...I've been through the rental protocol and cleaning before, but we just agreed to sell our apartment and there didn't seem to be anything in the contract about the standard the apartment needs to be left in.

I understand that the house needs to be handed over as sold - so if I break a window (for example) or scratch a floor, it should be repaired....but I have two questions

1. I scratched the floor when I moved in....my fault. Do I need to repair that?
2. Do I need to clean the apartment when I move out - I mean, to "swiss handover standards"?

I think the answer to both is "no" - because what could they do if it isn't specified.....but just wanted to check

(As a clarification, the thought behind the question is that we purchased the house brand new.....so things like oven trays etc etc have usual wear and tear. If I were rented, I'd need to go through the usual hoopla, but I don't see why I should for a sale)

We sold our house a couple of years ago, and I certainly didn't need to clean it to 'rental' standard. The buyer didn't complain either.
By contrast, the apartment we bought in Lausanne had previously been let. The rental agent made a huge fuss about the state of the place, and I gather the renter lost most of their deposit, even though we were completely renovating it.
Our protests fell on deaf ears and the place was impeccable when we took it over. We then ripped it apart, and it wouldn't have mattered if it had been filthy when the renter left.

When I bought my place about 8 years ago it was definitely up to a renter handover status, maybe because the guy I bought it from was the landlord who was selling off most of the (former rental) units in our building. Walls were freshly painted, floors resurfaced and resealed, a missing door was replaced on my insistance as was a faulty ventilation fan in the shower.

Friends said that was highly unusual and I heard stories of people needing to call in professional cleaners before moving in. From what I gather, unless it strictly states in the sales contract that the place must be cleaned before the handover, most likely it won't be. I'll be selling my place within a couple of years and though I will do some basic cleaning I doubt it will be up to renter's handover standard.

When we bought our house we were told it would be "besenrein". In other words superficially cleaned, but nothing like rental standard.