Key facts
The Swiss Federal Archives (SFA) office preserves the documentation of government actions and makes it accessible, based on the Archiving Act. At the end of 2024, the SFA had already archived 80 linear kilometres of documents. For this purpose, it also uses temporarily rented storage capacity, which will no longer be available in the future. Additional capacity is to be created with a new building planned in Zollikofen. This is also necessary because the SFA expects to need up to 50 linear kilometres more by 2028, with the completion of the delivery of analogue collections from the Federal Administration. The commitment appropriation required for the planned new building is to be requested in the 2026 real estate dispatch. The Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (FOBL) is responsible for the construction, which is currently estimated to cost CHF 46 million. The new storage facility will not be ready for use until 2029 at the earliest.
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) audited the planned new archive storage facility. It assessed whether the project meets the various requirements as economically and sustainably as possible. The audit findings paint a positive picture overall at the current stage of planning. Economic efficiency will not become apparent until the assumptions made have been further developed and the Confederation’s archiving needs have been considered in their entirety. The FOBL is responsible for ensuring the economic efficiency of the planned long-term renovation of the SFA’s existing underground storage facilities, among other things by conducting feasibility studies and updating analyses of the Confederation’s archiving needs.