Who pays for painting at the end of a lease in Geneva: tenant or landlord?

An empty flat in Geneva, a morning at the end of a lease. The light skims the walls and reveals every furniture mark, every small plug hole. On site, one question fills the room: who pays for the painting, the tenant or the landlord?

The answer is neither “all on the tenant” nor “all on the landlord”. It is read case by case, with the lease and the move-in inventory. Here are the markers, explained simply, useful to property manager and tenant alike.

Who has to repaint, tenant or landlord? The principle in one sentence

The starting point comes down to one idea. At the end of the lease, the tenant returns the home “in the state resulting from use in accordance with the contract” (Art. 267 para. 1 CO).

In other words: a home used normally, not a refurbished one. The tenant does not have to erase the passage of time.

What counts as normal use stays with the landlord. What exceeds normal use may be charged to the tenant. The whole question of the statement turns on that line.

To read it correctly, two documents matter most: the lease and the move-in inventory. The latter, dated and signed, serves as the central proof in any dispute.

Normal wear and tear in a flat in Switzerland: what the rent already covers

Rent does not only pay for occupying the place. It is deemed to cover the upkeep linked to normal use. Ordinary ageing is therefore part of what the landlord bears.

A few examples speak for themselves. Furniture marks on the walls are normal wear. Paint that dulls over the years, too.

Conversely, some damage clearly exceeds that use. Heavily blackened walls, wallpaper scribbled on by children, a torn-off handle: there, the tenant answers for the damage.

The logic is easy to remember. Time passing is for the landlord. Real damage is for the tenant.

The eight-year rule and the residual-value calculation

When the tenant answers for damage, they never pay the price of new. They pay the residual value — the share of life the covering had left.

The calculation is clear: cost × (remaining lifespan ÷ total lifespan). Wallpaper rated for ten years, damaged after seven, is reimbursed at 30%.

These lifespans appear in the Joint Depreciation Table, drawn up by the Fédération romande immobilière and ASLOCA, and recognised by the USPI. Its own text states that it has “no binding force”. It is an indicative marker, yet courts and conciliation authorities refer to it routinely.

Here are the most useful indicative lifespans:

Covering	Indicative lifespan
Dispersion paint (walls and ceilings, usual case)	8 years
Alkyd or synthetic resin	15 years
Medium-quality wallpaper	10 years
Oil/synthetic paint on doors and door frames	20 years
Oil/enamel on window frames and sills	10 years

The consequence matters for the statement. Once the lifespan has elapsed, the residual value is nil. Dispersion paint more than eight years old gives rise, in principle, to no charge, even if the wall is marked.

To place each case, this second table helps:

Situation	Whose responsibility
Furniture marks, paint that ages	Landlord (normal wear)
Dispersion paint over 8 years old, even damaged	Landlord (residual value nil)
Real damage before the end of the lifespan	Tenant, at residual value
Colour applied without written consent	Tenant (return to original shade)
Shutters, external faces of frames	Landlord (envelope, Art. 256 CO)

Read with your lease and your move-in inventory: every home has its own history.

A move-out statement that holds: for the property manager and the tenant alike

A good statement is not a “hard” statement. It is a well-founded one. Calculated at residual value and notified in time, it stands before the conciliation authority. That serves the property manager as much as the tenant.

First point: no flat rate. A clause imposing a repainting indemnity in advance, with no real damage, is void (Art. 267 para. 2 CO). Only established damage is billed.

Second point: deadlines matter for everyone. On return, the landlord must inspect the property and immediately notify the tenant of defects (Art. 267a CO). In practice, two to three working days; ASLOCA Geneva considers a week already late. The Federal Supreme Court held notice given more than two months later to be late (judgment 4A_388/2013), with the loss of the right to claim. Inspecting and notifying quickly is therefore good property-manager practice.

Third point: the rent deposit. It does not exceed three months’ rent and stays in an account in the tenant’s name (Art. 257e CO). It is released with both parties’ written agreement, a judgment or an unopposed payment order.

For a statement that holds: three reflexes

1. A dated assessment, made soon after the return.
2. Each item priced at residual value, not the price of new.
3. The move-in inventory to hand, to compare before and after.

The cases that tip towards the tenant: colour, nicotine, holes

Some situations change things and can engage the tenant. Best to know them on both sides.

Colour first. Repainting walls in colour is a modification requiring the landlord’s written consent (Art. 260a CO). Without agreement, the tenant returns the original shade at their own cost before leaving. If the landlord consented in writing without reserving reinstatement, they can in principle no longer require it.

Nicotine next. Walls yellowed by smoke are treated in practice as excessive wear. The treatment, with an anti-nicotine primer, can then be charged to the tenant.

Plug holes last. In reasonable number and neatly filled, sanded and without any mark, they are normal use. ASLOCA Geneva sums it up: you “fill the holes but without repainting”. No text sets a permitted number of holes, so be wary of the figures that circulate.

For woodwork, the choice of finish matters too. The enamel of woodwork is not treated like wall dispersion, neither in lifespan nor in look.

On between-tenancy jobs, the same breakdown logic applies. We explain it in detail in repairs between tenants: who pays for what.

For property managers, Renovhome provides a reliable technical assessment and a clear breakdown of costs: upkeep on the landlord, share chargeable to the tenant, any insurance claim. That is what makes a statement readable and defensible. Discover our support for property managers in Geneva, or simply request a detailed quote.

André Brito Lobo, painter — Renovhome SA, Geneva For an assessment and a detailed quote that clarify your move-out statement: request a free quote.