Fire safety law in Glasgow is not the Fire Safety Order. It sits under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The person who has to do the fire safety risk assessment is called the duty holder under that Act. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority.
Scotland does not run selective licensing. What it does run is HMO licensing under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. In Glasgow a property occupied by three or more people from two or more families, sharing a toilet, bathroom or kitchen, needs an HMO licence. That threshold is lower than the English mandatory scheme, which starts at five. Check the current fee and conditions with Glasgow City Council.
Short-term lets need their own licence from the council as well, under the 2022 Scottish short-term let rules. That is a separate licence from the HMO one. SFRS has guidance for short-term let duty holders. Short-term let premises used as sleeping accommodation sit under Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. The duty holder is usually the owner or the operator, and they need an adequate fire safety risk assessment as well as the licence.
The common close is the escape route
A lot of Glasgow housing is tenements. The common close and the common stair are the escape route for every flat on the close. The assessment has to deal with that shared stair, the inner doors off it, and whether fire stopping between the flats is actually there. Sleeping accommodation is the part that takes the longest.
Section 93 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 requires occupiers to keep common property free of combustible substances and of anything that would obstruct escape or access in a fire. SFRS can enter the close to check, and if there is an immediate risk they can remove items and recover the cost. That is a close duty, not a flat duty. An assessment that only covers the inside of one flat leaves the escape route unassessed.
Who is the duty holder for the close is a real question. Factoring agents, owners’ associations and individual owners all turn up in practice. The Code of Conduct for property factors applies to factors on the Scottish register. Get the name in writing before you appoint an assessor, or the report will name the wrong person and the close will be left out.
The English 11 metre fire-door timetable does not apply here. Scotland has its own building standards and its own fire safety guidance. Use those, not the English regulations. The April 2026 residential evacuation-plan rules are English law. Do not assume they read across.
If you rent from a social landlord, start with them.
Three occupiers, not five
English pages on this site talk about mandatory HMO licensing at five occupiers. That number is wrong in Glasgow. Three people from two or more families, sharing facilities, is the HMO threshold. A flat that would be unlicensed in Manchester can need a licence here. The fire safety risk assessment sits alongside that licence. You still need the written fire risk assessment.
Every landlord in Scotland also has to be on the Scottish Landlord Register. That is a third duty, separate from the HMO licence and from the fire safety risk assessment.
Who enforces fire safety law in Glasgow
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority for most premises in the city. They can inspect, serve enforcement notices and prohibit use of a building. They will ask for the fire safety risk assessment. Nobody is licensed to write it. The duty still sits with the duty holder after an assessor has been appointed.
SFRS does not write the assessment for you. Their job is to audit whether you have done it. On an audit they typically want the written assessment, the action plan, and access to the close as well as the flat. That is a different visit from a council HMO or short-term let inspection. SFRS also has the s.93 power to clear combustibles from the close if they are an immediate risk.
What the Glasgow report should actually name
A report that could have been written for Birmingham is not suitable here. It should name the duty holder, the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, the close as the escape route, and whether the premises are an HMO, a short-term let, or both. If the header says “responsible person” and “Fire Safety Order”, the template was not rewritten for Scotland. Send it back.
The home page sets out how to read a sample report. Read a Glasgow sample for the close and the statute, not only for the five questions.
Checking an assessor in Glasgow
There is no statutory register in Scotland either. Before you appoint anyone, ask:
- What are your qualifications, and who awarded them?
- Are you third party certificated? If yes, take the number and check it with the scheme.
- What is your professional indemnity cover? Ask for the figure.
- How many buildings like this one have you assessed in Glasgow? If it is a tenement or an HMO, say so. Ask whether they work under the Fire (Scotland) Act rather than copying an English template. Ask whether they will walk the close.
- Can I see a sample report? Client details removed. Read it for “responsible person” and “Fire Safety Order”. Those are English terms.
The October 2023 change that made a written record compulsory for every responsible person is English law. Do not assume it reads across.
What it costs in Glasgow
Price follows size, layout, and whether anyone sleeps there. A small shop or office is usually a few hundred pounds. A tenement close, an HMO or a short-term let costs more. Get more than one quote, in writing. National ranges on what a fire risk assessment should cost are drawn from the English market. Treat them as a starting point, not a Glasgow price list.
HMO licences and the Fire (Scotland) Act in Glasgow
Is this the same as the Fire Safety Order?
No. Glasgow sits under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. The duty holder is the person who has to do the fire safety risk assessment. An English report with “responsible person” in the header was not written for this building.
Whose job is the close?
Whoever has control of it. In practice that is often the factor or the owners together. Occupiers also have the s.93 duty to keep it clear of combustibles and obstructions. The inside of each flat is a different duty holder. An assessment that only covers one flat leaves the escape route unassessed.
I let to two people. Do I need an HMO licence?
The HMO threshold is three people from two or more families. Two occupiers from one family is not an HMO. Check the council if the household mix is not that simple. Fire safety law can still apply to the close even when the flat itself is not an HMO.
I have a short-term let. Is that the HMO licence?
No. Short-term lets have their own Scottish licensing scheme from 2022. You apply to the council, not to SFRS. You still need a fire safety risk assessment as the duty holder of those premises.
How often should it be reviewed?
Scottish guidance is to keep the assessment under review and redo it when the premises or the use changes. There is no English-style statutory anniversary written into the Order, because the Order does not apply. Sleeping accommodation and HMOs are usually reviewed every year.
Describe the premises and we will pass it to assessors covering Glasgow.
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