Our expertise includes administrative law aspects such as master planning, allocation plans, neighbourhood plans, land parcel redistribution, construction policing and obtaining construction permits.
It also extends to private law aspects such as contracts of enterprise and mandate, architects’ and contractors’ fees, the application of SIA standards 118, 1002 and 1003 or legal rights of craftsmen or contractors.
Specific skills
Construction policing
Construction policing is a very complex and technical field. Opposition and appeal procedures have become almost systematic in the context of real estate projects. The firm assists you both upstream, for example in obtaining a building permit, and at the stage of litigation proceedings.
Planning
The Study assists public authorities in their role as planners, either at the level of the master plan or allocation at the cantonal or communal level.
Company and mandate contracts
The choice of a contracting partner and the meticulous drafting of a contract – whether it is a general contractor contract, a mandate, or contracts binding subcontractors – are elements that are too often neglected in the context of a construction project.
Our Firm has special expertise in drafting contracts in the construction sector, as well as in the application of SIA standards. We will be able to assist you upstream of your project in order to protect you from the legal risks associated with a future construction project. We will also assist you effectively in legal proceedings, particularly with regard to defects in the construction.
Legal mortgages for craftsmen and entrepreneurs
The Civil Code provides an instrument allowing, under certain conditions, artisans and contractors who have provided work and equipment on a building to obtain the registration of a legal mortgage on the building in question. Such registration must take place, at the latest, within four months upon completion of the work, and the urgency often requires action by way of urgent measures. On the owners’ side, this instrument presents the risk of having to pay twice for the same service, once to the general contractor, and once to the unpaid subcontractor. However, there are ways to mitigate this risk.
Our Firm advises both entrepreneurs and owners in the drafting of business contracts, as well as in the registration of legal mortgages for craftsmen and entrepreneurs.
Experience
- Legal proceedings concerning defects affecting a construction
- Assistance to the owner in the realization of a construction project, both at the civil level and at the level of the building policing
- Assistance to public authorities in their planning tasks
Lawyers
Jean-Marc Reymond
Rolf Ditesheim
Denis Cherpillod
Yasmine Sözerman
Nathan Borgeaud
