Earthquakes: Consultation on the financing of building damage
The Federal Council recently opened the consultation on the financing of damage to buildings in the event of earthquakes. According to this, building owners should be obliged to jointly finance damage to buildings in the event of earthquakes.
To implement the motion, the Federal Council considers an integrated approach to dealing with earthquake risks to be appropriate: On the one hand, this means that earthquake risks should be reduced as far as possible by means of suitable preventive measures. On the other hand, an efficient system should be available to finance earthquake damage to buildings, as stated in the Federal Council's press release.
Protection against earthquakes is the responsibility of the cantons. An additional article in the Federal Constitution should give the Confederation the authority to issue regulations for the whole of Switzerland to protect people and property in the event of an earthquake. According to the letter, the primary aim of regulations on structural precautions at federal level is to protect people from the consequences of an earthquake.
In order to finance damage to buildings, the federal government is to be given the authority to levy an earmarked contribution from building owners in Switzerland in the event of an earthquake causing damage. According to the information provided, this contribution may not exceed the upper limit of 0.7 % of the building insurance sum. With this upper limit, around CHF 22 billion would currently be available to cover damage in the event of an earthquake. This corresponds to the amount of damage expected in the event of an earthquake with a return period of 500 years. According to the Federal Council, this should strengthen protection against earthquake risks in Switzerland. Today, around 15% of buildings in Switzerland are insured against damage caused by earthquakes. In contrast to an insurance solution, the proposed financing solution would not incur any premium payments. A contribution would only have to be paid if damage was caused by an earthquake, according to the final statement.
The consultation on the amendment of the Federal Constitution will continue until March 22, 2024 (Consultation draft here; explanatory report here).
