HOW TO HIRE · TRADES & CONSTRUCTION

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

A wet room lives or dies on tanking, falls and the drain. The checks, the questions about waterproofing and electrics, and the paperwork.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a wet room installer in five steps

  1. Ask about the floorTimber or concrete, and how the fall to the drain is formed.
  2. Ask about the tankingThe whole floor and the walls to a stated height, with the system named.
  3. Who does the electrics?Work near a shower is notifiable in England and Wales.
  4. Is it notifiable?In England, new bathroom plumbing is, through a scheme installer or building control.
  5. Flood test before tilingAsk for the tanking to be tested before the tiles go down.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No licence or register applies to wet room installers in any of the four nations. In England, installing a bathroom with new or altered plumbing is notifiable building work unless an installer on a competent person scheme self-certifies it, and the wet room usually is.

Ask who is notifying the wet room or self-certifying it, and get the reference. gov.uk →

Electrics near the shower

In England and Wales, new points, circuits or changes near a bath or shower are notifiable electrical work: a scheme electrician on the Registered Competent Person Electrical register self-certifies them, or building control is notified.

Ask who will wire the wet room's shower, fan and lights, and check them on the register. electricalcompetentperson.co.uk →

Water fittings

An approved contractor who installs or alters a water fitting must give the person who commissioned it a certificate saying whether it complies with the 1999 water fittings Regulations (England and Wales).

Ask whether the wet room installer is an approved contractor and for the certificate. legislation.gov.uk →

Insurance and trader status

Public liability cover protects you if the wet room damages your home or someone is hurt; ask for the insurer and limit. Dealing with a trader gives you the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and booking the wet room at home or online normally gives 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 — minus the value of anything you asked to be done in that time, and excluding goods made to order for you.

Get a copy of the insurance before the wet room starts, and check the profile for the ID-checked and trader badges.

VAT

VAT on a wet room is 20%, the standard rate, except where it is provided or adapted for a disabled person in their own home (zero-rated) or is a built-in shower seat or walk-in bath for someone aged 60 or over (5%); an installer above the £90,000 threshold must charge it as its own line.

Ask for the VAT number, and look for VAT as its own line on the wet room quote. gov.uk →

“How will the wet room floor fall to the drain?”

A good answer: A former, a screed or a sloped tray, chosen for your floor, with the drain position agreed.

“Which tanking system will you use in the wet room?”

A good answer: A named system over the whole floor and up the walls, with the joints and corners taped.

“Will you flood test the tanking?”

A good answer: Yes, before tiling, so a leak shows before it is hidden.

“Timber floor — how will you stop movement?”

A good answer: Joists strengthened and a rigid deck, so tiles and tanking do not crack.

“Who wires the shower, fan and lights?”

A good answer: An electrician on the competent person register, with a certificate.

“Is the wet room notifiable, and who handles it?”

A good answer: In England, yes for new plumbing, through a scheme installer or building control.

Getting the quote right

  • Floor former or screed and the drain type
  • Tanking system and the area covered
  • Tiles, adhesive and grout named
  • Electrics and ventilation, and who does them
  • Who actually attends — the wet room fitter, tiler, plumber and electrician, employed or subcontracted — and the business's VAT number, with VAT at 20% shown as its own line
  • The programme

Walk away if

  • Tanking only the shower corner
  • No flood test
  • Tiles straight onto timber
  • No certificate for electrics near the shower
  • Cannot explain how the floor falls
LOW
£5,000
TYPICAL
£8,000
HIGH
£15,000

What a wet room installer costs: £5,000–£15,000 per room

Wet rooms are priced per room; the tanking, the floor former and drain, and the tiles and fittings decide it. Wet Room Installer 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

Wet room 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. SurveyFloor type, drain route and electrics planned.
  2. Prepare the floorFloor strengthened; former or screed laid to falls.
  3. TankThe waterproofing system applied over floor and walls, then flood tested.
  4. Tile and fitTiling, drain cover, shower and screen fitted; electrics connected.
  5. Test and certifyShower run, drainage checked, certificates handed over.

Tanking
The waterproof membrane under the tiles.
Former
A pre-sloped board that creates the fall to the drain.
Linear drain
A long channel drain, often along a wall.
Flood test
Filling the tanked area with water to check for leaks.
Screed
A sand and cement layer laid to falls.
Shower zones
Areas near the shower where the wiring rules restrict equipment.

AFTER

When the job is done

Keep the paperworkElectrical certificate, any compliance certificate, tanking system details and guarantees.
Run the shower hardWater should reach the drain without pooling anywhere.
Keep the ventilation goingRun the fan after every shower to protect the grout.
Review the jobOnly booked jobs can be reviewed on Locufy, so yours carries weight; if the wet room falls short, use the make-it-right step first and the provider is asked to fix it before the review is published.

MONEY BACK

Grants that may apply

GOV.UK · ADMINISTERED BY YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL · GRANTVerified 18 August 2026

Disabled Facilities Grant

Up to £30,000 in England, £36,000 in Wales and £25,000 in Northern Ireland (some councils may give more). Means-tested on household income and savings over £6,000. Scotland has separate support for adaptations.

Who: Disabled people needing home adaptations such as a level-access/wet-room shower, ramps or a stairlift. Grants for disabled children under 18 are not means-tested.

Official details on gov.uk →

Schemes change. The amounts above were checked on the dates shown; the official page is the one that counts.

STEP 1Tell the installer, in writingSay what is wrong with the wet room and what you want done about it. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a trader must carry out the wet room with reasonable care and skill, and if they did not you can ask for it to be redone or for a price reduction.
STEP 2Use Locufy's make-it-right stepRate the wet room under four stars and you are asked whether to send it to the provider first; we follow it through. Then the review goes up.
STEP 3Unsafe or non-compliant workReport gas work done during the wet room by someone not on the Gas Safe Register to the Gas Safe Register itself; water fittings that break the rules are for the water supplier, and unnotified building work in England for building control. For a dispute about the wet room with the trader, Trading Standards is reached through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 800 9060, or Consumerline on 0300 123 6262 in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Money still in disputeIf the wet room is still not settled, you can claim without a solicitor: the small claims track takes claims up to £10,000 in England and Wales, simple procedure up to £5,000 in Scotland, and the small claims court up to £5,000 in Northern Ireland.

Hiring a wet room installer: questions people ask

No register applies. In England, new bathroom plumbing is notifiable building work, and electrics near a shower are notifiable in England and Wales.

An electrical certificate for any electrical work, a building regulations compliance certificate where the work was notifiable, and any water fittings certificate.

£5,000–£15,000 a room, typically around £8,000. Tanking, the floor gradient and drain, and the tiles decide it. The full figures sit in the Wet Room Installer price guide; the postcode search above lists wet room installers close to you with their prices.

Yes, if the floor is made rigid and the former and tanking suit timber.

Not if the falls, drain and tanking are right; a screen helps.

Longer than a standard bathroom; ask for a written programme including drying times.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in trades & construction

How to hire: Bathroom FitterHow to hire: TilerHow to hire: PlastererHow to hire: BuilderHow to hire: Flooring InstallerHow to hire: Water Damage RestorationHow to hire: Carpenter & JoinerHow to hire: Kitchen FitterAll 701 hiring guides →

Wet room installers near you

Wet room installers in LondonWet room installers in ManchesterWet room installers in BirminghamWet room installers in GlasgowWet room installers in BelfastAll wet room installers on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. gov.uk — building work, replacements and repairs to your home (England)
  2. Registered Competent Person Electrical register
  3. Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, regulation 6 — contractor's certificate
  4. gov.uk — Approved Document G: sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency (England)
  5. gov.wales — building regulations: electrics
  6. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  7. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 54 — what you can ask for when a service falls short
  8. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30 — the 14-day cancellation period
  9. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28 — contracts the cancellation right does not cover
  10. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 36 — services started within the cancellation period
  11. Civil Procedure Rules Part 26 — the small claims track limit (England and Wales)
  12. Scottish Courts and Tribunals — making a claim under simple procedure
  13. nidirect — the small claims process (Northern Ireland)
  14. Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) — 2.1 Construction services: work to an existing building is normally standard-rated
  15. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  16. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register