Masonry in Geneva

Looking for a mason in Geneva usually means dealing with a building that already has a history: a dense rented block, a neighbourhood apartment, a villa by the water or a house in the old town. Masonry in Geneva covers very different jobs, from repairing a wall to opening a load-bearing partition. This page helps you place your project, understand what the location changes and prepare a clear quote request.

The most common masonry jobs in Geneva

The trade covers walls, openings in load-bearing or non-load-bearing walls, foundations, slabs, low walls, small extensions and repairs to concrete and stone. In Geneva, a large share of this work is done in existing buildings rather than on empty plots.

In dense neighbourhoods such as Les Pâquis, Les Eaux-Vives, Plainpalais, La Jonction or Champel, requests often revolve around the same situations:

• widening the passage between a kitchen and a living room by creating an opening in a wall;
• rebuilding a door or window frame after a change of joinery;
• filling an old opening or chase, or closing a passage that is no longer needed;
• repairing a balcony, a threshold, an outdoor staircase or a courtyard wall whose concrete or stone has deteriorated;
• pouring a slab, for example for a basement room or a terrace;
• building or repairing a garden or dividing low wall.

A “small” job in an apartment can affect the structure of the whole building. That is why the first question to ask is not “how much” but “what is this wall?”.

Load-bearing walls, old town and stone: what Geneva changes for a mason

Geneva is the second-largest city in Switzerland and its old town stretches over a hill around St Peter’s Cathedral. The buildings there are old, often in stone, and the old town as well as some neighbourhoods are protected. For an owner, this means that work that seems ordinary inside can have consequences for the exterior appearance, for the structure or for what is permitted.

In an old building, it is rare for a reliable plan to describe precisely where the loads go. Before opening a wall, the tradesperson and the engineer need to know what it is made of, how it is connected to the floors and what it carries above. Stone walls are repaired with compatible materials, which requires precise know-how: a mortar that is too hard or an unsuitable render can damage the original masonry.

The hill of the old town also recalls a simple reality: on sloping ground, retaining walls, foundations and drainage become subjects in their own right. If your plot or courtyard has a change in level, mention it in your request.

By Lake Geneva and near the Rhône and the Arve, damp is a question to put to the mason when it concerns a basement, a cellar or a buried wall. The canton is very urban, winters are mild on the plain and summers are hot in the city: freeze cycles are less marked than at altitude, but cracks, water ingress and facade staining do exist. Ask the tradesperson to describe the cause before the repair, not only the remedy.

Finally, access plays a concrete role in a city with a dense tram and bus network. Delivering concrete, beams or materials on a busy street, into a narrow courtyard or to the upper floor of a building without a lift needs planning. State in your request the floor, the type of access and any parking constraints you know of.

Permit, civil engineer and landlord’s agreement in Geneva

Opening a load-bearing wall requires a calculation by a civil engineer and often a permit. In Geneva, building permits are issued by the canton, through the Office des autorisations de construire. Depending on the scale of your project, the permit may also concern an extension, a change to the facade or work in a protected area. It is up to you to check with the municipality or the competent cantonal service what applies to your case, before signing anything.

A few pointers to find your way:

1. Non-load-bearing wall: the work is generally simpler, but any doubt about the nature of the wall justifies having it checked before cutting into it.
2. Load-bearing wall: calculation by a civil engineer, sizing of the beam or reinforcement, and often a permit.
3. Facade, extension, low wall visible from the street: ask the authority about the applicable rules, especially in a protected area.
4. Energy-related work: if the project comes with an energy improvement, the cantonal energy law (LEn) and the cantonal energy office (OCEN) are worth knowing about, as the Programme Bâtiments subsidies in Geneva depend on them. The conditions should be checked with the service concerned, before work begins.

Geneva has many rented buildings managed by property agencies (régies). If you are a tenant, any cutting, reinforcement or work on a shared part must be accepted by the landlord. If you are a co-owner, a load-bearing wall or a facade generally belongs to the shared parts: the agreement of the co-ownership is to be planned for, with the time that can take. For a villa owner, these questions disappear, but the permit and the structure remain the same.

Preparing your masonry request in Geneva and comparing quotes

A good quote starts with a good description. The more precise your request, the more the tradespeople who contact you can position themselves on the same basis, and the more comparable your quotes will be.

What it is useful to describe:

• the address or at least the neighbourhood, the type of building (apartment block, villa, old house) and the floor;
• the wall or element concerned, its material (stone, concrete, brick, if you know it) and what lies on either side;
• what you want to achieve: an opening, a repair, a slab, a low wall;
• your status: owner, co-owner, tenant with the landlord’s agreement;
• photos, plans if they exist, and access constraints.

What a serious quote should detail:

• the exact nature of the work and how it will be carried out;
• whether the civil engineer’s calculation and the permit procedures are included or at your expense;
• the supply of materials, protection of the premises, removal of rubble and cleaning;
• finishing work, such as render, paint or tiling, included or not;
• what is excluded, and what could give rise to an extra charge if the wall holds a surprise.

The cost depends on the structure concerned, the size of the opening or the surface, the condition of the substrate, access, the protection to be put in place and whether a calculation or a permit is needed. No serious figure can be given without seeing the work: the quote sets it. Compare the items rather than the totals, and ask for explanations when two proposals differ greatly.

Once your description is ready, you can request a quote: your request is passed on to tradespeople and companies in the region, who contact you to prepare a free, no-obligation quote.

Useful pages for your project in Geneva

• The trade in general: masonry
• The city: work in Geneva
• The canton: canton of Geneva
• Related work in the same municipality: thermal insulation in Geneva, plumber in Geneva, roofing in Geneva