When to use this template
Use it when you are renting business premises in Switzerland: offices, a shop, a workshop, storage. The lease is the same statutory contract for a flat and for a factory floor (Art. 253 CO), but much of what the law makes mandatory for housing is left to negotiation for business premises. That is why this template exists in a commercial version only: using a residential form for offices, or this document for a flat, imports the wrong assumptions. If the premises include living space, take advice before signing, because mixed use pulls in the residential rules.
The protection a commercial tenant keeps
Commercial tenants deal at arm's length and the law treats them that way. A mandatory core survives every clause nonetheless: the rent can be challenged as abusive under Art. 269 CO, a termination that offends good faith can be challenged before the conciliation authority under Art. 271 CO, and rent increases and landlord terminations must observe the official-form regime. Everything outside that core is contract, which is what the rest of this page is about.
The clauses, one by one
Premises and permitted use
Describe the premises precisely and state the surface as approximate; measured areas have a way of disagreeing with the listing. The permitted-use clause cuts both ways: it stops the landlord objecting to your business, and it stops you changing the business without consent. Obtaining the permits your activity needs is the tenant's job under this template, so check zoning and permits before signing, not after.
Term, renewal and termination
The term architecture is the whole negotiation. A fixed term ends without notice (Art. 266 CO) and gives both sides certainty; pair it with tenant options to extend, so growth does not force a renegotiation from weakness. An indefinite term with a notice period is more flexible and more exposed, in both directions. The variant to treat with respect is a fixed term with automatic renewal: miss the date for blocking the renewal and you are bound for another full period, which is why the template tells you to diarise it.
Rent, ancillary costs and indexation
The rent is the consideration for the use of the premises (Art. 257 CO). Anything charged on top of it must be spelt out, so the template itemizes the ancillary costs paid on account and says that nothing else is charged separately; a bare "plus ancillary costs" collects nothing.
The optional indexation clause follows the framework of Art. 269d CO, which governs increases and indexed rents: an indexed rent presupposes a lease concluded for the minimum term the law sets, the adjustment tracks the Swiss consumer price index, and increases outside an index clause must be notified on the official cantonal form. If your term is shorter than the statutory minimum, delete the clause rather than keep an invalid one.
Security and insurance
The deposit is a placeholder because for business premises its size is a commercial term like any other; the real choice is the form, a blocked account in the tenant's name or an abstract bank guarantee, and landlords increasingly ask for the guarantee. The insurance clause splits the risk the obvious way: building with the landlord, fit-out, goods and liability with the tenant. Gaps here surface only after the water damage.
Handover, maintenance and return
The condition report signed at handover is the document the return will be measured against, so make it thorough and photographic. During the lease the tenant carries cleaning and minor upkeep, the landlord everything else, notably structure and building installations; report defects in writing, an unreported defect ages badly for whoever should have flagged it. At the end, the same ritual runs in reverse with a return report and prompt notice of defects.
Fit-out and restoration
This is where money is lost at exit. The template forces the question at the moment consent is given for any installation: remove it at the end, leave it without compensation, or leave it against compensation. Decide while you still have leverage, and match the write-off period of your investment to the term you actually control, options included. Discovering at exit that you owe full restoration of a fit-out you paid for is the classic commercial-lease loss.
Subletting and transfer of the lease
The transfer clause matters most on the day you sell the business. Under Art. 263 CO the tenant of business premises may transfer the lease with the landlord's written consent, and the landlord may refuse only for good cause; the transferor stays liable alongside the acquirer within the statutory limits. The clause restates that route so a buyer of your business can step into your premises.
Early termination
Where continuing the lease becomes unconscionable, either party may terminate for good cause within the framework of Art. 266g CO; courts read it narrowly, so do not plan an exit around it. The realistic early exit is the replacement tenant: propose someone solvent, reasonably acceptable to the landlord and willing to take over on the same terms, and you are released. Both routes are in the document.