Heat pump in the Canton of BernHeating system, Bern.

Permit: air-to-water and borehole

In the Canton of Bern, the outdoor unit of an air-to-water heat pump currently needs a building permit. The commune checks whether the Noise Abatement Ordinance is met. This also applies to split units with an outdoor and an indoor part. On 30 April 2026, the cantonal government asked the Grand Council to introduce a notification requirement instead of a building permit for outdoor air heat pumps. Whether and when this will apply is open. We prepare the noise assessment and clarify the procedure with your commune.

A borehole (ground probe) needs a water protection permit from the Office for Water and Waste. Whether drilling is possible at your site is shown by the map on kann-ich-bohren.ch and in the canton’s geoportal. The fee starts at CHF 370.

Replacing your heating system: what the Energy Act requires

The revised Energy Act has applied in the Canton of Bern since 1 January 2023. Every replacement of a heat generator must be notified, whatever the energy source. The notification goes through the eBau portal. If the building is more than 20 years old, the non-renewable share may be at most 90 percent of the relevant demand. You meet this with a standard solution, a Minergie certificate or GEAK class D (cantonal energy certificate for buildings). A heat pump is one of the standard solutions.

Subsidies in the Canton of Bern

The canton subsidises replacing oil, gas and electric heating with heat pumps. For air-to-water units up to 15 kW the subsidy is CHF 6,000, and above that CHF 4,500 plus CHF 100 per kW. For ground-source (borehole) and water-to-water units up to 15 kW it is CHF 10,000, and above that CHF 4,800 plus CHF 360 per kW. The subsidy is capped at 35 percent of the costs.

The application must be submitted on the online portal before work starts, and the canton does not process applications submitted later. Up to 15 kW a heat pump system module (Wärmepumpen-System-Modul) is needed, and the canton pays for its certificate. After installation, a GEAK is required for residential buildings. We submit permit and subsidy applications.

Grid operator and electricity price

Most communes in Bern are supplied by BKW, alongside utilities such as the cooperative Elektra Jegenstorf or the IBI in Interlaken. At 29.3 ct. per kWh, the cantonal median is above the Swiss median of 27.7 ct. (excluding VAT, household category H4, ElCom 2026). We register the heat pump with the grid operator. Blocking times and tariffs differ by utility, and we clarify them in advance.