HOW TO HIRE · PLUMBING & HEATING

How to hire a shower installer in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

No register applies, but electric showers need certified wiring and big pumps need notice to the water supplier. The checks and the quote.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a shower installer in five steps

  1. Know your water systemCombi, gravity-fed or unvented — it decides which shower will work.
  2. Electric or pumped? Get the wiring certifiedBathroom electrical work is notifiable in England and Wales.
  3. Ask about a pumpA pump drawing over 12 litres a minute needs notice to the water supplier first.
  4. Agree the waterproofingTray, screen, tanking and tiling — who does each.
  5. Test before tilingValves and pipes tested before the wall is closed.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No licence or register applies to shower installers in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, so anyone may offer shower installation. For shower installation, two legal lines remain: gas work belongs to a Gas Safe registered engineer, and new fittings must meet your nation's water fittings rules.

Ask whether any part of the shower installation touches gas, and if it does, who on the team is on the Gas Safe Register.

Electrical work and the Building Regulations

If the shower needs a new electrical supply, that is electrical work under the Building Regulations in England and Wales. Work in a bathroom or shower room is notifiable, and so in Wales is work in a kitchen or outdoors: it needs an electrician on a competent person scheme, or building control.

Search the electrician on the Registered Competent Person Electrical register and ask for the certificate for the shower wiring. electricalcompetentperson.co.uk →

Notice to the water supplier

Some installations need the water supplier's consent before work starts under the 1999 Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations (England and Wales): a bath holding more than 230 litres, a pump drawing over 12 litres a minute, or an automatic garden watering system. Check whether your shower installation includes any of them.

Ask whether the shower installation needs notice to the water supplier, and who will give it. legislation.gov.uk →

New bathroom plumbing (England)

gov.uk's guidance for England says a bathroom where new plumbing is installed usually needs notifying to building control unless a registered installer does it; replacing a bath, toilet or basin like for like does not. Ask which side of that line the shower installation falls.

If the shower installation is notifiable, get the building control reference or the scheme certificate. gov.uk →

VAT

Fitting a shower is standard-rated at 20%; it can be zero-rated where a bathroom is adapted for a disabled person in their own home, and a built-in shower seat for someone aged 60 or over is 5%. Once a business's taxable turnover goes over £90,000 it must be registered, and the VAT then goes on the quote as its own line.

Ask the shower installer for the VAT number and, for an adaptation, whether the relief is applied. gov.uk →

“Will this shower work with my boiler and water pressure?”

A good answer: A check of the system first: a mixer on a combi, a pump on a low-pressure gravity system, not one answer for every house.

“Who wires the electric shower or pump?”

A good answer: A registered electrician, with a certificate for the bathroom work.

“Does the shower pump need notice to the water supplier?”

A good answer: They check its flow; over 12 litres a minute in England and Wales needs notice.

“Is the valve thermostatic?”

A good answer: Yes for most new shower installations, so the temperature holds when someone runs a tap.

“Who does the tray, screen and tiling?”

A good answer: Named in the quote, so nothing falls between trades.

“How will the shower area be waterproofed?”

A good answer: Tanking or a sealed board system behind the tiles, not just grout.

Getting the quote right

  • Shower type and valve named
  • Pipework, pump and any notice to the water supplier
  • Electrical work and certificate, or excluded
  • Tray, screen, tanking and tiling — included or not
  • Who actually attends — the shower installer, the tiler and any electrician, employed or subcontracted
  • The VAT number, with VAT at 20% on its own line unless a relief applies

Walk away if

  • Fits an electric shower with no electrical certificate
  • Fits a pump without asking about your water supply
  • No waterproofing behind the tiles
  • Seals the screen before the tray is level
LOW
£325
TYPICAL
£550
HIGH
£1,200

What a shower installer costs: £325–£1,200 per install

Shower installations are quoted per install; the shower type, pipework and any electrics set it, with tiling usually separate. Shower Installation price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Shower installers near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you.

  1. SurveyPressure, boiler type and pipe routes checked.
  2. Remove the old showerOld unit and damaged fittings out.
  3. Fit the valve and pipesValve, supplies and any pump fitted; electrics by the electrician.
  4. Tray, screen and sealTray levelled, screen fitted, joints sealed.
  5. TestFlow, temperature and leaks checked.

Mixer shower
Mixes hot and cold from the existing supply.
Electric shower
Heats cold water itself; needs its own circuit.
Power shower
A mixer with a built-in pump.
Thermostatic valve
Keeps the water at a set temperature.
Tanking
Waterproof layer behind tiles.
Gravity-fed
A system fed by a cold tank in the loft, often low pressure.

AFTER

When the job is done

Keep the electrical certificateFor an electric shower or pump, the certificate from the registered electrician.
Run the shower properlyFlow, temperature, and a look for leaks round the tray and valve.
Let the sealant cureA day before the first use.
Leave the reviewReviews on Locufy are tied to a booking, so yours about the shower installation carries weight. If something is not right, the make-it-right step gives the shower installer the first chance to fix it before it is published.

STEP 1Go back to the shower installerMessage the shower installer with the date, what went wrong and the fix you want. If the shower installation fell below reasonable care and skill — the test in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 — sections 55 and 56 give you a free redo or a cut in the price.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right stepA score under four stars opens the make-it-right step: you choose whether the shower installer gets the chance to put the shower installation right first, and we chase it to an end before you publish.
STEP 3Trading Standards, through the helplinesA shower installer who will not engage can be reported through the consumer helplines, which pass cases to Trading Standards — Citizens Advice (0808 223 1133) in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland (0808 800 9060), Consumerline (0300 123 6262) in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Small claims, if money is owedAn unpaid refund or repair bill from the shower installation goes to small claims: £10,000 is the limit in England and Wales, £5,000 in Scotland using simple procedure, and £5,000 in Northern Ireland — all designed to be used without a solicitor.

Hiring a shower installer: questions people ask

No register applies to plumbers. The electrical side of an electric or power shower is notifiable in a bathroom in England and Wales.

Yes. A registered electrician certifies it, or building control is notified first.

In England and Wales a pump drawing over 12 litres a minute needs notice to the water supplier before it goes in.

£325–£1,200 per install, about £550 typical for a new power shower. Read the shower installation price guide for the factors behind it; to see installers near you, enter your town above.

Usually a mixer shower, without a pump.

Two to three hours for a like-for-like swap, one to two days for a new shower.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in plumbing & heating

How to hire: Bathroom PlumbingHow to hire: Tap & Mixer InstallationHow to hire: Toilet Repair & InstallationHow to hire: PlumberHow to hire: Leak RepairHow to hire: Underfloor HeatingHow to hire: Pipework InstallationHow to hire: Immersion Heater InstallationAll 701 hiring guides →

Shower installers near you

Shower installers in LondonShower installers in ManchesterShower installers in BirminghamShower installers in GlasgowShower installers in BelfastAll shower installers on Locufy →Do it yourself: replacing a shower head, hose and riser rail →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, regulation 5 — notice to the water undertaker
  2. Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, regulation 6 — contractor's certificate
  3. Water Supply (Water Fittings) (Scotland) Byelaws Extension Order 2024
  4. Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009
  5. Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 3
  6. Registered Competent Person Electrical register
  7. gov.uk — Approved Document P: electrical safety in dwellings (England)
  8. gov.uk — building work, replacements and repairs to your home (England)
  9. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  10. Citizens Advice — more help with a consumer issue (England)
  11. Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) — 2.1 Construction services: work to an existing building is normally standard-rated
  12. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  13. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register