How to check a company

Handwerker Schweiz does not certify businesses. A card means the name, address and phone were published and copied onto the German list. It does not mean this site inspected the work, and it does not mean the business answers in English.

Company name

Zefix is the federal index of the cantonal commercial registers, run for the Federal Office of Justice: www.zefix.admin.ch. Search the name as printed on the card. A match shows that a company of that name is, or was, on a cantonal register. A sole trader with no register entry can still be a real business. No match on a name that claims to be an AG or a GmbH is a reason to stop before you pay.

The UID, when a quote shows one, looks like CHE-xxx.xxx.xxx. VAT registration is a separate line, often “CHE-xxx.xxx.xxx MWST”. The German cost pages, citing kmu.admin.ch, say the standard VAT rate is 8.1% from 1 January 2024, and that a business under CHF 100,000 turnover can be outside the tax. See VAT on a quote.

Electricians

Ask for the Installationsbewilligung and the name on it. The rules sit with ESTI: esti.admin.ch. This list does not query that register.

Names printed on a card

EIT.swiss is the electrical-trade association. suissetec is the building-services association. When those words appear on a German entry they are copied here with that gloss. They are not a badge awarded by this website. Correcting a card here does not correct Zefix, a canton, or an association. Write to support@handwerkschweiz.com for the card, and to the register for the register.