When a Client Refuses to Pay for Defective Work: The Swiss Rules for 2026

The invoice is out; the reply is a defect list and a refusal to pay. Whether that refusal holds up under Swiss law depends on one mechanism: acceptance (Abnahme), the inspection duty and the defect notice — the Mängelrüge. Since 1 January 2026 the defect-reporting rules have been tightened for anything built on land.[2]

Approval decides who owes what

A work contract is blunt: the contractor produces the work, and the customer pays.[1] Quality disputes do not cancel that exchange; they are resolved through the warranty rules around acceptance.

The pivotal moment is acceptance: once the completed work is expressly or tacitly approved, the contractor is released from all liability except for defects that could not have been found on normal inspection or were deliberately concealed.[1]

Silence is the client’s risk: tacit approval is presumed where the customer omits to inspect the work and give notice of defects as the law requires.[1] A vague complaint weeks later rarely survives that presumption.

And defects discovered after acceptance must be notified as soon as the customer becomes aware of them; otherwise the work is deemed approved even in respect of such defects.[1]

Inspect, object, and respect the clock

The customer must inspect the delivered or completed work as soon as feasible in the normal course of business and inform the contractor of any defects discovered.[1] For websites, reports or consulting deliverables that means a prompt, targeted review — not a leisurely one.

Immovable works now carry an explicit clock: since 1 January 2026 the period for reporting defects in an immovable work is 60 days, and an agreement on a shorter period is invalid.[1][2]

Hidden defects in immovable works follow the same logic: they must be reported within 60 days of their discovery, again without any contractual shortening.[1]

For movable works the yardstick stays “as soon as feasible in the normal course of business”.[1] A defect notice raised only after the payment term has long expired starts from a weak position — and a notice that never names the defect specifically protects the client even less.

Real defects get measured remedies

Genuine, serious defects change the picture: where the work is so defective the customer has no use for it, the customer may refuse acceptance — and seek damages if the contractor is at fault.[1]

Minor defects earn measured remedies: the customer may reduce the price in proportion to the loss of value or require the contractor to rectify at his own expense.[1] For defects affecting a structure, the free-rectification right can no longer be excluded by contract since 2026.[1][2]

During production the customer may even set the contractor a remedial deadline and have a third party cure or complete at the contractor’s risk and expense.[1]

The customer can also forfeit everything: rights are lost where defects result from instructions given against the contractor’s express warnings — which is one more reason to put your warnings in writing.[1]

Getting the invoice paid

Payment follows the work: the customer must pay for the work on completion or delivery.[1] Your agreed payment term then takes over.

Warranty claims do not run forever: for movable works they prescribe two years from acceptance, and for immovable works five years.[1] Once prescription has run, quality objections no longer reduce what is owed.

The working discipline is short: document acceptance and delivery dates, answer defect notices in writing, cure real defects fast, and price a genuine reduction in a credit note rather than arguing.

facturio dates every invoice, tracks its payment term and keeps delivery and acceptance evidence attached — so a quality dispute becomes a question of records, not memory. Sources: [1] Code of Obligations (OR), Art. 363, 366, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372; [2] Federal Council news, Baumängel: neue Regeln ab 1. Januar 2026 (admin.ch).