Hi,

Just wondering if it's possible to fit UK light switches in Switzerland? We like the UK switches so much more and they're also so much cheaper. It's literally impossible to get a non-retro light switch here without spending 30chf+ per switch. As for plug switches we will inevitably have to get Swiss ones.

Otherwise does anyone have experience of fitting French/German light switches here?

We would buy them and get an electrician to fit them, but wanted to make sure it's actually possible before we go ahead and buy them.

Perhaps if you were to post photos of the kind of switches you'd like to use, people might be able to help.

The suppliers of the switches or fittings should be able to supply you with documentation of conformity with Swiss norms and regulations. Maybe you need to do a search on the website of the manufacturer. If you have that, your electrician should have no objection to fitting them.

For a plain light switch with no extras, 30CHF sounds like a decent mid-range item to me. Low end parts should be quite a bit cheaper even in CH.

Sorry - here is an example:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BG-Electric...6116866&sr=8-5

I agree with you, I thought about brushed steel switches - never saw them here. If you find them, let me know.

That page has the IEC norm on it in one of the pictures.

If you google that IEC norm you should be able to find out if it is recognized in Switzerland. If it is, what other reason is there not to be allowed to install it?

It's possible to fit them, UK sockets too but whether it's possible to get them fitted I wouldn't know. The wall boxes are different. Fundamentally no other difference.

They definitely have brushed steel switches here, but they're extortionately expensive and basically only from the Feller range here. Plus they're not in the flip switch format.

Unless you do it yourself, the cost involved in chiselling out your walls to incorporate the square U.K. style back boxes (rather than the round Swiss ones) to allow you to fit the switch-plate would greatly exceed the the cost saving for the cheaper switch.

As Landers says the wall boxes are different in size/fitting which can be the problem, eg the standard MK box from the UK is 86mmx86mm which is bigger than the typical 65mm or 70mm here, but this just means you chase out a bigger hole.

You can get MK/Honeywell plate switches that meet/exceed the 60669 international standard for £1.50 each compared to the typical CHF 18-25 in, say, Hornbach.


But many electricians are bound to look at foreign parts with suspicion as they're not familiar and the instructions won't be in German/French etc, even if the diagrams ought to be self-explanatory. It's just easier for them to supply and fit what they know.

I checked the Feller site. Did not see any.
Got a link?