What is a “Typenschein” or type approval?
Last verified: 2026-06-20
Under Art. 12 para. 1 of the Road Traffic Act (SVG, SR 741.01), series-produced motor vehicles and their trailers are subject to type approval. Vehicles subject to it may be placed on the market only in the approved version (Art. 12 para. 2 SVG). ASTRA examines the submitted vehicle type and, if successful, issues the type approval.
The Type Approval Ordinance (TGV, SR 741.511) defines type approval as “the official confirmation that a type meets the applicable technical requirements and is suitable for its intended use” (Art. 2 TGV). It therefore applies to the vehicle type as a class — not to an individual vehicle. Once granted, the type data are stored in the Vehicle Admission Information System (IVZ); the cantonal road traffic offices access them electronically when an individual vehicle is first registered.
“Typenschein” is the colloquial name for the older paper document (generation 1). The current technical term is “type approval” (TG).
| Generation | Period | Format | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Typenschein) | until approx. 1985 | paper document (PDF scan) | opendata.astra.admin.ch |
| 2 (type approvals) | approx. 1985–1995 | structured data (Excel) | opendata.astra.admin.ch |
| 3 (current) | from approx. 1995 | structured file data | TARGA database (IVZ) |
The procedure is governed by the Type Approval Ordinance (TGV, SR 741.511) of 19 June 1995, based among other things on Art. 12 SVG. Since the new admission regime (December 2021), vehicles with an EU certificate of conformity (eCoC) receive, instead of a classic type approval, an electronic data sheet, i.e. an “Initial Vehicle Information” (IVI).
Sources
- Vehicle type approval — ASTRA – Federal Roads Office
- SVG (SR 741.01) – Road Traffic Act, Art. 12 — Fedlex – Swiss Federal Law
- TGV (SR 741.511) – Type Approval Ordinance, Art. 2 — Fedlex – Swiss Federal Law
- Type approvals open data (TARGA) — ASTRA / opendata.astra.admin.ch