Apartment Moving in Geneva

What actually changes the price

A removals quote is built on working time, not on a number of boxes. Understanding the three variables lets you judge a quote instead of accepting it, and sometimes reduce the bill by changing a single parameter.

Volume first, which we approach through room count because it is the most reliable predictor. Two three-room flats can differ by 30% in real volume depending on furniture, but that gap stays far smaller than the one between a two-room and a five-room flat. This is also why we ask whether there is a cellar, an attic store or a garage box: those are what create nasty surprises on the day.

Access second, and it is the most underestimated variable. A lift that will not take a sofa upright is no help for large furniture. A winding staircase with a central pillar blocks an assembled wardrobe. A right-angled entrance hall can make a worktop impossible to bring in. We ask these questions when quoting because the answer changes either the price or the method.

Distance and parking last. It is not mileage that costs the most but carrying distance: every metre between the building door and the lorry counts, multiplied by the number of trips. A parking space right outside the entrance does more for the price than any discount you could negotiate.

Furniture lift: when does it become necessary in Geneva?

A furniture lift — the elevating platform that reaches a window or balcony — is not a luxury but sometimes the only technical solution. It adds CHF 350 to the calculation base, which takes our 3-room example to CHF 1'350.

Three situations make it necessary. A staircase that is too narrow or winding, very common in older central buildings — Old Town, Pâquis, Eaux-Vives, Jonction — where stairwells were never designed for a corner sofa. A lift that is too small, which is the most frequent case: many Geneva lifts from the 1960s take people but not a two-metre wardrobe. And furniture that cannot be dismantled: one-piece corner sofas, upright pianos, large glass units, stone worktops.

What we check before committing is the ground position. A furniture lift needs stable ground in front of the façade, clear over its full height, with no tree, no overhead line and no projecting balcony blocking its travel. In some central streets that position sits on public land and occupying it requires authorisation from the commune: the procedure and lead times vary by commune, and we handle it when the job requires it.

If none of those conditions can be met, two honest options remain: dismantle further, which lengthens the working time, or accept that the item will not go through and dispose of it. We would rather say that when quoting than discover it with you in front of the window on moving day.

Parking authorisation: the step everyone forgets

This is the leading cause of a day going wrong in Geneva, and it has nothing to do with the removal itself. If the lorry cannot park outside the building, the team carries furniture fifty or a hundred metres, and working time balloons.

The principle is straightforward: occupying part of the public domain — a parking space, a section of pavement, a strip of carriageway — to station a lorry or set up a furniture lift generally requires authorisation from the commune concerned. The procedures, filing deadlines and fees vary between communes, and they differ noticeably between the City of Geneva and the ring communes. So we do not advertise a single flat fee: we check case by case and take care of the application when one is needed.

What matters for you is the lead time. An application filed too late cannot be rescued, which is why we ask for the exact address and the date at quotation stage rather than at confirmation. A move set for a fortnight away leaves comfortable margin; a move set for the day after tomorrow in a narrow central street is a real constraint you need to know about.

Two practical tips that cost nothing. Let your neighbours know with a note in the entrance a few days beforehand: it stops a car blocking access in the morning and saves you a conversation on the landing. And check whether your building requires a lift booking slot, which is common in larger modern buildings.

Packing: do it yourself or hand it to us?

Packing by our teams adds CHF 280 to the calculation base, taking our 3-room example to CHF 1'270. It is an option, and it does not make sense in every case.

Packing yourself is perfectly reasonable if you have time. The useful rule is weight: books and crockery go in small boxes, linen and cushions in large ones. A 60 × 40 box full of books becomes impossible to carry and splits at the bottom. Second rule: never leave void space in a box, because the contents shift in transit and break.

Hand it to us in three situations. When time is short, which is the most common case — packing a 3-room flat completely is easily two days of work for one person. When there is a lot of fragile material: crockery, glassware, framed pictures, ornaments. And when the move has to slot into a tight handover date, because professional packing also means faster unpacking at the other end.

One technical point that changes everything: we supply and take back the materials. Boxes, packing paper, mattress covers, protective blankets for furniture, stretch film. Many quotes do not mention this item and it ends up either on the invoice or in your car boot on a Saturday morning.

Insurance: what is covered and what is not

This is the subject we prefer to be precise about in advance, because a misunderstanding here ends badly for everyone.

Our team is covered by professional liability insurance. It responds to damage caused by our work: an item damaged in transit, a scratch on a parquet floor, a door frame knocked on a staircase. That is the foundation and it is real — you can ask for the certificate.

What professional liability does not cover, and no serious remover will tell you otherwise: items of exceptional value not declared in advance, the contents of a box you packed yourself and whose contents we do not know, normal wear on an older piece whose joints give way during dismantling, and damage to flat-pack furniture taken apart and reassembled, whose structure does not always survive a second build.

Two useful habits. Declare valuables when quoting: instruments, artwork, collectors' items, professional equipment. Depending on value, specific cover is worth arranging and it is far simpler to organise beforehand. And photograph your fragile items before the move: thirty seconds of work that makes any later discussion factual rather than approximate.

Removal and end-of-tenancy cleaning: why do them back to back

Adding end-of-tenancy cleaning straight after the removal adds CHF 350 to the calculation base, taking our 3-room example to CHF 1'350. It is what we recommend most often, for reasons that are not commercial.

The first is mechanical: a property can only be cleaned properly once it is empty. Cleaning with furniture still in place inevitably leaves untouched areas — behind wardrobes, under beds, in corners — and those are exactly the places an inspection looks at. Doing them back to back means the cleaning team walks into a completely empty property, the same day or the next.

The second is about responsibility, and it is the decisive argument. When the removal and the cleaning are done by two different companies, a scratch on the floor or a marked door frame becomes a matter of passing the blame: the cleaner says it was there already, the remover says otherwise, and the tenant pays. With one provider across both stages, the question does not arise.

The third is the calendar. In Geneva handover dates are tight and often identical for a great many people at the end of a quarter. Booking both services together secures the sequence, whereas coordinating two independent companies across two consecutive days in peak removal season is a gamble.

Moving day: how it actually runs

A well-prepared move is boring, and that is exactly the aim. Here is the real sequence for a 3-room flat, from morning to evening.

The team arrives at the agreed time, usually early morning, and starts with a walk-through with you: what goes, what stays, what is fragile, what goes to the cellar or into storage. Floors and door frames are protected before anything is carried, in both properties — five minutes of work that prevents half of all damage.

Dismantling comes next: beds, wardrobes, tables, anything that will not go through assembled. The fixings for each item go into a bag attached to that item, not into a communal box — that is the difference between a one-hour reassembly and a treasure hunt in the evening. Loading follows a deliberate order: heavy items at the back and upright, boxes on top, fragile last and separate.

On arrival, unloading runs in reverse and boxes go straight into the room named on the label. We reassemble what was dismantled and place large items where you want them — and we would rather move them twice now than leave you to do it alone later. A final round checks nothing is left behind: cellar, attic store, balcony, hall cupboard, letterbox.

How to compare three removal quotes

Three removal quotes are rarely comparable as they stand, and the price gap almost always comes from what is not written down. Five points are enough to put them on the same footing.

The first is materials: are boxes, paper, covers, blankets and film supplied, and taken back afterwards? A quote 200 francs cheaper that leaves you to buy materials is not cheaper. The second is dismantling and reassembly: included, or charged by the hour? The third is access: does the quote mention the floor, the lift and the carrying distance, or does it simply say '3-room flat' — a figure that will be renegotiated on site?

The fourth is parking authorisation and the furniture lift: who deals with it, and is it included or extra? The fifth is insurance: what cover, and what excess in the event of damage. A remover who cannot produce an insurance certificate should not be entering your home.

One final signal, and it is reliable. A quote produced without a single question about access, floor and lift is not a fixed quote: it is an estimate that will be revised on the day. We ask those questions because we commit to the amount, not in spite of it.

Effect of access and options on the price

Options are added to the calculation base before the access coefficient, which is why we give real totals rather than a fixed supplement. Authorisation to occupy public land, where required, depends on the commune: we check and we handle it.