Electrician in Lausanne

Are you looking for an electrician in Lausanne to renovate an installation, add sockets or prepare for a charging station? On this site, you describe your work, and your request is passed on to craftspeople and companies in the region, who get back to you to prepare a free, no-obligation quote. This page gathers what Lausanne’s building stock concretely changes for an electrical job.

Electrical work in Lausanne: the jobs the buildings call for most often

Lausanne rises in tiers from Lake Geneva, at Ouchy, up to the upper parts of the city, and its housing stock is very varied: apartment blocks from several eras, villas on the hillsides, buildings close to the old town. Requests for electrical work reflect that diversity.

• Bringing an old installation back into compliance: original panel, circuits without modern protection, too few sockets for today’s uses.
• Renovating an apartment: moving sockets and switches, new light points, a dedicated circuit for the kitchen or the washing machine, running cables before new floor coverings are laid.
• Lighting: recessed spotlights, stair or communal lighting, outdoor lighting for a villa or a sloping garden.
• Connecting appliances: oven, hob, dishwasher, tumble dryer, ventilation.
• EV charging station, in a villa garage or an apartment-block car park.
• Solar panels and heat pump: the electrician works on the connection to the panel and the protective devices, in coordination with the installer of the generation system or the heating.

Slopes, apartment blocks and narrow lanes: what Lausanne changes for the electrician

Lausanne’s topography is felt right down to the job itself. In a city built on a slope, some buildings have several access levels, garages below street level and awkward entrance routes. State in your request how the home and the technical room are reached: stairs, lift, distance between the street and the panel. Bulky equipment, such as a switchboard cabinet or long cable trays, cannot be brought in the same way everywhere.

In older buildings, the service ducts are sometimes narrow, the walls thick or the ceiling hard to open. An electrician may then suggest running the cables on the surface, in trunking, or reopening an existing chase rather than cutting a new one. This choice changes the final appearance as much as the cost: ask for it explicitly in the quote.

The climate on the shore of Lake Geneva is mild, but damp in a basement, a cellar or a garage at the foot of a slope deserves attention. For outdoor lighting, a terrace socket or a charging station installed in the open air, the equipment must suit the intended exposure; the craftsperson will tell you what is needed on site.

The Cité old town and protected buildings

Around the cathedral, the Cité old town includes buildings where you cannot simply drill or alter whatever you like. In an old or protected building, the electrician has to work around valuable walls, decorated ceilings or woodwork that people want to preserve. Cable routes are thought through before the job starts, sometimes in consultation with the owner or a heritage specialist.

If your home is in this area, or in any other listed building, check with the City of Lausanne and the relevant cantonal departments whether a permit is required for the planned work, even if it is interior. It is better to ask the question before the quote is signed than after the job has started.

Students, co-ownerships and tenants: who decides what

Lausanne is a university city, next to UNIL and EPFL: many homes are occupied by tenants, sometimes for short periods, and many buildings are run as co-ownerships. This determines who can order the work.

• Tenant: you cannot alter the fixed installation without the landlord’s consent. Write to them, describe the work and keep their reply.
• Owner of an apartment in a co-ownership: what lies inside your unit is up to you, but the main panel, the rising mains, the car park and the lighting of the common areas fall to the co-ownership. A charging station in the car park therefore generally requires a collective decision.
• Villa owner: you decide alone, but adding solar panels or a heat pump may carry its own requirements.

ESTI licence, NIBT and permits: the procedures for a job in Lausanne

For electrical work, three levels overlap.

The federal level. For a fixed electrical installation, an installation licence from ESTI is required (low-voltage installations ordinance, OIBT). The installation must comply with the NIBT standard. At the end of the job, the installer hands over a safety report (RS). Installations are then subject to periodic inspections, the frequency of which depends on the type of building.

The municipal level. In the canton of Vaud, the building permit is issued by the municipality of the commune. The file goes through the cantonal permit centre (CAMAC) when cantonal departments have to give an opinion. A simple panel replacement is not treated in the same way as a rooftop solar installation or a major conversion: check with the City of Lausanne before starting.

The cantonal level for energy. The Vaud energy law and the cantonal energy directorate govern energy renovation projects, and a cantonal subsidy programme exists. Its conditions, amounts and deadlines change: check them directly with the relevant cantonal department before committing to any work, as some grants must be applied for before the job begins.

Charging station, solar, heat pump: electricity and energy in Lausanne

These three projects are increasingly common, and all of them go through the electrical panel.

For an EV charging station, the electrician starts by looking at the available power, the condition of the panel and the distance between the panel and the vehicle’s parking space. In an apartment block, it is also necessary to know whether several charging stations might be added one day: the initial sizing takes this into account.

For solar panels, the electrician prepares the connection and the protective devices on the building side. They work with the company that fits the panels; ask who does what, and who hands over which document.

For a heat pump, they power the unit from the panel, with a suitable circuit. Here again, coordination with the heating engineer avoids oversights: if you are also looking for that trade, see heating engineer in Lausanne.

Describing your Lausanne job and comparing electrical quotes

A precise request produces comparable quotes. Mention:

• the type of home (apartment, villa, premises) and its approximate age;
• the floor, the access and whether there is a lift;
• what you want: bringing the installation into compliance, new sockets, lighting, a charging station, appliance connections;
• the condition of the panel, if you know it, and any problems noticed (a tripping circuit breaker, hot sockets);
• whether the home is rented, in co-ownership or protected;
• your scheduling constraints, for example the sequence with other trades.

A good quote itemises the items rather than giving a single overall total: supply of materials, labour, replacement or retention of the panel, making good the walls if chases are needed, safety report, final inspection. It also states the company’s installation licence and what is not included.

The cost varies with the condition of the existing installation, the difficulty of access, whether or not the walls need to be opened, the number of points to be installed, the power required and the equipment chosen. No serious figure can be given without a visit: that is why comparing several written quotes, based on the same description, remains the best habit. You can request a quote in a few minutes.

Other useful pages around Lausanne

• The trade in general: electrician
• The commune, all work combined: work in Lausanne
• The canton: canton of Vaud
• Other trades in Lausanne: heating engineer in Lausanne, tiling in Lausanne, masonry in Lausanne