Find and compare a renovator in five steps
In short
To find a bathroom renovator in Adelaide, describe the work and your suburb, shortlist contractors with comparable completed bathrooms, and check their credentials through South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services. Confirm who will manage the plumber, electrician, waterproofing and tiling, then compare written quotes after site visits. Before committing, resolve any property approvals and agree on the schedule, payment stages and completion records.
Step 1
Describe the bathroom you want to change
Send room dimensions, photos and a list of what stays and what goes. Say whether you want new finishes, a full replacement in the same layout, or changes to walls and plumbing locations. Include leaks or damaged surfaces so the contractor can investigate them during the site visit.
Give your Adelaide suburb and property type, then ask whether the company services your address. For a city apartment, include the floor, lift access and building management requirements. For a house, explain where deliveries and demolition waste could go. These details help a renovator plan the work before pricing it.
What to put in your first enquiry
| Detail | Why the renovator needs it |
|---|---|
| Scope and layout | Shows whether the job needs a refresh, a complete rebuild or changes to services and walls. |
| Photos and known problems | Helps plan inspection of leaks, damaged surfaces and concealed areas. |
| Suburb, property type and access | Allows the company to confirm its service area and plan deliveries, trade access and waste removal. |
| Budget, fixture choices and timing | Helps identify feasible options, items still to select and whether your preferred dates are realistic. |
Step 2
Check the contractor and the trades
Ask people you know for recommendations, then request recent bathroom examples and referees from each contractor. Look for work similar to yours: replacing a shower in an existing room and moving a bathroom into another room involve different work. Ask past customers about communication, defects and how extra work was handled.
Check the person or company you will contract with in the Consumer and Business Services licensing register. A building work contractor’s licence can be limited to particular work, so check that its scope covers your renovation and ask CBS if anything is unclear. Check the appropriate credentials for plumbing and electrical work too.
Confirm whether one contractor will arrange and supervise the trades or whether you will contract with them separately. Ask who carries out waterproofing, the system that protects the building beneath wet-area finishes, and who takes responsibility for its preparation and completion records.
Step 3
Resolve approval and demolition questions
Use PlanSA to check the rules that apply to your address, and discuss the proposed scope with your council or building professional. Confirm whether approvals are needed, who obtains them and whether the quote includes the fees. For an apartment or unit, also ask the strata or community corporation about work affecting shared services or common property and its access requirements.
Colonel Light Gardens and Port Adelaide include State Heritage Areas. If your address is within one, or your home is a listed heritage place, raise this before choosing a layout or authorising strip-out. Heritage SA’s guidance identifies plumbing in areas of heritage significance and interior work affecting historic fabric as work that can need approval. Some work falls outside that requirement, so get advice on your particular proposal.
For example, if you want to move a shower and remove an internal wall in a heritage property, ask for approval advice before treating it as an ordinary bathroom replacement. This is a planning example, not a completed project or a claim about every home in those suburbs.
An older home may contain asbestos materials. Ask how materials likely to be disturbed will be assessed before demolition and how any removal will be arranged. Do not cut or break suspect sheeting to investigate it yourself.
Step 4
Compare quotes for the same scope
Arrange site visits and give each renovator the same brief and fixture selections. Request more than one written quote. Compare the total scope and costs you would pay separately, then ask about unexplained differences between prices.
Where a fixture or part of the work is covered by an allowance, ask what it buys and how a different selection or unexpected repair changes the bill. Get the process for agreeing on extra work in writing, including concealed water damage found after demolition.
Step 5
Agree on the work and the handover
Read the agreement before signing. Confirm the scope, start and completion expectations, payment stages and how changes will be authorised. Check the current CBS guidance on deposits, contracts and whether building indemnity insurance is required for your project. If required, obtain and verify the insurance evidence before work starts.
Agree which documents you will receive at handover, including waterproofing records, product care instructions and any required approval documents. South Australia requires electronic certificates of compliance for applicable electrical and plumbing work, with some minor tasks exempt. Confirm with each trade which work needs a certificate and retain the copies.
Inspect the finished bathroom with the contractor, record any outstanding items and agree how they will be resolved. Keep the contract, changes, invoices and completion records together for future maintenance or a dispute.
Sources and useful links
Sources checked 6 October 2026
- CBS: find a licence holder
South Australian register guidance for checking builders, plumbers and electricians.
- SA Government: builder responsibilities
Explains licence scope, supervision, contracts and conditional building indemnity insurance requirements.
- CBS: building and renovating tips
Consumer guidance on references, agreements, payments and checking building indemnity insurance.
- PlanSA: development applications
Starting point for checking address-specific rules and obtaining approval advice.
- Heritage SA: State Heritage Areas
Identifies Colonel Light Gardens and Port Adelaide among South Australia’s State Heritage Areas; check the boundary for your address.
- Heritage SA: guide to developing State Heritage Places
Explains work that may need approval, including plumbing and interior work affecting heritage significance, and examples of exclusions.
- SafeWork SA: asbestos
Safety guidance for work on older properties and asbestos removal.
- SA Government: certificates of compliance
Sets out electrical, gas and plumbing certificate requirements and exceptions.
