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How do you plan a bathroom installation?

A bathroom installation is the suite, the pipework and the room together, and planning permission is generally not required unless the work is part of an extension. This guide is the list of decisions, and it is not a fitting sequence.

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By the QuoteZila editorial team. Editorial policy.

What is included in "installation"?

An installation, on this page, means putting a bathroom into a room: the bath or shower, the basin, the pan, the wastes, and the connections. It is not only the tiles, which are on a tiled bathroom. It is not only the tray, on fitting a shower tray, and not only the electric unit, on an electric shower. If your job is the whole room, say so, so those parts are either inside the quote or named as excluded.

Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach are the first towns. Anyone in the UK can post or register.

Does the room need a planning application?

A planning application for installing a kitchen or bathroom is generally not required unless it is part of a house extension [S1]. If the property is a listed building, consult the local planning authority [S1]. Fitting a new suite in the room that is already the bathroom is the ordinary reading of that sentence. Knocking through to make an en-suite, or putting the bathroom in a new extension, is the case to describe honestly. GOV.UK says works that affect the character of a listed building require listed building consent, and the listing covers the interior as well as the exterior unless the entry says otherwise [S2]. A new soil pipe on a listed outside wall can be that kind of change. Say if the house is listed before anyone chases a hole.

What might building regulations cover?

GOV.UK lists "install a bathroom that will involve plumbing" among alteration projects that might need building regulations approval [S3]. You might need approval for works that are not on the example list, so check with a building control body if you cannot decide [S3]. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission, and you might need both [S3]. You do not need to get approval yourself if you use someone registered with a competent person scheme [S3]. A plumber, an electrician and a fitter may sit on different schemes. Ask which body covers which part.

GOV.UK: find your local council for building control. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.

The pages are kitchens and bathrooms: planning permission and building regulations approval. Listing is in conserving the historic environment.

What should the quote say about water and waste?

WaterSafe Register describes itself as a free online directory of plumbers and water supply pipe installers that can be searched [S4]. Use it for the plumbing names on the quote. Ask the quote to separate:

  • Which appliances are supplied, and which you are keeping.
  • Hot and cold, and where they come from. This page does not describe pipe jointing. Plastic supply pipe, if that is what they will use, should be named by them. The material question is PEX pipe.
  • The wastes, and whether the soil pipe moves.
  • Who makes good the walls and the ceiling after pipes are chased.
  • How long the water will be off, in their estimate, written down.

Leave the pan and the taps as they are. Describe the room as it is.

What should the quote say about the fan?

Any new bathroom or shower room should have extract ventilation to reduce condensation and remove smells [S5]. For a refurbishment, keep or replace existing extract [S5]. If there is no existing system, you need not provide one, though you can [S5]. A brand-new en-suite with no fan line has skipped that sentence. A replacement suite in a room that already has a fan should say the fan stays or is renewed. The fan's wiring is electrical work, not a footnote.

Who does the electrics?

Changing electrics near a bath or shower might need building regulations approval [S3]. With the exception of some minor tasks, electrical work must be reported to the local authority building control body or carried out by a registered electrician in a government-approved scheme [S6]. In England, the spaces around baths and showers are special locations [S7]. A new circuit, if one is needed for a shower, is among the jobs the Portal says must be notified to a building control body or, in England only, a registered third-party certifier before work starts, when the installer cannot self-certify [S7].

Electrical Safety First: find a registered electrician; NICEIC; NAPIT. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.

Electrical Safety First and the Portal's electrics page are the references. Bathroom fitters, plumbers and electricians may share the job. The quote should name them.

Jobs you might post

These are examples, not taken from real job posts.

  • "Replace bath, basin and pan in the existing bathroom. Fan stays. Please say whether building regulations approval is needed for the plumbing, and exclude electrics unless a named electrician is included."
  • "New en-suite in a bedroom, no extension. Please include extract ventilation and say who tells building control. Tiles are a separate quote."
  • "Listed house, new basin only. Please say if listed building consent is required before you chase the wall."

How do you compare whole-room quotes?

Citizens Advice says some traders charge for quotes, so ask first, and to try to get written quotes from at least 3 traders [S8]. A quote is a fixed price and an estimate is a rough guess [S8]. Materials, including the suite if they supply it, should be a separate line [S8]. A business registers for VAT when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000 [S9]. Ask. This guide does not print a bathroom price.

Match replies to the same list: suite, wastes, fan, electrics, making good. A total that hides the electrician is not the same job as one that names them [S6].

Up to five matched local businesses can send a quote [QZ2]. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses [QZ1]. Plumbing visits more generally are on the plumber cost guide.

Honest status: QuoteZila is new. We're starting in Cheshire, beginning with Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and growing area by area. Anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business. How fast you get quotes depends on how many local businesses have joined near you. Businesses can register and receive jobs straight away. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire.

Posting a job is not open yet

Is this the tiling page?

No. Tiles, tanking and a price per wall are on the tiled-bathroom guide. This page is the installation: the suite, the wastes, the fan and who does the electrics. A quote that only says 'tiles included' has not answered this list.

Do I need planning permission?

The Planning Portal says a planning application for installing a kitchen or bathroom is generally not required unless it is part of a house extension. If the property is listed, consult the local planning authority. Say whether you are fitting out an existing room or building the room as well.

Do building regulations still apply?

They can. GOV.UK lists installing a bathroom that will involve plumbing among alterations that might need building regulations approval. Approval is different from planning permission, and you might need both. Ask the fitter who speaks to building control, instead of assuming a new suite is only a shopping list.

What about the fan and the lights?

A new bathroom should have extract ventilation to reduce condensation and remove smells. If you are refurbishing, keep or replace an existing fan, and if there is none you need not add one, though you can. Electrics near a bath are a separate line for a registered electrician.

Does QuoteZila check bathroom fitters?

No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.

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Sources

  1. QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila pricing line.
  2. QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila FAQ How does getting quotes work.
  3. S1: Planning permission: kitchens and bathrooms, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/kitchens-and-bathrooms/planning-permission/
  4. S2: Conserving and enhancing the historic environment, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/conserving-and-enhancing-the-historic-environment
  5. S3: Building regulations approval, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval
  6. S4: WaterSafe Register, WaterSafe. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.watersafe.org.uk/
  7. S5: Ventilation for kitchens and bathrooms, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/kitchens-and-bathrooms/building-regulations-need-for-additional-ventilation/
  8. S6: Building regulations, Electrical Safety First. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/find-a-registered-electrician/building-regulations/
  9. S7: Building regulations: electrics, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/electrics/building-regulations-general-information/
  10. S8: Before you get work done on your home, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
  11. S9: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat