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How should an electric shower be specified?
An electric shower is an electrical appliance in a special location, and the quote should say who does the circuit and who does the water. This guide does not tell you to connect either, and it does not print a unit price.
Last reviewed:What are you asking someone to fit?
An electric shower, on this page, is the unit on the wall that needs a cold-water feed and an electrical supply. This guide does not explain the inside of the unit and does not give a sequence for pipes or cables. It says what the quote must separate, because a plumber-only price and an electrician-only price are easy to add up wrong.
The whole bathroom is bathroom installation. The tray is fitting a shower tray. Tiles around it are a tiled bathroom. A plug on an ordinary appliance is wiring a plug, which is not this circuit.
Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach are the first towns. Anyone in the UK can post or register.
Why the electrical side is not a casual extra
GOV.UK lists changing electrics near a bath or shower among alterations that might need building regulations approval [S1]. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission [S1]. With the exception of some minor tasks, electrical work must either be reported to the local authority building control body or carried out by a registered electrician who is a member of a government-approved scheme [S2]. Homeowners and landlords must be able to prove that the work meets Part P [S2]. You tell building control before the work starts, or you employ an electrician on one of those schemes [S2].
The Planning Portal says a complete new circuit is in the group of jobs that, if the installer cannot self-certify, must be notified to a building control body or, in England only, a registered third-party certifier before work starts, and it gives a new circuit for a shower as an example [S3]. In England, special locations are the spaces around baths and showers [S3]. An electric shower sits in that space. Do not treat the cable as something to add "while the tiles are off".
Electrical Safety First: find a registered electrician; NICEIC; NAPIT. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
The references are building regulations approval, Electrical Safety First and the Portal's electrics page. Electricians are the trade for the supply. This guide does not say a particular unit needs a particular cable. The electrician writes that in the quote.
What should the plumber's line cover?
The cold feed, the connection at the unit, and whether the old unit comes off, are plumbing. WaterSafe Register describes itself as a free online directory of plumbers and water supply pipe installers that can be searched [S4]. Ask the plumber to say whether they connect only the water, and to name the electrician for the supply if they are not doing it. Plumbers and bathroom fitters both get asked. The quote should not say "shower" once and hope both trades are inside it.
Leave the supply and the cover as they are. Say whether a unit is already on the wall.
What should you say about the room?
Any new shower room should have extract ventilation to reduce condensation and remove smells [S5]. If you are refurbishing, keep or replace existing extract [S5]. If there is none, you need not add one, though you can [S5]. A new en-suite with an electric shower and no fan line has a gap. Say whether the room exists or is being created. A planning application for installing a bathroom is generally not required unless it is part of an extension [S6]. If the property is listed, consult the local planning authority [S6]. An electric shower on a listed wall is a question for that authority if the work affects the building's character [S7].
GOV.UK: find your local council for building control. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
Ventilation is on the Portal's bathrooms ventilation page. Planning for the room is kitchens and bathrooms. Listing is conserving the historic environment.
What the quote should contain
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]. Separate the materials, including the unit if they supply it [S8].
Ask for:
- The unit, supplied by them or by you.
- Water connection, in or out.
- Electrical circuit, new or existing, and who certifies it [S2] [S3].
- Whether the tray, the tiles and the fan are in or out.
- Making good.
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 shower price. The electrician cost guide and the plumber cost guide are the wider pages.
Jobs you might post
These are examples, not taken from real job posts.
- "Replace an existing electric shower with a new unit I will buy. Please quote the electrical connection and the water connection separately, and say which scheme covers the electrics. Tray stays."
- "New electric shower in an existing bath-only room. Please say if a new circuit is required and who tells building control. Fan is already there and stays."
- "Listed house, electric shower on an outside wall of the bathroom. Please say if consent is needed before you price chasing."
How do you compare two "shower" prices?
If one price includes a new circuit and the other assumes the cable is already there, they are different jobs [S3]. If one includes the tray and the other does not, they are different jobs. Ask each firm to tick the same list. You still check registrations yourself.
Up to five matched local businesses can send a quote [QZ2]. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses [QZ1].
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 the tray part of this page?
No. The tray, the waste and the enclosure are a different guide. This page is the electric unit: the water feed to it and the electrical supply. A quote for 'the shower' should say whether the tray is included or excluded.
Does it need its own circuit?
The Planning Portal lists a new circuit for a shower among the examples of a complete new circuit. If the installer is not registered to self-certify, that work has to be notified to a building control body or, in England only, a registered third-party certifier before it starts. Ask the electrician whether your existing supply is what they will use or whether a new circuit is in the price.
Can I swap the unit myself?
This guide says no. Changing electrics near a bath or shower is on GOV.UK's list of work that might need building regulations approval. With the exception of some minor tasks, Electrical Safety First says electrical work is reported to building control or done by a registered electrician. Do not take the cover off.
What about ventilation?
A new shower room should have extract ventilation to reduce condensation and remove smells. If you are refurbishing and a fan is already there, keep it or replace it. If there is no fan, you need not add one, though you can. The fan is its own line if you want it in the quote.
Does QuoteZila check the installer?
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.
Part of Guides. All services
Related trades
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Related pages
- Home Office Ideas: Permission and the Room. A home office in Cheshire may not need planning permission if the home stays a home. This guide covers the room, a garden building and sockets.
- Rewiring a House: How the Job Runs, Stage by Stage. How rewiring a house works from the householder's side: the inspection, first fix, second fix, testing and certificates, and how to get the house ready.
Sources
- QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila pricing line.
- QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila FAQ How does getting quotes work.
- S1: Building regulations approval, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval
- S2: Building regulations, Electrical Safety First. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/find-a-registered-electrician/building-regulations/
- S3: Building regulations: electrics, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/electrics/building-regulations-general-information/
- S4: WaterSafe Register, WaterSafe. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.watersafe.org.uk/
- 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/
- S6: Planning permission: kitchens and bathrooms, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/kitchens-and-bathrooms/planning-permission/
- S7: Conserving and enhancing the historic environment, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/conserving-and-enhancing-the-historic-environment
- 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/
- S9: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat