How to Price a Bathroom Installation
A bathroom is one of the hardest jobs to price because it hides several trades and a week of labour inside one quote. Break it into stages and the number stops being a guess.
Under-price a bathroom and you lose a week's money; over-price it on a hunch and you lose the job to the plumber who costed it properly. The answer is not a bigger day rate — it is a quote built from the actual stages of the work, with materials, labour and margin each priced on their own line.
This guide walks through pricing a full domestic bathroom install the way a busy plumber can repeat on every quote: strip-out, first fix, second fix, tiling and finishing, then the extras that always appear once the old suite is out.
Key takeaways
- Price the stages, not the room — strip-out, first fix, second fix, tiling and finishing each carry their own labour.
- Most bathrooms are 4–6 working days of labour for one fitter; a full retile or moved soil pipe adds more.
- Separate labour, materials and any sub-trades (electrics, plastering, tiling) as distinct lines.
- Add a contingency for what you find behind the old suite — rotten floor, corroded pipework, no isolation.
- Put a clear list of inclusions and exclusions on the quote so scope creep becomes a paid variation, not a freebie.
Break the job into stages
A bathroom install is really five smaller jobs: strip out the old suite, first-fix the pipework and any electrics, board and tank the walls, second-fix the sanitaryware, then tile and finish. Pricing each stage separately means you can estimate labour honestly and spot where a particular job is heavier than usual.
For a straightforward like-for-like swap in an average domestic bathroom, one experienced fitter is typically on site four to six working days. Moving the soil connection, taking out a wall, or a full floor-to-ceiling retile pushes that up quickly — which is exactly why a flat 'a bathroom costs X' never holds.
Cost labour honestly
Take your day rate and multiply it by the realistic number of days for each stage, not the optimistic one. If you bring in a tiler or an electrician, price their time as a separate line at the rate they charge you — never absorb a sub-trade into your own hours.
Any electrical work in a bathroom is notifiable under Part P, so either your registered electrician certifies it or it goes through building control. Cost that certification in; it is part of delivering the job, not an afterthought.
Price from line items that remember your rates
TradePlanr lets you build a bathroom quote from saved line items for strip-out, first fix, second fix and tiling, so every quote starts from your real numbers instead of a blank page — and converts to an invoice without retyping.
Materials, PC sums and the suite
The customer usually chooses the suite, tiles and brassware, so their cost swings enormously. Handle this with a prime cost (PC) sum: allow a stated budget for supply, and make clear that a dearer choice is charged at the difference. That protects your quote when they fall in love with a £900 shower valve.
Everything else — pipe and fittings, boards, adhesive and grout, waste and trap kits, silicone, fixings — is your consumables. Price it from a real take-off for the room, add your merchant margin, and keep the receipts against the job so your actual spend is never a mystery.
Contingency and the things you always find
The old suite hides the risks: a soft floor under the bath, corroded compression joints, no working isolation valve, or a soil stack that was never quite right. On a fixed-price bathroom you carry that risk, so build in a sensible contingency rather than hoping.
Where the risk is genuinely unknown — you suspect the joists but cannot see them — say so on the quote and price the investigation as a provisional item. Customers accept honesty about what is behind the tiles far more readily than a surprise invoice at the end.
Get extras signed before you do them
When the floor turns out rotten, capture a signed variation on the spot with the price agreed. The extra work is documented and accepted before you lift a tool — no awkward conversation at the final invoice.
Present a quote that wins and protects you
A professional, itemised quote does two jobs: it wins the work against a scribbled number on the back of a card, and it defines the scope so anything outside it is a paid extra. List your inclusions, your exclusions, your PC sums and your payment terms clearly.
On a week-long job, stage your payments — a deposit to secure materials, a stage payment mid-job, and the balance on completion — so your cash flow does not sag while the money is tied up in someone else's bathroom.
Frequently asked questions
How many days should I allow to fit a bathroom?
For a like-for-like domestic swap, four to six working days for one experienced fitter is typical. Add days for moving the soil pipe, structural changes, or a full floor-to-ceiling retile, and price a tiler and electrician as separate lines.
Should I supply the suite or let the customer buy it?
Either works, but protect yourself with a PC (prime cost) sum. Allow a stated supply budget on the quote and charge the difference if they upgrade. That keeps your price honest whatever they choose.
How much contingency should I add?
It depends on the property, but on older houses a contingency for hidden issues — soft floors, corroded pipework, no isolation — is sensible. Where the risk is unknown, price the investigation as a provisional item and flag it on the quote.
Do I need to certify the electrics?
Electrical work in a bathroom is notifiable under Part P, so it must be certified by a registered electrician or notified through building control. Cost that certification into the job.
From guidance to action
Related guides
How to Price Plumbing Jobs
Day rate vs price work, callout charges, and building quotes that protect your margin.
Wet Room Installation Guide
Tanking, floor falls, drainage and waterproofing — how to build a wet room that never leaks.
Electric Shower Installation
Cable sizing, protection, isolation and bathroom-zone rules for an electric shower circuit.
