Checking a firm before asking for a quote
This guide explains how to check the Swiss commercial register for free before contacting a firm. It also sets out what a register entry proves, and what it does not.
1. The commercial register and Zefix
The commercial register is an official source of economic information on businesses. The Federal Commercial Registry Office keeps a central index of business names, updated daily and searchable on Zefix.
Registered facts are published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (FOSC/SHAB).
Zefix allows individual searches with filters; no subscription is offered, and the database cannot be obtained in whole or in part.
2. What a register entry does not prove
An entry shows that a business legally exists and under which name. It says nothing about its competence, its insurance, or whether it is authorized for a specific type of work.
Ask the firm directly for the evidence relevant to your project (insurance certificate, references, certificates), and keep a written copy.
3. Beware of fake invoices
The Federal Office of Justice warns of invoices that appear to come from the federal commercial registry office: only the cantons charge register fees, and no federal authority invoices register entries.
4. How Elegant Lists uses these registers
Elegant Lists checks the same public registers. A register match is never presented as proof of competence. Our method is described on the Method page.
Found an error in this guide?
If a fact in this guide looks wrong or out of date, report it with the form on the Report an error page, giving the sentence concerned and, if you can, an official source.
We review every report within 10 business days. Every substantive correction is dated in the change log below.
Change log
30 October 2026: first published.