Fire Safety for Greek STR 2026: Extinguisher, RCD and Rules

Fire Safety for Greek Short-Term Rentals 2026: Extinguisher, RCD and Welcome Book Rules

Since 1 October 2025, Νόμος 5170/2025 requires every Greek short-term rental with an active ΑΜΑ registration to carry a 6kg ABC dry-powder fire extinguisher, a functioning RCD circuit breaker (30mA) confirmed by a valid ΥΔΕ electrical certificate, smoke detectors in every bedroom and the kitchen, and a CO detector where gas appliances are present. Non-compliance is a mandatory ground for ΑΜΑ suspension: a first inspection failure brings a fine of around 5,000 EUR, a repeat offence around 10,000 EUR, and a third strike removes your ΑΜΑ and delists your property from Airbnb and Booking.com. This guide gives foreign owners the full equipment checklist with approximate costs in EUR, the placement rules inspectors actually check, and how to document everything remotely from the UK or US.

Fire safety used to be the grey zone of Greek STR regulation. Before Νόμος 5170/2025 there was no clear fire-protection obligation for private dwellings rented short-term. The new law aligned STR requirements with those of small hotels and guesthouses, and joint inspections by ΑΑΔΕ (the Greek tax authority) and the Fire Brigade (Πυροσβεστικό Σώμα) began in December 2025. For a remote owner in London or New York, the challenge is not the cost — the full equipment package for a typical apartment is under 400 EUR — but proving compliance when an unannounced inspection happens while you are 2,000 km away.

The 2026 Equipment Checklist at a Glance

Item	Requirement	Approximate cost (EUR)	Renewal
Fire extinguisher 6kg ABC (21A-113B-C)	1 per 100 m2, minimum 1 per floor	14-25 per unit	Annual service tag, 8-12 EUR
RCD circuit breaker 30mA	Mandatory on all circuits	80-230 installed (if missing)	Checked at each ΥΔΕ renewal
ΥΔΕ electrical certificate	Issued by licensed electrician, valid 5 years	80-200 for a 50-100 m2 apartment	Every 5 years
Smoke detectors (photoelectric, CE marked)	1 per bedroom + 1 in the kitchen	12-25 per unit	Annual 9V battery change
CO detector	Where gas appliances or boilers are present	20-35	Battery/sensor per manufacturer, typically 5-7 years
Extinguisher signage (red ΠΥΡΟΣΒΕΣΤΗΡΑΣ plate)	Above each extinguisher	5 per plate	None
Escape route note in welcome book	Checked at joint inspections	0 (template)	Annual review

Total for a typical 60 m2 one-floor apartment: one extinguisher with service tag and signage (around 33 EUR), three smoke detectors (around 54 EUR), a ΥΔΕ certificate (around 100 EUR) and, if your fuse board predates 2010, an RCD retrofit (around 150 EUR). Call it 350 EUR one-off against a 5,000 EUR first-offence fine. The economics are not subtle.

The Extinguisher Rule: 6kg ABC, One per 100 m2, One per Floor

The required type is a 6kg dry-powder extinguisher rated 21A-113B-C. The rating means it handles class A fires (wood, paper, textiles), class B (flammable liquids like cooking oil and solvents) and class C (gas). The 6kg refers to the powder charge, not the total weight — the full cylinder weighs 9-11kg. It must carry the CE mark and EN 3-7 conformity marking.

The quantity formula is one extinguisher per 100 m2 of usable floor area, with a minimum of one per floor regardless of size:

• Studio or apartment up to 100 m2: 1 extinguisher.
• Apartment or maisonette 100-200 m2: 2 extinguishers.
• House or villa 200-300 m2: 3 extinguishers.
• Two-storey maisonette of 60 m2 per floor: 2 extinguishers (one per floor), even though the total is only 120 m2.
• Separate buildings on one plot (villa plus guest house): each building needs its own extinguishers. No sharing, even at 5 metres' distance.

There are no size exemptions: a 28 m2 studio still needs one full 6kg unit. Placement rules that inspectors measure: handle at 1.2-1.5 metres from the floor, maximum 25 metres from any point in the property, a red ΠΥΡΟΣΒΕΣΤΗΡΑΣ sign above it, and roughly 60 cm of clear access space around it. The practical sweet spot in most apartments is beside the entrance door or at the kitchen threshold — visible on arrival, reachable on escape.

The Annual Service Tag: Where Remote Owners Fail

An extinguisher without a valid service tag is treated as out of service at inspection, even if it is brand new and fully pressurised. The tag must be issued by a technician certified by the Fire Brigade, dated within the last 12 months, and attached to the cylinder. The annual check covers cylinder pressure (needle in the green zone), powder condition, valve seal and nozzle function, and costs around 8-12 EUR. Every 10 years the unit needs a full recharge and hydraulic cylinder test at around 25-40 EUR.

For an owner managing from abroad, put the service renewal in your compliance calendar and delegate it to your cleaner, co-host or property manager. Then photograph the extinguisher and its tag after each service and store the photos in a cloud folder (Google Drive works). If an inspection happens, your local contact can show the evidence from a phone in seconds. See our guide on remote property management from London or NYC for how to structure these delegated tasks.

RCD Breaker and the ΥΔΕ Certificate: The Electrical Half of the Law

Electrical faults are the most common cause of residential fires in Greek STR properties, and Νόμος 5170/2025 attacks this from two directions. First, every circuit in the property must be protected by an RCD (residual current device) rated at 30mA — the breaker that cuts power instantly when it detects a leakage current, preventing both electrocution and fire. Installations built after roughly 2010 usually have one already; older fuse boards typically do not. Retrofitting costs around 30-80 EUR for the device plus 50-150 EUR labour. Where the whole board needs replacing, budget 250-500 EUR.

Second, the property needs a current ΥΔΕ (Υπεύθυνη Δήλωση Εγκαταστάτη) — an electrical installation certificate issued by a licensed electrician, valid for 5 years, confirming the installation meets the Greek wiring standard (ΕΛΟΤ HD 60364). The inspection takes 1-3 hours on site and covers the fuse board, circuits, RCD, earthing, insulation resistance and circuit labelling. Cost: around 80-120 EUR for a 50-80 m2 apartment, 150-250 EUR for a 100-200 m2 house, 300-500 EUR for a large villa.

One warning for buyers of older stock: in properties built before 2000, the electrician may refuse to issue a ΥΔΕ until the installation is upgraded. Rewiring critical circuits (kitchen, bathroom) runs 500-2,000 EUR; a full rewire of an old house can reach 1,500-4,000 EUR. Factor this into any purchase of a pre-2000 property intended for STR — see buying Greek property for Airbnb as a foreigner.

Smoke and CO Detectors: Cheap, Mandatory, Frequently Dead

The law requires a smoke detector in every bedroom plus one in the kitchen — a single hallway unit is not sufficient. Specifications: photoelectric type (not ionisation), CE marked, with a 9V battery replaced annually. Common compliant models cost 12-25 EUR each and installation is a five-minute DIY job on the ceiling. A two-bedroom apartment therefore needs three units, around 54 EUR total.

Where the property has gas appliances — a gas hob, gas boiler or LPG water heater — add a CO detector near the appliance and sleeping areas. At 20-35 EUR it is the cheapest life-safety item on the list and the one most commonly missing at inspections of older island properties running on bottled gas.

The failure mode is not the purchase, it is the battery. At a joint inspection, the accompanying fire officer physically presses the test button on each detector. A dead battery is recorded as a deficiency. Instruct your cleaning team to test every detector monthly and change all batteries every January, and write the next battery-change date on the detector casing in marker.

What the Joint Inspection Actually Checks

Joint ΑΑΔΕ and Ministry of Tourism inspections, running since December 2025, are unannounced and take roughly 10-15 minutes on the fire-safety section. The inspector checks four extinguisher fields (correct type and weight, service tag no older than 12 months, visible placement at correct height, correct count for the floor area), opens the fuse board to confirm the 30mA RCD, asks to see the ΥΔΕ PDF or a copy, and tests each smoke detector.

They also open your welcome book. Under the same law, the property information book must document the location of the extinguisher, the fuse board, the water shut-off and the escape route, so the fire officer can confirm guests are actually informed. A floor-plan sketch marking the extinguisher and exits is the easiest way to pass this check — see our companion guide on the mandatory Greek STR welcome book.

Penalties: Why This Is an ΑΜΑ Suspension Issue, Not Just a Fine

The sanctions ladder under Νόμος 5170/2025 escalates fast:

• First violation: around 5,000 EUR fine plus a mandatory 30-day correction deadline.
• Second violation within 24 months: around 10,000 EUR.
• Third violation: ΑΜΑ suspension and automatic delisting from all platforms.

Missing or expired ΥΔΕ carries its own fines in the 3,000-7,000 EUR range depending on severity. And the exposure does not stop at administrative penalties: if a fire injures a guest and basic safety equipment was missing, you face potential criminal negligence liability and civil damages claims, and your liability insurer can refuse cover on the grounds that mandatory safety equipment was absent. From 20 May 2026, when EU Regulation 2024/1028 makes platforms validate ΑΜΑ numbers before displaying listings, an ΑΜΑ suspension means your revenue stops the same week.

Remote Owner Action Plan: Compliance in One Trip or Zero Trips

If you can visit once, do everything in a single 2-3 day window: order extinguishers and detectors online in advance (Skroutz and specialist suppliers ship nationwide from around 14 EUR per extinguisher), book a licensed electrician for the ΥΔΕ and any RCD work, mount the detectors yourself, photograph everything, and file the ΥΔΕ PDF, invoices and photos in your cloud compliance folder.

If you cannot visit, the entire package is delegable: your co-host or property manager receives the deliveries, a local electrician issues the ΥΔΕ (they invoice to your Greek ΑΦΜ, and the cost is deductible against rental income on your E2 declaration), and a certified technician handles the annual extinguisher service. Budget around 100-150 EUR per year in recurring costs per property for services and batteries. Put three recurring reminders in your calendar — extinguisher service (annually), detector batteries (annually), ΥΔΕ renewal (every 5 years) — and fire safety becomes a background process instead of the reason your ΑΜΑ gets suspended.

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