Host certificate (cert.)  (Region Aargau):
2 Provider

The landlord's license is regulated at cantonal level. The content of a course for the cantonal landlord's license can therefore vary.

Interested parties must therefore always ensure that they attend a course that meets the requirements of the respective canton.

The following learning content is often taught in a Wirtepatent course:

• Hospitality law & legislation (this includes the hospitality law of the respective canton, alcohol law, smoking ban, police hours, noise protection, labor law regulations (e.g. working hours, protection of minors), liability issues and permits)
• Food law & hygiene (e.g. food law, cold chains, storage, cleaning, personnel hygiene, inspections by authorities (cantonal chemist, food inspectorate))
• Business management & organization (for example: business management in the hospitality industry, calculation of food and beverages, purchasing, warehouse management, inventory management, employee management, resource planning, leadership)
• Hospitality & communication (e.g. guest care, complaint management)
• Addiction prevention & alcohol distribution (including youth protection, control obligations)

Further information can be obtained directly from the schools. Get in touch with the right contact person quickly, easily and without obligation using our contact form.

The publican's certificate or publican's examination is not compulsory in every canton for running a compulsory catering business, but it is in most of them. Without such a license, you will not be issued an operating permit for a restaurant, club, bar, café or other establishment. However, as the cantonal hospitality laws vary greatly, there are also different requirements for prospective restaurateurs. Only in the cantons of Graubünden, Uri, Schwyz, Glarus, Appenzell-Ausserroden, Neuchâtel, Zug and Zurich is attendance at a course or college for publicans voluntary, although this is also recommended.

Depending on the canton and its cantonal regulations, prospective innkeepers must acquire different amounts of knowledge or fulfill different requirements in order to pass the innkeeper examination.

The duration of a course for a landlord's license also varies depending on the provider and canton. Some courses last from a few days to weeks, while others last several months.

The schools are happy to provide information here. Get in touch with the right contact person quickly, easily and without obligation using our contact form.

With the exception of the canton of Aargau, it is not essential that you have already worked in the catering industry to take the examination for the landlord's license, although this is of course an advantage. Career changers can also attend a course and take the exam. In order to be admitted to the examination in the canton of Aargau, 6 months of experience in the hospitality industry or professional experience with food must be proven.

A landlord's certificate that you obtain in the canton of Lucerne is not necessarily recognized in Bern, and one that you obtain in the canton of Aargau is not necessarily recognized in the canton of Basel-Land. In addition to cantonal certificates, however, there are also supra-regional certificates offered by some schools that are recognized throughout Switzerland, so you are not restricted to running a catering business in one canton only.