A bathroom renovation runs in a fixed order, and the order is not negotiable. Approvals and strata first, then design and measurement, then material selection, then trades and contracts, then strip out, rough-in, waterproofing, tiling, fit-off and finishing. The single most common way a Sydney bathroom renovation goes wrong is not a bad trade. It is selecting materials too late, so the job stops between rough-in and tiling while the tile is on a boat.
This guide walks through each stage, what has to be finished before the next one can start, and the decisions that have to be made much earlier than most people expect.
Stage 1: Approvals, strata and the things you cannot change
Start here, because the answers can change the whole project.Council approval
Many straightforward bathroom renovations in New South Wales proceed without a development application, particularly where the footprint stays the same, no structural walls are altered and the external appearance is unchanged. That is not a universal rule. Heritage controls, structural change, moving plumbing and the specific planning controls that apply to your property can all change the answer. Check with your local council before you commit to a design. It is a free question and it is far cheaper than finding out later.Strata, if you are in an apartment
If you are in a strata scheme, bathroom work almost always needs owners corporation approval, because it affects common property and because waterproofing in an apartment protects the units below. Approval is usually granted subject to conditions, and those conditions often specify things that affect your build, including work hours, lift protection, and what documentation you have to provide at the end. Start this early. Owners corporation approval runs on meeting schedules, not on yours.Water and drainage
Work affecting drainage or the sewer connection has requirements of its own, and your plumber will know what applies to your property. If your project involves moving the toilet or the waste, raise it at this stage rather than at rough-in.Stage 2: Design and measurement
Now settle the layout. What moves, what stays, and where everything sits. The two questions that dominate are whether the plumbing is moving and how much floor area you actually have to work with once walkways are accounted for. Measure the room properly. Floor area, wall areas, wall heights, the shower recess separately, and the clear walkway in front of the vanity and in and out of the door. Note whether the floor is a concrete slab or a timber floor, because that affects both the waterproofing approach and which tiles are suitable. This is also the stage to decide the difficult things: whether the shower is hobbed or hobless, whether the vanity is floor-standing or wall-hung, and whether the toilet is close-coupled, back-to-wall or wall-hung. Each of those has consequences behind the wall that have to be built in at rough-in.Stage 3: Select materials, earlier than feels necessary
This is the stage people leave too late, and it is the stage that determines whether the job runs or stalls. Select and order your tile and bathware now, before the strip out. There are four reasons.- Lead times. Anything not in stock has to be ordered, and a special order arriving after the tiler is booked stops the job. Confirm availability in the quantity you need before you lock in trade dates.
- Batch matching. Tiles are produced in batches and shade can vary between them. Order the whole job at once, including your tiler’s wastage allowance, so it all comes from one run.
- Set-out depends on the product. Toilet set-out is measured from the finished wall and finished floor, which means the tile thickness is part of the calculation. A wall-hung basin or a wall-hung toilet needs support built into the wall framing. A concealed cistern or an in-wall mixer needs a cavity. All of those are rough-in decisions and the product has to be chosen before rough-in happens.
- Things read differently together. Tapware finish against grout colour, basin colour against tile colour. Choosing them in sequence rather than side by side is how people end up with combinations they would not have picked.
Stage 4: Trades, quotes and contracts
With the design settled and the materials chosen, you can get quotes that are actually comparable, because every trade is pricing the same job.Licensing
Residential building work in New South Wales is regulated under the Home Building Act 1989. Tradespeople and builders carrying out residential building work valued at more than $5,000 must be licensed, and licences can be checked through the NSW Government. Plumbing, drainage and gasfitting work requires a licence regardless of the value of the job, and waterproofing of wet areas is specialist work requiring the appropriate licence or certificate. A general builder’s licence does not automatically cover waterproofing.Contracts
Written contracts are required for residential building work over $5,000, and the contractor must give you a copy of the Consumer Building Guide before you sign. Where the work is valued at more than $20,000, additional requirements apply, including a cooling-off period and home building compensation cover.Home building compensation cover
Home building compensation cover is required where residential building work is worth more than $20,000, including labour and materials. It is regulated by the State Insurance Regulatory Authority. The builder or tradesperson has to give you evidence of that cover before they start work on your project or before you pay them. A bathroom renovation can sit either side of that threshold depending on scope, so check which side yours falls on.Stage 5: Strip out
Demolition and removal of the old bathroom, back to the substrate. Two things to plan for. Where the waste goes, since a skip needs somewhere to sit and in some streets a permit. And what is found underneath, because older Sydney homes regularly reveal problems once the tiles come off, from failed waterproofing to damaged substrate to plumbing that was not installed as anyone assumed. Budget for the possibility of something being found. Every experienced renovator does.Stage 6: Rough-in
The plumber and electrician set the services in the open walls and floor. Supply and waste positions, the shower outlet and mixer, the basin supply, the toilet waste, the exhaust fan, lighting and power. This is the point of no return for the product decisions made in stage 3. The set-out is built to the specific products chosen. Changing your mind about a wall-hung basin, a shower station or a concealed cistern after rough-in means opening the wall again. Walk the room with your plumber before the walls close. Stand where you will stand, check the heights of everything, and confirm that the shower outlet is where you want it rather than where it has always been.Stage 7: Waterproofing
The waterproofing membrane goes down over the prepared substrate before any tile is laid. It is the most important stage in the job and the one with the least to show for it. Waterproofing of domestic wet areas is covered by AS 3740, the Australian Standard called up through the National Construction Code. In New South Wales it is specialist licensed work, so the person applying the membrane needs the appropriate licence or certificate. Ask for the compliance documentation when the work is done, and keep it. It matters for insurance, for warranty and for resale, and in a strata building it is often one of the conditions of the owners corporation approval. Membranes also need time to cure according to the manufacturer’s instructions before tiling can begin. That waiting period is not padding in the schedule and it should not be compressed. Tiling over a membrane that has not cured is one of the ways waterproofing fails. Waterproofing failures are among the most common and most expensive residential building defects. This is not a stage to economise on and it is not a stage to do yourself.Stage 8: Tiling
Floor and wall tiling, then grouting. This is where your material decisions become visible, and where the set-out you agreed in stage 2 either works or does not. Before the tiler starts, open the boxes and check the tiles. Look at several boxes side by side for shade consistency, and confirm the batch numbers match. It is a ten minute job and it is the last moment where a problem is cheap to solve. Agree the set-out with your tiler before the first tile goes down. Where the full tiles land, where the cuts fall, how the pattern meets the corners and how the floor tile relates to the wall tile. A good tiler will want this conversation. Grout colour should also be settled here, and it changes the finished look more than most people expect.Stage 9: Fit-off
The plumber and electrician return to install the fixtures: toilet, basin, tapware, shower, towel rails, mirror, lighting and the exhaust fan. The bathroom starts looking like a bathroom. This is the stage where a set-out error becomes obvious, which is why stages 2, 3 and 6 matter as much as they do. A toilet that will not sit against the wall because the tile thickness was not accounted for is discovered here, and the fix is not a small one.Stage 10: Silicone, clean and defects
Silicone to the movement joints and wall to floor junctions, shower screen installed, final clean. Then walk the room properly with your builder or trades and list anything that is not right while they are still on site. Ask for your documentation at this point and keep it together: the waterproofing compliance documentation, any plumbing compliance certificate, warranty information for the tapware and fixtures, and the details of the tile you used. Keep your spare tiles somewhere dry and labelled. In five years you will be glad you did.What actually causes delays
- Materials selected too late. The single biggest cause. Trades booked, walls open, tile not available.
- Running short of tile. Ordering the measured area without a wastage allowance, then finding the next batch is a different shade.
- Set-out surprises. A fixture that does not fit the set-out because tile thickness or a product change was not accounted for at rough-in.
- Strata approval timing. Waiting on a meeting when the trades were already booked.
- What is found at strip out. Damaged substrate, failed previous waterproofing, or plumbing that is not where anyone thought.
- Trade sequencing. Each stage depends on the one before it, so one trade running late moves everything behind it.
Frequently asked questions
Often not, where the footprint is unchanged, no structural walls are altered and the external appearance stays the same. It is not a universal rule, and heritage controls, structural change and the planning controls applying to your property can all change the answer. Check with your local council before committing to a design. If you are in an apartment you will also generally need owners corporation approval.
Approvals and strata, design and measurement, material selection and ordering, trades and contracts, strip out, rough-in, waterproofing, tiling, fit-off, then silicone and finishing. Each stage depends on the one before it. Materials have to be selected before rough-in, because the set-out is built to the specific products chosen.
Before you book any trades, and well before strip out. Lead times, batch matching and set-out all depend on it. Toilet set-out is measured from the finished wall and floor so tile thickness is part of the calculation, and wall-hung basins, wall-hung toilets and concealed cisterns all need support or cavities built in at rough-in.
Waterproofing of wet areas is specialist work under the Home Building Act 1989 and requires the appropriate licence or certificate. A general builder’s licence does not automatically cover it. The work must comply with AS 3740, the Australian Standard for waterproofing of domestic wet areas, which is called up through the National Construction Code. Ask for the compliance documentation and keep it.
Yes, for residential building work over $5,000. The contractor must also give you a copy of the Consumer Building Guide before you sign. Where the work is worth more than $20,000 including labour and materials, additional requirements apply and home building compensation cover is required, with evidence of that cover provided before work starts or before you pay.
Selecting materials too late. The job reaches rough-in or tiling and stops because the tile or the bathware is not available in the quantity needed. Choosing and ordering materials before booking trades removes the most common cause of a stalled bathroom.
Start with the materials
If you take one thing from this guide, make it this: choose your tile and bathware before you book anyone. Bring your measurements to the showroom at Smithfield, open seven days, and settle the tile and the bathware in the same visit so they are chosen against each other rather than in sequence.
We will confirm what is available in the quantity you need, give you the specification sheets your plumber and tiler will want, and put a quote together. Book an appointment for a design consultation, or send through your dimensions to get started.
