Swiss Neighbour Law (Nachbarrecht): Noise, Boundaries and Your Rights
Nachbarrecht, the law between neighbouring property owners, is one of the most practical areas of Swiss civil law, and one of the least understood. Most disputes turn on noise, but the same framework governs smell, vibration, loss of light, boundaries, plants and building work. It all sits in the Zivilgesetzbuch, alongside a layer of cantonal and communal rules that fill in the local detail.
This hub sets out the structure and points you to the right page for the detail. The noise side has its own dedicated page; this hub gives the overall map and covers the boundary and plant side that sits alongside it.
Information last verified on 22 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Swiss law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.
The centre of Swiss neighbour law: Art. 684 ZGB
Swiss neighbour law is built around a single general standard. Art. 684 ZGB obliges every property owner to refrain from excessive effects, übermässige Einwirkungen, on a neighbour's property, and it lists the categories expressly: air pollution, bad smell, noise and sound, vibration, radiation, and the removal of sunlight or daylight.
The defining word is übermässig, excessive. Art. 684 sets no fixed limit and no specific time; it asks whether the effect is unjustified given the location and nature of the two properties and the local custom, the Ortsgebrauch. The same conduct can therefore be lawful in one setting and unlawful in another.
Noise is by far the most common trigger, so it has its own page. Our noise and quiet hours in Switzerland page works through the Art. 684 standard, the exact claims an owner can bring under Art. 679 ZGB, the different route a tenant takes through the landlord under Art. 257f OR, and how communal quiet hours operate. If your problem is noise, start there.
The two things worth knowing before you pick a route
Two points shape almost every neighbour dispute, and both are easy to get wrong. They are covered in full on the noise page, but the headlines belong here.
The first is that owners and tenants do not enforce these rules the same way. An owner brings a civil claim under Art. 679 ZGB directly against the offending neighbour, seeking removal of the harm, an order against future disturbance, and damages. A tenant disturbed by another tenant generally does not sue the neighbour at all; the effective route runs through the landlord under Art. 257f OR. Getting the route right at the start saves an expensive detour.
The second is a limit on the light-and-view side of Art. 684. Where a building or installation deprives a neighbour of a characteristic such as sunlight, Art. 679 Abs. 2 ZGB allows the claims only if the building broke the rules in force when it was built. A lawful, compliant new building that happens to overshadow yours generally cannot be forced down. The same page also explains the parallel limit for temporary, unavoidable construction noise under Art. 679a ZGB, where the remedy is damages rather than silence.
Quiet hours are set locally, not federally
People often assume Switzerland has a national quiet-hours law. It does not. Night quiet, and any midday or Sunday quiet, are fixed by cantonal and communal police regulations and differ from commune to commune.
The widespread convention is night quiet from about 22:00, often extended on Sundays and holidays, but that is a pattern, not a binding nationwide rule. The reliable source for your own address is your commune's police regulation, and for a single late-night disturbance the police enforce it directly. The noise page sets out how the communal route and the civil claim fit together.
Boundaries, plants and building distances
Neighbour disputes are not only about nuisance. The articles that follow Art. 684 deal with excavation and building in Art. 685 ZGB, and with plants, overhang and boundaries in the articles after it. This is the hub's other half, and it works differently from the noise rules.
The key structural point is the division of labour between federal and cantonal law. Art. 686 ZGB expressly authorises the cantons to set the distances that must be kept for excavations and buildings, and to make further building rules. So while the federal articles set the framework, the exact distance your neighbour's hedge must keep, or how far a new structure must sit from the boundary, is usually a cantonal rule in the canton's introductory law to the ZGB. When a dispute is about a boundary or a plant rather than noise, read the cantonal rule alongside the federal articles first.
Private nuisance versus installation and traffic noise
One last distinction saves readers from complaining to the wrong authority. A one-off human disturbance, a party, a barking dog, a stereo, is private neighbour noise under Art. 684 and Art. 679 ZGB and the communal quiet-hours rules.
Noise from a fixed installation, a business, a road or a railway is governed instead by federal environmental law, the Umweltschutzgesetz, SR 814.01, and the Lärmschutz-Verordnung, SR 814.41, which work through measured exposure limits rather than a private civil claim. A permanent installation such as a heat pump can raise both tracks at once. Identifying whether the source is a person's behaviour or a fixed installation tells you which set of rules and which authority to approach.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Nachbarrecht in Switzerland?
Nachbarrecht is the part of Swiss property law that governs relations between neighbouring landowners. It sits in the Zivilgesetzbuch and covers excessive effects such as noise and smell under Art. 684, the claims a harmed owner can bring under Art. 679, and specific topics like excavation, building and plants in the articles that follow. It is civil law between neighbours, distinct from the public police and environmental rules that also touch on nuisance.
Where on this site do I find the detail on neighbour noise?
Our dedicated noise and quiet hours page carries the full treatment: the Art. 684 excessive-effects standard, the exact claims an owner brings under Art. 679, the different route a tenant takes through the landlord, and how communal quiet hours and the federal environmental-noise rules fit around it. This hub gives the overview and the boundary and plant side; the noise page is where the depth is.
Does this hub cover boundary and plant disputes as well as noise?
Yes. Boundaries, overhanging branches and the distances a hedge or a new structure must keep are neighbour-law topics under Art. 685 and following ZGB, and this hub introduces them. The key practical point is that Art. 686 ZGB leaves many of those exact distances to cantonal law, so the detail for your situation lives in your canton's introductory law to the ZGB alongside the federal articles.
Are quiet hours the same across Switzerland?
No. There is no single federal quiet-hours statute. Cantons and communes set night quiet, any midday quiet and Sunday quiet in their own police regulations, and the times vary from place to place. The common convention is night quiet from about 22:00, but the only reliable source for your address is your Gemeinde's Polizeireglement, and our noise page explains how to enforce it.
Is neighbour noise a civil or a criminal matter in Switzerland?
Neighbour noise is primarily a civil matter under the ZGB, enforced by the affected owner, or a public-order matter enforced by the police under communal quiet-hours rules. A single loud night is usually handled by the police under the local regulation, while a persistent problem is handled by a civil claim. It is not ordinarily a criminal offence in itself, though related conduct could engage other rules.
Can a new building next door that blocks my light be stopped?
Usually not if it was built lawfully. Art. 684 lists the loss of sunlight and daylight as a possible excessive effect, but Art. 679 Abs. 2 ZGB limits the claim: where a structure deprives a neighbouring property of characteristics such as light, the removal, injunction and damages claims exist only if the building broke the rules in force when it was built. A fully compliant new building generally cannot be forced down on this basis, which is why building permits and the rules that applied at construction matter.
Sources and References
- Art. 684 ZGB, Übermässige Einwirkungen(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 679 ZGB, Verantwortlichkeit des Grundeigentümers(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 679a ZGB, Bei rechtmässiger Bewirtschaftung des Grundstücks(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 257f OR, Sorgfalt und Rücksichtnahme(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 685 ZGB, Graben und Bauen(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 686 ZGB, Kantonale Vorschriften(fedlex.admin.ch).gov