A blocked drain in Glasgow is usually a gully in the back court standing full, a ground floor tenement flat with waste coming back up, or a close where nobody can agree whose pipe it is. Tell us the problem and the postcode. We pass that to local drainage companies that cover it.

Common signs of a blocked drain in Glasgow

• The toilet fills and drops slowly, or does not clear at all
• Grey water rising in the bath when the washing machine empties
• A gully in the back court standing full long after the rain stops
• More than one flat in the close affected at the same time
• A drain smell in a ground floor flat or a basement

What people typically pay in Glasgow (2026)

Access in a back court, a drain cover under the drying green, a long shared run under a tenement, or an out of hours visit puts the price up. National ranges sit on what drain unblocking costs.

Scotland clears 35,000 blockages a year

Scottish Water publishes the figure. It clears around 35,000 blockages every year in its sewers, at a cost of about £10 million, and it says the cause is largely wet wipes flushed down toilets.

Scotland is doing something about it that England is not. From 11 August 2027 it will be illegal to sell or supply wet wipes containing plastic in Scotland. Scottish Water has publicly welcomed the ban.

That date is worth knowing for two reasons. Wipes on sale today still contain plastic and still will not break down in a pipe. And a ban on selling them does nothing about the ones already sitting in the run under your back court.

Your own drain fails the same way the network does, earlier in the chain. A wipe catches on a joint, kitchen fat cools and sticks to it, and the pipe narrows week by week until the day it closes.

Scottish law changes who pays

This is the most important section on the page, because most drainage advice you will read online is written for England and does not apply here.

In England, most shared private sewers transferred to the water companies on 1 October 2011. That transfer did not happen in Scotland.

The position in Scotland, set out by Citizens Advice Scotland:

• Homeowners and landlords are responsible for household waste pipes up to the point where they connect with the public sewer, which is normally at the property boundary
• Scottish Water is responsible for maintaining and repairing public sewers, starting from where your drain joins the main sewer
• Where pipework is shared, as in flats and tenements, the owners are jointly responsible for repairs and maintenance
• How the cost is split should be in the title deeds of your property

So in a Glasgow tenement, the shared drain is normally owned by the owners, not by Scottish Water. An English article telling you the water company took it over in 2011 is simply wrong north of the border.

Before a shared job starts, it is worth digging out the deeds or asking your factor. Deeds usually set the share by flat, and knowing the split in advance stops the argument that otherwise happens after the invoice arrives.

Tenements and back courts

Glasgow is a tenement city. Sandstone blocks, a common close, and a shared back court behind with the drying green and the bin store.

The drainage matches that layout, and it creates problems that a street of individual houses does not have.

• One run serves the whole close, so several flats can be affected on the same morning
• The gully and the covers sit in the back court, shared ground that nobody treats as their own
• Access is through the close or a back lane, and a van often cannot reach the cover at all
• Ground floor flats get the problem first, because they sit lowest on the shared stack

If more than one flat is affected, contact the factor before anyone instructs a contractor. A factored block usually has a route for common repairs, and a bill you commissioned alone can be difficult to recover from the other owners afterwards.

Ground floor flats and basements

The lowest flat in a tenement is where a restricted shared stack shows itself, whatever caused it and whichever floor it came from.

• Waste appearing in a ground floor bath or toilet when nothing has been used in that flat points at the shared stack
• A basement that smells is worth investigating before it becomes a flood
• Waste coming into the flat is an emergency call, not something to watch

It is worth being clear with the neighbours about this. The flat that suffers is very often not the flat that caused it, and in a close where the pipe is jointly owned the repair is a shared cost regardless of whose wipes they were.

The West End student belt

Hillhead, Woodlands, Partick and Dowanhill hold a large share of the city’s shared student housing, most of it in tenement flats.

That combines both of the problems described above. Several unrelated people sharing a kitchen and a bathroom, and a drain shared with every other flat in the close.

In Scotland the landlord’s repairing obligation runs through the tenancy and the repairing standard rather than the English legislation. Report the problem to the landlord or the letting agent in writing and keep a copy.

A tenant can still use the quote form where the landlord has agreed to it. Say on the form that it is a tenement flat and whether other flats in the close are affected, because that decides who should be instructing the work.

Rain, and the combined sewers underneath

Glasgow gets a lot of rain, and much of the older network is combined, carrying foul waste and rainwater in the same pipe.

The practical result is a pattern people recognise. Everything runs normally in dry weather, then during a downpour the lowest gully in the back court fills and the ground floor flat has a problem.

That is the system full rather than blocked. If it clears once the rain stops and the neighbours saw the same thing, report it to Scottish Water. If your back court gully stands full on a dry day, that is a restriction and a drainage company is the right call.

Who looks after the drain in Glasgow

• You, as owner, or your landlord. The waste pipes serving your property up to the point they connect with the public sewer, normally at the boundary
• You and the other owners jointly. Shared pipework in a tenement or block of flats. The split should be set out in the title deeds. This is the big difference from England
• Scottish Water. The public sewer from the point your drain joins it. Their contact page has the reporting routes, and the responsibility position is summarised by Citizens Advice Scotland
• Glasgow City Council. Road gullies and highway drainage, reported through report road faults

The quick test before you ring anyone

• Only your flat, dry weather. Your own pipework, so a contractor
• Several flats in the close at once. The shared run, so the factor and the other owners
• Only in heavy rain, clearing afterwards. The network under load, so Scottish Water
• Water in the road, not the building. The council

FAQs in Glasgow

Did the drains not transfer to the water company in 2011?

In England they largely did. In Scotland they did not. Shared pipework in a tenement is normally owned jointly by the owners, with the cost split set out in the title deeds.

Three flats in our close are affected. Who organises it?

The factor, if the block has one. The pipe is jointly owned, so a repair one owner commissions alone can be hard to recover from the others.

Where do I find out my share of the cost?

The title deeds. They normally set out how common repairs are divided between the flats.

The back court gully is full. Is that mine?

If it drains slowly once the rain stops it is usually silt in the shared run. If it stands full on a dry day, something is restricted and it needs looking at.

Are wet wipes really the problem here?

Scottish Water clears around 35,000 blockages a year at a cost of about £10 million and says wet wipes are largely responsible.

Is Scotland banning wet wipes?

Wipes containing plastic cannot be sold or supplied in Scotland from 11 August 2027. Scottish Water has welcomed it. Until then, and for everything already in the pipes, nothing changes.

Waste is coming up in my ground floor flat. What do I do first?

Treat it as an emergency. Ring a contractor and tell the factor. Ground floor flats take the shared stack first, so it is often not your flat that caused it.

I rent a flat in the West End. Do I pay?

Report it to the landlord or letting agent in writing and keep a copy. Repairs sit with the landlord under the tenancy and the repairing standard.

Is a CCTV survey worth it before buying a tenement flat?

Yes. A survey shows the condition of the shared run, and since that pipe is jointly owned you are buying a share of whatever is wrong with it. A standard survey does not film the drain.

Can a van get to the back court?

Often not. Say so when you book, because the hose may have to run through the close and that affects the time on the job.

How quickly can someone attend?

Same day and next day cover is normal across the G postcodes. Emergency rates apply out of hours. If waste is coming into a flat, ring as well as filling in the form.

Getting a quote in Glasgow

Describe the problem and the postcode. We pass it to drainage companies covering Glasgow. Say if it is a tenement flat, whether other flats in the close are affected, and whether there is vehicle access to the back court.

Not in Glasgow? See all areas.