Bathroom fitting

A bathroom plumber moves, connects and tests the water and waste for every fitting in the room: bath, shower, basin, toilet and towel radiator. On a full bathroom installation the plumber usually visits twice, once to put the pipework in before the walls are closed and once to connect the finished fittings. Hiring someone to fit a bathroom is often a bigger decision than the supplier of the suite, because most faults trace back to concealed pipework, and it is expensive to reopen a tiled wall.

This page is for anyone searching for a bathroom fitter near them, or a plumber who can join a bathroom project that someone else is leading. It covers the scope of the work, the order things happen in, the rules that apply and what makes quotes differ.

What a bathroom plumber actually does

The plumber's part of a bathroom fit covers the hot and cold supplies, the waste pipes and the connections to each fitting. The usual tasks are:

• stripping out and capping off the old supplies and wastes
• running new pipework, including any move of the toilet, basin or shower position
• fitting the bath or shower tray and its waste, and sealing the trap
• hanging the basin and fitting taps, plus a toilet pan, cistern and flush mechanism
• installing the shower valve, mixer or electric shower, and the controls that set its temperature
• connecting a towel radiator to the heating, which can be a separate job for a heating engineer (see radiators and heating)
• pressure-testing, commissioning and leaving the room watertight

A plumber does not normally tile, plaster, lay flooring or wire the room. Some firms bring those trades with them and manage the whole refit. If you would rather have one contractor in charge of the entire room, a general building firm may suit you better, and MyLocalBuilders lists builders who take on whole-room refurbishments.

The stages, in order

The sequence matters. Doing it out of order is how a tidy job turns into a messy one.

1. Survey and quote. The plumber looks at the existing pipes, the drain position, water pressure and the boiler or cylinder that feeds the room. A written quote should say which jobs are in and which are not.
2. Strip-out. Old fittings come out. Supplies are isolated, which is the moment hidden problems appear, such as corroded pipe or a wall that has been wet for years.
3. First fix. The plumber runs the new pipes and wastes, and the electrician installs cables and any new circuits. Nothing is hidden until both have signed off their work.
4. Boarding, waterproofing and tiling. Walls and floor are prepared, wet areas sealed and tiles laid.
5. Second fix. The plumber fits the bath, basin, toilet, taps and shower, connects them and tests for leaks.
6. Handover. You should be shown where the stop valve and any isolation valves are, given manuals and guarantees, and told how to use the shower controls.

Allow for gaps between stages. Grout and sealant need time to cure, and a tiler's schedule rarely fits neatly between two plumbing visits. Ask each trade for a start date and an end date, and expect any one of them to move.

Rules that apply to a bathroom installation

Plumbing, electrics and ventilation each have a rule that touches a bathroom. The detail below applies in England, and the other UK nations have their own versions, so check locally.

Hot water safety. Approved Document G requires the hot water to a fixed bath in a new home, or one created by a change of use, to be limited to 48°C. It is not a legal requirement for a refit in an existing home, but a blending valve is sensible good practice, so ask your plumber about it.

Electrics. Approved Document P makes the installation of a new circuit notifiable, along with the replacement of a consumer unit and any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a bathroom's special location. That location is the space within 0.6 metres of the edge of a bath or shower tray, up to a height of 2.25 metres. Your plumber does not need to do this work, but a heated towel rail, a shaver socket or an electric shower may involve it. The electrician should be registered with a competent person scheme or the work needs a building notice, as explained in our guide to building regulations for plumbing and heating.

Ventilation. Approved Document F (2026 edition, which takes effect on 24 March 2027) gives an intermittent extract rate of 15 litres per second for a bathroom. The same document says that when you refurbish a bathroom, existing fans should be kept or replaced, and that extra ventilation may be needed if the work makes the room less compliant than before. A new fan is cheap compared with damp.

Water efficiency. The 125 litres per person per day cap in Approved Document G applies to new homes rather than refits. It is still a useful yardstick for choosing a shower and taps. The Energy Saving Trust says a water-efficient shower head saves around £25 a year in Great Britain and about 9,000 litres of water, and that keeping showers to four minutes could save around £45 a year and 17,000 litres.

Gas. If the bathroom project involves moving a gas boiler or any gas pipe, that part must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. See our guide on how to check a plumber is Gas Safe or WaterSafe registered.

What changes the cost of a bathroom installation

We do not quote prices on this page, because a figure that fits a small cloakroom would mislead on a large family bathroom. These are the factors that move a quote:

• Size and layout. Swapping like for like in the same positions is far simpler than moving the toilet to the other wall, which can mean new soil pipe runs and a lifted floor.
• Hidden condition. Old lead or galvanised pipe, damp boards and rotten joists only show once the room is stripped.
• The suite itself. Wall-hung toilets with frames, walk-in shower enclosures and freestanding baths all take longer to fit than standard items.
• Hot water source. A combi boiler with modest flow behaves differently from a cylinder with a pump, and that affects what shower you can sensibly fit.
• Other trades. Tiling, plastering, electrics, flooring and decorating are often priced separately.
• Access and waste. Flats, upper floors and awkward stairs add time.

Ask for the quote itemised, with the supply of materials stated, and a clear line for anything that could be added after strip-out.

How to choose a bathroom plumber

Look for someone who has done work like yours, who turns up to survey it, and who puts what they will do in writing. A fitter who gives a price over the phone without seeing the room is guessing.

Check the registration that fits the job. Gas work needs Gas Safe. WaterSafe is the register for plumbers approved to work on water fittings, and electrical work in the special location needs an electrician registered with a competent person scheme, a registered third-party certifier or a building notice. Ask for insurance details as well, and request references from recent bathrooms rather than kitchens or boiler jobs.

Our directory lists registered businesses and ranks them by verified customer reviews first and distance second, with no paid placement in the ranked list. You can browse plumbers by city to see who covers your area.

Questions to ask before you book

• Who is doing the first fix and who is doing the second fix, and are they the same person?
• Does the price include removing and disposing of the old suite?
• What happens if you find rotten boards or old pipework once the room is open?
• Which shower valve or controls are included, and will a blending valve keep bath water at or below 48°C?
• Who is responsible for ventilation and for the electrical work in the room?
• What guarantee covers the labour, and who do you call if a joint weeps in six months?
• What is the payment schedule? A small deposit, with the balance on completion, is easier to manage than a large payment up front.

After the work

Run each fitting and look under the bath, basin and toilet with a torch for a week or so. Keep the paperwork, including any electrical certificate, because a buyer's solicitor may ask for it. If anything leaks, switch the water off at the isolation valve and call the firm straight away; for a burst or an uncontrolled flow, see leaks and burst pipes.