Geoinformation Act (GeoIA)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 Qualitative and Technical Requirements
Art. 4 Harmonisation
1 The qualitative and technical requirements for geodata and geospatial metadata must be defined in such a way as to enable the simple exchange and wide use of the data. 2 The implementing regulations for geoinformation legislation must take account of internationally or nationally recognized standards for geodata and geospatial metadata provided that this is possible and technically expedient.
Art. 5 Official geodata under federal legislation
1 The Federal Council shall define the official geodata under federal legislation in a catalogue. 2 It shall issue regulations on the qualitative and technical requirements for official geodata under federal legislation and in particular on: a. the geodetic origin and projection framework; b. the relevant geodata model; c. the presentation model; d the degree of detail; e. data quality; f. data collection and updating; g. data exchange; h. spatial delimitations. 3 It may authorise the Federal Office of Topography or the technically competent office to issue technical regulations and specialist recommendations concerning the official geodata under federal legislation.
Art. 6 Geospatial metadata
1 The Federal Council shall issue regulations on the qualitative and technical requirements for geospatial metadata that is based on official geodata, and in particular on: a. the content; b. the relevant data model; c. the degree of detail; d. data quality; e. data collection and updating; f. data exchange. 2 It may authorise the Federal Office of Topography or the technically competent office to issue technical regulations and specialist recommendations concerning the relevant geospatial metadata.
Art. 7 Geographical names
1 The Federal Council shall issue regulations on the coordination of names of communes, communities and streets. It shall regulate other geographical names, responsibilities and the procedure as well as the allocation of costs. 2 The Federal Council shall rule as final instance on disputes arising from the application of paragraph 1 above.
Section 2 Collection, Updating and Management
Art. 8 Responsibility, freedom of method
1 The legislation shall identify the authorities responsible for the collection, updating and management of the relevant official geodata. In the absence of specific regulations, this responsibility is that of the specialist authority at federal or cantonal level responsible for the specialist field to which this official geodata relates. 2 Duplication of work must be avoided during collection and updating of official geodata. 3 The method of collection and updating of official geodata may be chosen freely, provided that the results are of equal quality.
Art. 9 Guarantee of availability
1 The authorities responsible for the collection, updating and management of official geodata shall also guarantee the lasting availability of this geodata. 2 In relation to official geodata under federal legislation, the Federal Council shall regulate: a. the modalities of archival storage; b. the method and frequency of historiography.
Section 3 Data Access and Data Use
Art. 10 Principle
Official geodata under federal legislation shall be accessible to the public and may be used by anyone, unless this is contrary to overriding public or private interests.
Art. 11 Data protection
1 The Data Protection Act of 25 September 2020 applies to the use of all official geodata under federal legislation, subject to Article 12 paragraph 2 letter c, Article 14 paragraphs 1 and 2 and Article 32 paragraph 2 letter d of this Act and the related implementing provisions. 2 The Federal Council may provide for exceptions to the obligation to keep a record of processing activities if there is only a limited risk of a violation of the fundamental rights of the data subject as a result of the processing activity 3 It may provide for mandatory access authorisation levels for official geodata under federal legislation.
Art. 11 — Amended by Annex 1 No II 41 of the Data Protection Act of 25 Sept. 2020, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 491; BBl 2017 6941). Para. 1 — SR 235.1
Art. 12 Data use
1 The authority responsible for the collection, updating and management of official geodata under federal legislation may allow access to this geodata as well as its use and distribution; the authorisation is subject to consent. Consent is granted by: a. act of disposal; b. contract; c. organisational or technical access controls. 2 The Federal Council shall issue further regulations regarding: a. the permitted use and distribution of data; b. the main features of the procedure for granting access and use; c. the obligations of the users, in particular with regard to data access and data protection during use and distribution; d. the mention of source of data and caveat; e. exemptions from the requirement of consent.
Art. 13 Geodata services
1 The Federal Council shall determine the geodata services of national interest and define their minimum content. 2 It shall issue regulations about the qualitative and technical requirements with regard to optimal networking and integration. 3 It shall regulate interdisciplinary geodata services. 4 It may require that certain official geodata under federal legislation, either by itself or in combination with other geodata, is made available online or by another method in electronic form. 5 The same authority that is responsible for the collection, updating and management of official geodata is also responsible for the development and operation of the geodata services.
Art. 14 Data exchange between public authorities
1 The federal and cantonal authorities shall grant each other easy and direct access to official geodata. 2 The Federal Council shall regulate the details of the exchange of official geodata. 3 Data exchange shall be compensated for on the basis of a flat-rate payment. The Confederation and cantons shall regulate the modalities and the assessment of the compensation payment in a public-law contract.
Art. 15 Fees
1 The Confederation and cantons may charge fees for the access to and use of official geodata. 2 They shall harmonise the principles of the fee structure for the official geodata and geodata services of national interest. 3 The Federal Council regulates the fees for the access to and use of basic geodata and the geodata services of the Confederation. The fees are made up as follows: a. for private use: marginal costs and a suitable contribution to infrastructure costs at the most; b. for commercial use: marginal costs and a suitable contribution to infrastructure, investment and revision costs appropriate to the use of the geodata.
Section 4 Cadastre of Public-law Restrictions on l
Art. 16 Subject matter and form
1 The Cadastre of public-law restrictions shall contain public-law restrictions on landownership rights which, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, are not part of the Land Register. 2 The Federal Council determines which official geodata under federal legislation are entered in the Cadastre of public-law restrictions. 3 The cantons may define additional official geodata of proprietary nature that must be recorded in the Cadastre of public-law restrictions. 4 The Cadastre of public-law restrictions shall be made available in electronic form either online or by any other method. 5 The Federal Council shall determine the minimum requirements with regard to the organisation, management, data harmonisation, methods and processes for the Cadastre of public-law restrictions.
Para. 1 — SR 210
Art. 17 Validity
The content of the Cadastre of public-law restrictions is considered to be publicly known.
Art. 18 Liability
Liability for the management of the Cadastre of public-law restrictions is governed by Article 955 of the Civil Code.
SR 210
Section 5 Commercial Activities of the Confederati
Art. 19
1 The Federal Council may authorise authorities of the Federal Administration to offer on a commercial basis geodata and other services in the field of geoinformation in order to comply with specific requests from clients. 2 The commercial services offered must be closely related to the tasks of the authorised authority and must not compromise its work. 3 The authorised authority shall offer the commercial services on a private law basis. It shall determine the price according to market conditions and make its fees known. The total fees charged for commercial services must at least cover their own costs and must not be subsidised by income from other basic functions of the authority.
Section 6 Obligation to Support and Tolerate
Art. 20 Assistance during data collection and updating
1 Those persons who have an interest in the property concerned have a duty to assist public officers and third parties working on behalf of the Confederation and cantons in their work of collecting and updating official geodata. In particular, they must allow these public officers: a. access to private land parcels; b. within a reasonable time and subject to advance notice, access to buildings; c. to bring technical equipment onto the land parcels or into the buildings for the duration of the geodata collection and revision; and d. within a reasonable time and subject to advance notice, to inspect private and official data and documents. 2 The public officers and authorized persons may if necessary call on local authorities for assistance in administrative matters and their implementation. 3 Anyone who unlawfully obstructs the collection and updating of official geodata shall bear the additional costs caused by his or her actions.
Art. 21 Protection of boundary and survey marks
1 Persons with an interest in the property concerned are obliged to tolerate the temporary or permanent placement of boundary and survey marks on land parcels and buildings, without compensation. 2 Boundary and survey marks may be noted in the Land Register. 3 Whoever unlawfully moves, removes or damages boundary and survey marks is liable for the cost of their replacement as well as any consequential losses or damage.