swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta
swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 contains the latest 3D building models from swisstopo in two different model versions.

3D building models of Switzerland
NEW: Building models with EGID in 5 cantons
With the current release of swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta, swisstopo provides building models structured according to the federal building identifier (EGID) and containing the EGID as additional information. The data are available in the cantons AI, AR, GL, TG, AG and the the city of Zurich.
Production methode
The digital ADS aerial photo-strips serve as the base data for the extraction and modelling of the buildings. Based on these images, the roofs are manually extracted in 3D, using the photogrammetric method of digital image (stereo) correlation, enhanced with additional information. The corresponding footprints and facades are then derived in an automated process.
Applications
swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta offers an ideal 3D basis, particularly for the use in architecture, planning and engineering offices, as well as software developers or governmental authorities. The depiction of buildings are paramount within a digital landscape model, hence swissBUILDINGS3D is frequently used for:
- 3D visualizations and 3D web platforms
- Basis for urban and spatial planning, residential development projects, mobility, telecommunications or energy
- Visibility and shadow analyses
- Various distribution analyses (e.g. of noise, air pollutants, electromagnetic radiation)
- Calculation of solar potential
- Simulation of natural disasters
- Ecology and urban climatology
Terms of use
Additional information
Technical details
Structure
swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta contains the building models of Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein as 3D objects. A building is composed of the geometry and its additional attribute information, such as object type, height, usage or name. The building data is available in two versions.

Model 1: Solid
The version "Solid" consists of closed building features. The buildings and roofs exist as separate objects. Thus, users can choose whether to use a building with or without a roof overhang. In order to derive closed solids from the roofs, they must have a roof thickness. For this purpose, the original roof surfaces were extruded downward by 20 cm.

Model 2: Separated Elements
In the "separated elements" version, the roofs, facades and floors exist as separate object groups. The elements are available as face objects.
Format and file sizes:
Data set in parts (1/16 of the national map 1:25000)
- DWG: ~ 40 MB / tiles, 160 GB / full coverage
- ESRI File Geodatabase : ~ 16 MB / tiles, 55 GB / full coverage
Entire data set
- ESRI File Geodatabase: ~ 50 GB
Coordinate systems
- LV95/LN02
Quality
For a nationwide data set, swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta has a high positional accuracy.
Precision: ±30cm to 50cm planimetric and altimetric
Level of detail: The digital building models in swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta represent a wide variety of roof shapes. Roof details as well as smaller annexes and dormers are principally not modelled.
Updates and publications
swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta is updated every six years. Updated areas are published twice a year.
Outlook
In december 2022, swisstopo integrated the federal building identifier (EGID) into swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta for the first four cantons. For each EGID, the corresponding building unit is now represented. The necessary geometric and attributive adjustments are made per canton. With the division per EGID, the building height is computed in addition from the existing geometries. As soon as all buildings are structured and available per EGID, swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 will lose its beta status.
Documents
Almost all publications concerning swissBUILDINGS3D are only available in German and French. Please select your preferred language in the navigation bar, to view the desired document.
Status Beta
Information about the activities concerning swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta
2 June 2023
Building models with EGID are now available in the canton AG and in the city of Zurich.
New update: swissBUILDINSG3D 3.0 Beta has been updated in the cantons OW, NW, UR and in parts of the cantons LU and TI.
Around a hundred tiles containing errors have been corrected and replaced.
6 December 2022
Building models with EGID are now available in the following cantons: AI, AR, GL, TG
New update: swissBUILDINSG3D 3.0 Beta has been updated in the canton AG and in parts of the cantons LU and TI.
There are still problems with the automatic assignment of the object type from swissBUILDINGS3D 2.0 to swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta. For this reason, in swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta the values in the attribute «Objektart» (Object type) are sometimes wrong. This attribute cannot be used reliably at the moment. In cantons where the EGID has already been integrated, the allocation behaves according to the defined specifications and is correct.
25 May 2022
The offset of 20 cm downwards is now fixed for all objects in swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta. The corrected data is available for download.
Tile 1091-41 in the city of Zürich is not available. There are problems with the generation of solids.
13 April 2022 (fixed)
Offset of 20 cm downwards
Unfortunately, we have detected a problem in swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta: The buildings are 20 cm lower than those of swissBUILDINGS3D 2.0, from which they were automatically generated. This is an error in the derivation process. Even if the offset is within the tolerance range given by the geometric accuracy, we will correct the data. We expect to have a solution by mid-May 2022. If the bug affects your usage too much, swissBUILDINGS3D 2.0 is still available.
4 April 2022
First publication of swissBUILDINGS3D 3.0 Beta
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