Drains
Blocked drains in a tenement: whose problem is it?
A blocked drain in a tenement is paid for by whoever's pipe it is: your own sink trap and waste pipe are yours, while shared stacks and drains inside the block's curtilage belong to the owners together.
By the Pipes Up the Stair site team · how pages are checked · Updated
A slow sink is usually a one-flat problem. Water backing up in the ground-floor toilet, or a smell from the back green, usually is not, and that difference decides who pays.
Is the blockage yours or shared?
That depends on how many flats the pipe serves. A trap and waste pipe under your own sink or bath serve only your flat, so they are yours. Once a stack or drain carries waste from two or more flats, it belongs to all of them in common under section 3 of the Tenements Act, unless the title deeds say otherwise. The City of Edinburgh Council lists drains within the property boundary among typical shared areas.
Where does Scottish Water's sewer begin?
Further away than most people think. Scottish Water's drains guide says that where one curtilage holds a number of properties, such as a block of flats, the common drainage systems within that curtilage will remain private. It turns public where it leaves the curtilage or meets another curtilage's drain. The council says Scottish Water maintains drains in the street and the main sewers, and the building's owners own the rest.
How are tenement drains laid out?
Down the back, then under the close. Under One Roof, a Scottish charity, says the rear soil pipes usually collect in a manhole in the back court, and the drain then passes under the close to the public sewer at the front.
What can the council do in an emergency?
It can make the drain safe and bill every owner. The council serves a statutory notice only when safety or health is at risk, and soil or waste pipes that are blocked or broken is among the most common causes. Those notices apply to all owners even if the deeds don't mention the shared parts.
Costs are split equally between all the homes beneath one roofline, fire wall to fire wall. From 1 April 2026 the council charges Emergency Officer time at £64.31 an hour (minimum charge per standard job: 5 hours, £321.55), £86 an hour for Emergency Manager time and £77.56 an hour for a Surveyor, plus a 10% admin fee.
- £64.31Emergency Officer
- £77.56Surveyor
- £86Emergency Manager
What about evenings and weekends?
You'll need to call someone yourselves. The council says the Edinburgh Shared Repairs Service will no longer attend drainage issues during evenings and weekends, so owners should instruct a contractor directly then. Under the Tenement Management Scheme, any one owner can call in emergency work that can't wait for a vote, and everyone shares the bill.
What causes most blockages?
The wrong things going down. Scottish Water says there are over 36,000 blocked drains and sewers a year in Scotland, and around 80% are caused by inappropriate items flushed or fat, oil and grease poured down sinks. The drain from a home is usually only about 4 inches wide and is meant for used water, pee, poo and toilet tissue.
Putting something into a drain that interferes with the flow of a sewer can be an offence under section 46 of the Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968, with up to 12 months or a £40,000 fine on summary conviction.
What if the same drain keeps blocking?
Get it surveyed. Under One Roof says repeated blockages caused by one owner may count as damage, and that recurring underground problems may call for a CCTV survey of the drains. Commissioning one is a joint decision for the owners, and the council's shared repairs help explains how to organise it.
36,000
blocked drains and sewers a year in Scotland
Source: Scottish Water
80%
blockages from wrong items or fat, oil and grease
Source: Scottish Water
Asked on the stair
The ground-floor toilet is backing up. Is that the ground-floor owner's problem?
Usually not. If the blockage is in the shared drain below, every flat on that drain shares it, because the water backing up comes from all of them.
Does the council guarantee its drain clearance?
No. It says it clears the blockage at the time but is not responsible for further blockages.
Can a stair share a CCTV drain survey?
Yes, if the owners agree. Under One Roof suggests one for recurring underground problems.
Is pouring fat down the sink illegal?
Section 46 of the 1968 Act makes it an offence to put anything into a sewer or connecting drain that is likely to interfere with its flow, so it can be. Scottish Water counts fat, oil and grease, with wrongly flushed items, behind about 80% of blockages.
Where this comes from
- Drains and sewers guide — Scottish Water (archived copy of its page): curtilage, 36,000 blockages, 80%, 4 inches
- Unsafe buildings and emergency repairs — City of Edinburgh Council: evenings and weekends
- Emergency repairs, page 2 — City of Edinburgh Council: statutory notices, soil pipework, drains ownership
- Emergency repairs, charges — City of Edinburgh Council: hourly rates and roofline split
- Shared repairs and maintenance — City of Edinburgh Council: drains as shared areas
- Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968, section 46 — legislation.gov.uk: offence and penalty
- Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, section 3 — legislation.gov.uk: shared pipes
- Drainage — Under One Roof (secondary): back-court manholes, soil pipes, CCTV surveys