All articles by Dr. iur. Davide Pinelli

Anyone who intentionally or negligently violates the recognized rules of construction engineering during the management, execution or demolition of a structure may be liable to prosecution. For this reason, those managing and executing construction must always be aware of the risks they are taking.

Even if a building or plant does not require a building permit according to your own assessment, it is advisable to inform the relevant building authority about the planned building project in advance and to clarify the obligation to obtain a building permit. This article provides information about the building permit requirement and the exceptions to it.

Electromobility is definitely making its way into everyday life: E-cars are booming. For a variety of reasons, many companies are considering equipping all or part of their vehicle fleets with electric vehicles. This article shows the challenges associated with electronic charging stations in this context.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a method for digitizing the planning, execution, utilization and deconstruction phases of buildings. The article highlights the legal aspects that must be taken into account when collecting and exchanging the necessary data.

The public initiative "For responsible companies - to protect people and the environment" (so-called corporate responsibility initiative) was rejected on November 29, 2020. Consequently, the indirect counter-proposal of the Federal Assembly will be implemented. In addition to the planned amendments to the Code of Obligations (CO), the preliminary draft of the associated Federal Council Ordinance is now available. Although the referendum period against the planned amendment and also the consultation period for the new Federal Council Ordinance are still running, it is useful to review the possible future obligations and the companies that will be affected perhaps as early as Q1 2022.

In order to harmonize the federal and cantonal public procurement regulations as far as possible and reasonable, the latest revision of the public procurement law comprehensively changed the Swiss procurement system. This article outlines the basics of procurement law and focuses on the revision, which came into force at the federal level on January 1, 2021.

In order to harmonize the federal and cantonal public procurement regulations as far as possi-ble and reasonable, the latest revision of the public procurement law comprehensively changes the Swiss procurement system. This article outlines the basics of procurement law and focuses on the revision, which will come into force at the federal level on January 1, 2021.

On 18 March 2020, the Federal Council ordered an extraordinary suspension of limitation periods under debt enforcement and bankruptcy law. The ordinary debt enforcement holiday suspensions appliesfrom 5 April 2020 until Sunday 19 April 2020. However, exceptions from this rule are permitted.

On 26 March 2020, as a result of the Coronavirus the Ordinance on the Grant of Loans and Joint and Several Loan Guarantees (COVID-19 Ordinance on Joint and Several Loan Guarantees) entered into force. According to this Ordinance, businesses are to be provided with sufficient liquidity through bridging loans in order to be able to cover their fixed costs, despite the revenue losses caused by the Coronavirus. Alongside the measures relating to reduced working hours and COVID loss of earnings compensation in order to cover salary costs, which have already approved by the Federal Council, these additional measures offer a comprehensive package of measures to avert the economic consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Coronavirus has a firm grip on our everyday lives at the moment. In order to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, the Federal Council has issued various ordinances, and it is still not certain whether further more stringent measures will subsequently be adopted. The measures issued are already having effects on various areas of the law, such as for instance reduced working hours compensation. Construction and property law has also been affected by the measures adopted by the Federal Government in order to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.