krfacts January Edition 2026 Legal Changes in 2026

At the beginning of 2026, numerous legislative changes will come into effect in Switzerland. Many of these changes affect everyday areas of life such as housing, finance, health, and energy supply. This article summarizes the most important changes for 2026 and shows what will change in concrete terms.

Numerous new laws and regulations are making it increasingly difficult to navigate the regulatory framework. To make this task easier, the authors have once again compiled the most important legal changes in a compact form this year.

Construction law: Revision concerning construction defects

The revised construction contract law will come into force in Switzerland on January 1, 2026. This reform aims to significantly strengthen the rights of builders and property buyers, especially when it comes to defects in construction projects.

At the heart of the reform is the extension of the so-called “complaint periods.” In the future, the law will grant purchasers of real property and employers commissioning construction a period of 60 days to report defects to the contractor. This period begins either upon acceptance of the work or, in the case of hidden defects, from the time of discovery. Important to know: Contract clauses that provide for a shorter period will be invalid in the future.

Once defects have been reported in a timely manner, purchasers of real property and employers commissioning construction are entitled to demand that the contractor remedy the defects free of charge. The right to rectification will also change on January 1, 2026. In future, this right can no longer be contractually excluded or restricted in advance. This protection applies not only to traditional construction contracts, but also to the purchase of land with new buildings if the building in question is still to be constructed or has only recently been completed.

Furthermore, the five-year period within which defects in immovable works must be claimed (known as the limitation period) can no longer be contractually amended to the detriment of the customer. In other words, these limitation periods must be at least five years from the date of acceptance of the work for the customer.

As part of the revision, the legislature is also introducing a new provision concerning the building contractor's lien. In future, the substitute security to be provided by the property owner to prevent the registration of a lien must include not only the claim itself but also the default interest on the claim for a period of ten years. Even before the introduction of this change, the courts took default interest into account when determining the amount of the security deposit. However, the new regulation now provides greater clarity.

Debt collection law: Protection against unjustified debt collection

The Federal Council also brought the following amendments into effect on January 1, 2026:

At the debtor's request, debt enforcement proceedings will no longer be disclosed to third parties if the creditor's attempt to remove the legal objection is ultimately unsuccessful. This offers the person subject to debt enforcement more effective protection against potentially unfounded and reputation-damaging debt enforcement proceedings. It will now be possible to submit a request for non-disclosure even after the one-year period has expired, as long as the debt collection is visible to third parties. However, this will only be possible for a maximum of five years after the conclusion of the debt collection proceedings. The request can be submitted at the earliest three months after the payment order has been served. The regulation is intended to prevent unfounded debt collection proceedings from damaging a person's reputation and creditworthiness even years later.

Counterproposal to the premium relief initiative

Following the rejection of the premium relief initiative on June 9, 2024, the indirect counterproposal will now come into force at the beginning of the new year. This clearly regulates the cantonal obligation to contribute financially to premium reductions by setting a minimum contribution. The counterproposal obliges each canton to make an annual contribution to premium reductions. This contribution corresponds to a minimum percentage of the gross costs of compulsory health insurance (OKP) for the insured. This means that the cantons must increase their contribution to premium reductions as soon as the costs for compulsory health insurance (OKP) rise. This minimum percentage will depend on how much the premiums burden the incomes of the 40 percent of insured persons with the lowest incomes. This mechanism will limit the premium burden on households.

Outpatient medical fees: Tardoc and first flat rates replace Tarmed

A new tariff system will be introduced in the Swiss healthcare system on January 1, 2026: after lengthy negotiations, the Federal Council has approved the new tariff structure called “Tardoc” and new flat-rate billing for outpatient treatment. This replaces the previous “Tarmed” system, which had been in effect since 2004. For insured persons, everyday life will remain largely unchanged with the introduction of Tardoc and flat rates.

Tardoc brings a number of innovations. The system focuses on simpler, more transparent billing for medical services: where there were previously around 4,500 different tariff items, there are now only around 2,600. In addition, certain treatments, such as cataract surgery, can be billed as a flat rate in the future. This means that doctors no longer have to bill each individual service separately for precisely defined treatments, which reduces the burden on the system and makes billing easier to understand. A key objective of this new system is to keep overall costs stable. The Federal Council has therefore stipulated that the total annual costs in the outpatient sector may not rise by more than four percent. The changeover itself should therefore not lead to an increase in medical costs for insured persons. The Federal Council has initially approved the new tariff system until the end of 2028. During these three years, the healthcare sector and tariff partners will be able to gain experience and further adapt the system.

New rules for a secure and renewable electricity supply from 2026

At the beginning of this year, the Federal Council decided that the second package of measures to implement the Federal Act on a Secure Electricity Supply with Renewable Energies will come into effect on January 1, 2026.

This will bring about various changes for electricity producers, consumers, and the electricity industry.

One of the key points concerns the purchase and remuneration obligations for electricity from renewable sources. In the future, distribution network operators, i.e. local electricity suppliers, will not only have to purchase the electricity fed into the grid from solar installations and similar production facilities, but also remunerate it on fair terms. If the plant and network operators cannot agree on the level of remuneration, it will now be based on the average market price over a quarter. This will protect electricity producers from short-term market price fluctuations. To ensure a viable investment even if prices remain low, fixed minimum remuneration rates will be introduced for smaller plants with a capacity of up to 150 kilowatts (kW). For plants with a capacity of up to 30 kW, this minimum remuneration is 6 cents/kWh. For plants between 30 and 150 kW with own consumption, it is also 6 cents/kWh for the first 30 kW and 0 cents/kWh for output above 30 kW. For plants above 30 kW without own consumption, however, the minimum remuneration is 6.2 cents/kWh.

Another core element of the reform is local electricity communities, known as LEGs. They enable neighbors and communities to jointly produce, market, and use electricity. Those who sell or consume their own solar power in such a community benefit from reduced grid costs.

There are also changes in terms of electricity tariffs. In the future, electricity prices can be structured more flexibly. This means that those who consume their electricity when the grid is underutilized can save money. This creates incentives to align consumption more closely with the actual capacity of the electricity grid. This protects the grid and can help to avoid costly upgrades.

In terms of metering, everything remains in the hands of the local grid operators. What is new, however, is that the costs for measuring electricity consumption are shown on the bill in a trans-parent manner and in line with the polluter-pays principle. In addition, customers will receive annual information on how much electricity they have consumed compared to the previous year, the average, and the range of the respective customer group.

Overall, the new regulations create more planning security and incentives for electricity from renewable sources and strengthen the role of consumers and decentralized producers.