The SIA standards of the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects deal with the general conditions for the execution of construction work in Switzerland.
Widely recognized and used, they complement the legal regime and specify the technical requirements to be taken into account in this field. The main subject of the standards collection is the contractual relationships in the construction field.
The contractual standards, which set out the obligations and rights of the contracting parties, specify the general business conditions.

There are three types of SIA standards: technical, contractual and understanding.
As the name implies, standards for understanding help those involved in the construction process to understand the terms of their collaboration.
The contractual standards regulate the contractual relationships and procedures specific to the construction industry.
They correspond to general business conditions negotiated within joint bodies by the SIA and constitute tools for the clear and simple regulation of sometimes complex situations. In order for these conditions to apply, the parties must establish their binding nature in the contract between them.
Technical standards have been developed by experts in the field and are based on recognized knowledge in the construction industry. These technical standards establish solutions aimed at increasing the safety of buildings and installations, guaranteeing their durability and functionality, and preserving the environment.

Standards: a regulatory text that conforms, in both form and substance, to prescribed development and approval procedures.
Regulations: a text considered important for the activity of practitioners and which generally concerns the understanding of standards or the legal and contractual aspect.
Notices: a less formal text whose objective is to specify additional rules on certain subjects related to the construction field.
National elements: a text inspired by European standards and adapted to the Swiss context according to national specificities.

Seven groups of texts form the SIA corpus and can be divided into two families: