cadastres, special zoning plans, forest cadastres, and pipeline registers. The constitutional basis was exercised through the GeoIA; the Administrative Court of Graubünden held in PVG 2017 22 that the federal legislature had enacted the GeoIA «on the basis of its legislative competence in the area of surveying and harmonisation of geodata (cf. Art. 75a FC)».
N. 10 Official cadastral surveying is conceived as two-dimensional. The Federal Supreme Court clarified in judgment 1C_664/2024 of 6.9.2025, consid. 4.2.1, that boundaries «in official cadastral surveying are documented only in two dimensions» (with reference to Art. 2 lit. a LRO; Art. 668 para. 1 CC). The vertical extent of parcels is not the subject of official cadastral surveying; it is determined by civil law (Art. 667 para. 1 CC) and private law easements. A three-dimensional representation of property rights would require a revision of the law of immovable property (so explicitly Huser, Schweizerisches Vermessungsrecht, 3rd ed. 2014, para. 328, cited in judgment 1C_664/2024, consid. 4.2.1).
N. 11 The cadastral surveyor (licensed surveyor) performs a sovereign, notary-like function: the surveyor does not independently determine where boundaries are to run, but records the common intent of the adjoining landowners and determines it by sovereign act. A unilateral amendment of boundaries upon request is inadmissible (judgment 1C_664/2024 of 6.9.2025, consid. 4.2.2). Where agreement between landowners is absent, the action for rectification of the land register under Art. 975 CC is available.
#4. Legal Consequences
N. 12 Art. 75a para. 1 FC entails that cantonal legislation on national surveying is precluded (supremacy of federal law; → Art. 49 FC). The Confederation may organise national surveying by ordinance, mandate agreement, or mixed forms (swisstopo as a federal office with special legal status pursuant to Art. 21 ff. of the Federal Act on the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport).
N. 13 Art. 75a para. 2 FC establishes, as the basis for official cadastral surveying, a two-tier regime of legal consequences: federal law sets the substantive surveying provisions (OOCS, technical ordinances, GeoIA); cantonal law governs procedure, competence, supervision, and allocation of costs. The cantonal variation in the configuration of cadastral maintenance obligations of surveyors and the procedural treatment of objections to surveying works (public inspection and objection procedure under Art. 28 OOCS) are expressions of this cantonal autonomy in implementation. The Federal Supreme Court treats appeals in this area as public law matters (judgment 2C_143/2024 of 14.3.2024, consid. 1).
N. 14 Pursuant to Art. 14a OOCS, discrepancies between the data of official cadastral surveying and conditions on the ground are to be remedied ex officio. If no such discrepancy exists, the competent cantonal authority may not entertain a corresponding application; there is no unilateral entitlement to a boundary adjustment (judgment 1C_664/2024 of 6.9.2025, consid. 3.1 and 4.3). Prior civil court judgments on the course of a boundary are binding on the surveying authorities (consid. 4.2.3).
N. 15 The basic geodata of official cadastral surveying are publicly accessible under Art. 10 GeoIA — unless overriding public or private interests preclude this. The accessibility regime is uniformly governed by federal law, irrespective of whether the competent body is a federal, cantonal, or municipal authority (Kettiger, VPB 2009.3, BBl-Verwaltungspraxis 2009, p. 48 ff.). Private parties required to make pipeline data available for official cadastral surveying cannot make such disclosure subject to restrictive conditions (VPB 2009.3, p. 56).
N. 16 The award of cadastral maintenance surveying works by the cantons is subject to procurement law where the statutory threshold values are exceeded (Cantonal Court of Basel-Landschaft, decision 810 16 4 of 9.3.2016). The delegation of sovereign tasks to private surveyors does not alter the public law nature of the contractual relationship (Administrative Court of Bern, judgment 100.2013.54 of 24.10.2014).
#5. Contested Issues
N. 17 Scope of Art. 75a para. 3 FC. It is disputed how far the Confederation's harmonisation competence extends. Kettiger (Jusletter 27.10.2008, para. 46 ff.) argues that the competence covers all «land-related official information», including cantonal data, which the Confederation may subject to a uniform accessibility regime through federal law. The broader view, according to which Art. 75a para. 3 FC confers on the Confederation the competence to comprehensively regulate geodata collected by cantons (tending in this direction: Rhinow/Schefer/Uebersax, op. cit., N 2745), requires qualification to the extent that the cantons must themselves regulate their intra-cantonal responsibilities for data governance (Art. 8 para. 1 GeoIA); if they fail to do so, the rule on subject-area competence applies (VPB 2009.3, p. 54).
N. 18 Three-dimensional surveying. The literature has long debated whether existing law — based on Art. 75a FC — suffices for an extension of official cadastral surveying to the third dimension (underground, airspace). Huser (Schweizerisches Vermessungsrecht, 3rd ed. 2014, para. 328; idem, URP 2014, p. 522 ff.) answers in the negative: a three-dimensional representation of property rights presupposes a revision of the law of immovable property and goes beyond the current competence basis. This position has been confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court in judgment 1C_664/2024, consid. 4.2.1. A contrary view, holding that a merely technical extension of the surveying work on the basis of Art. 75a para. 2 FC is permissible (suggested in Ruch, Sicherheit & Recht 1/2022, p. 37 f.), would, however, fail to account for the interplay with property law.
N. 19 Economic freedom and admission to surveying work. The requirement to be entered in the surveyors' register as a condition for carrying out surveying work (Art. 17 ff. SurvO; SR 211.432.4) touches upon economic freedom (Art. 27 FC). In a legal opinion of the Federal Office for Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (VPB 2011.2, of 3.8.2011; Kettiger), it was held that an age limit for registered surveyors is incompatible with the constitutional prohibition of discrimination (Art. 8 FC) and economic freedom (Art. 27 FC) unless it can be justified by objective grounds. This principle of law, grounded in BGE 124 I 297 (age limit for notaries), is applicable by analogy to the admission of surveyors.
#6. Practical Notes
N. 20 Disputes concerning official cadastral surveying are public law matters subject to appeal in public law matters to the Federal Supreme Court (Art. 82 lit. a BGG), provided no ground for exclusion under Art. 83 BGG applies. The 30-day time limit for appeal (Art. 100 para. 1 BGG) is absolute and cannot be extended (judgment 2C_143/2024 of 14.3.2024, consid. 2).
N. 21 Landowners seeking boundary corrections must distinguish between: (a) Public law rectification of discrepancies within the meaning of Art. 14a OOCS: only where a proven discrepancy exists between the surveying work and conditions on the ground, in principle with the consent of both landowners. (b) Civil law action for rectification of the land register under Art. 975 CC: where an allegedly unlawful entry is at issue. (c) Contractual or easement-based solution: where use in the boundary area is disputed, in particular regarding vertical extent (judgment 1C_664/2024 of 6.9.2025, consid. 4.3).
N. 22 The award of cadastral maintenance surveying works by cantonal surveying authorities is subject to cantonal and intercantonal procurement law. Tenderers may challenge corresponding award decisions by means of an appeal; competence lies with the cantonal administrative courts (Administrative Court of Bern, judgment 100.2013.54 of 24.10.2014; Cantonal Court of Basel-Landschaft, decision 810 16 4 of 9.3.2016).
N. 23 Pipeline operators and other undertakings subject to authorisation requirements are obliged under federal law to make the geodata necessary for official cadastral surveying available to the competent surveying authorities free of charge and without conditions. Restrictive contractual terms (data acquisition declarations or similar) are incompatible with the GeoIA and void (VPB 2009.3, p. 55 f.; Art. 41 RLSV; Art. 10, 12 GeoIA).
N. 24 In questions of accessibility of basic geodata, the federal law principle of public access under the GeoIA applies, even where cantonal law (still) follows the principle of confidentiality. Federal law establishes in this respect a uniform minimum standard that supersedes cantonal confidentiality law (→ Art. 49 FC; VPB 2009.3, p. 52).
Case Law
#Constitutional Basis and Implementation Transfer
Decision St. Gallen Administrative Court B 2020/95 of 10 February 2021 Foundations of federal surveying regulations and addressing system. Confirmation of the constitutional distribution of powers according to Art. 75a para. 2 and 3 Cst.
«The Federal Council prescribes the conduct of the official survey based on Art. 75a para. 2 and 3 of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation as well as Art. 7 para. 1 sentence 1 of the Federal Act on Geoinformation.»
#Award of Updating Surveyor Work
Judgement Bern Administrative Court 100.2024.34U of 31 October 2024 Legal foundations for awarding updating contracts; application of the Internal Market Act. Central clarification of the distribution of powers between the Confederation and cantons in surveying matters.
«According to Art. 75a para. 2 of the Federal Constitution (Cst.; SR 101), the Confederation regulates the official survey (cf. also Art. 34 of the Federal Act of 5 October 2007 on Geoinformation regarding the division of tasks between Confederation and canton). The Confederation has transferred the conduct of the official survey to the cantons (Art. 34 para. 2 lit. a GeoIA).»
Federal Supreme Court Judgement 2C_143/2024 of 14 March 2024 Procedural aspects of objections against surveying works. Significance of appeal deadlines in administrative procedures for official surveys.
«The appeal against a decision must be filed with the Federal Supreme Court within 30 days of service of the complete copy (Art. 100 para. 1 FSCA). This statutory deadline cannot be extended (Art. 47 para. 1 FSCA).»
Decision Basel-Landschaft Cantonal Court 810 16 4 of 9 March 2016 Public procurement treatment of updating contracts. Clarification of jurisdiction and legal classification of award procedures.
«The question of subjecting the award of a contract for ongoing updating of the official survey to public procurement law arises when transferring sovereign tasks to private parties.»
Judgement Bern Administrative Court 100.2013.54 of 24 October 2014 Award of updating surveyor work 2013-2017; principles of award procedures. First comprehensive treatment of procedural requirements for awarding surveying contracts.
«The Administrative Court adjudicates as the final cantonal instance appeals against rulings and decisions based on public law, including the award of updating surveyor work.»
#Land Register Aspects
Decision Aargau Higher Court AGVE_2001_5 of 26 February 2001 Relationship between official survey and land register; legally binding survey. Central significance of the official survey for the land register system.
«The legally binding survey provides public faith for the depicted real estate in the sense that it is considered correct until the contrary is proven (Art. 950 and Art. 9 CC).»
#Cost Allocation
Decisions Graubünden Administrative Court U 2021/4, U 2019/62, U 2024/31-34 Series of decisions on cost allocation in official surveys. Clarification of financial responsibilities between various parties.
Federal Supreme Court Decision on Value Added Tax 2C_984/2014 of 26 May 2016 Revenue differences regarding official surveys; tax treatment of surveying services. Significance for the treatment of surveying services in tax law.
#Economic Freedom and Anti-Discrimination
Embassy Decision ch_vb_150000239 of 3 August 2011 Official survey, age limit, anti-discrimination, economic freedom. Constitutional limits on admission to surveying work.
«Keywords: Official survey, age limit, anti-discrimination, economic freedom» show the connection between Art. 75a Cst. and fundamental rights.
#Recent Developments
Federal Supreme Court Judgement 1C_664/2024 of 6 September 2025 Correction of contradictions in the official survey. Current case law on correction procedures for surveying errors.
Series Bern Administrative Court 100.2024.217 to 100.2024.233 (2024-2025) Several parallel procedures concerning the award of updating surveyor work in the canton of Bern. Show the practical significance and frequency of disputes in awarding surveying contracts.
«The Administrative Court reviews the contested decision for legal violations (Art. 80 lit. a and b APRP)» in the award of updating surveyor work.