Datasets produced on the basis of partnership

All the official directories are produced on the basis of partnerships. The data pertaining to localities, streets and buildings are collected by the cantons (and in some cases by the municipalities too), within the framework of the cadastral survey or other processes. The collected data are then delivered to the federal administration. Data pertaining to localities are delivered directly to swisstopo for updating the directory of towns and cities, while data relating to streets and building addresses are sent to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) for statistical purposes. The FSO periodically supplies swisstopo with the respective datasets and swisstopo compiles and manages the directories and publishes them in a suitable form.

The legal bases empowering the Federal Office Topography swisstopo to produce the official geographic directories and work together with the involved authorities have been in force since 1 July 2017.

• The Federal Geoinformation Ordinance
• The Federal Ordinance on Geographic Names
• The Ordinance Governing Federal Buildings and Directories
• The Ordinance of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport on Fees and Charges of the Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo ordinance on fees and charges)

These ordinances are not available in English. Please select your preferred language in the navigation bar to view the ordinances. 

The directories are not linked to any personal data, i.e. data relating to natural persons and legal entities. They are therefore not governed by the provisions of the Federal Data Protection Act.