How to choose a bathroom renovator in Canberra

Three quotes tell you nothing until you can see what each one has left out. Most of what separates a good renovator from a bad one is written down somewhere, and you can check all of it in an afternoon.

Do you need a renovator at all?

Doing it yourself saves the labour, which is usually the largest line in the quote, and it lets you shop your own fixtures and choose every finish. What it costs you is time: weeks or months of it, around work and family. It also carries the risk of work you have not done before, which often ends with a professional called in at a higher price than hiring one at the start. Electrical, plumbing, cabinetry and waterproofing go to a licensed trade in every case. The membrane needs a licensed waterproofer's certificate at the end of it, and the rest of that decision is set out in our guide to bathroom renovation mistakes and when DIY makes sense.

Licences: the ACT and NSW are different

This is the one people get wrong. Building and construction licensing in the ACT is administered by Access Canberra. New South Wales has its own system, run by Building Commission NSW. They are separate jurisdictions with separate registers.

So ask two questions. Which licence does this business hold, and what is the number? Then look the number up on the register for the jurisdiction your house sits in.

A government logo on a website is not a licence. Neither is the word "licensed" in a heading. Association membership is checkable too - ask for the membership number and look it up rather than trusting the badge.

Ask us the same question. Ours is NSW contractor licence 309929C, in the Kitchen, Bathroom, Laundry Renovator class, issued by Building Commission NSW. Look it up on the register before you call us back. That is exactly what we are telling you to do with everyone else you ask.

What insurance actually covers

"Fully insured" is not a statement about anything. Ask for the certificate of currency, check the date on it, and check that the cover matches the value of the work.

Two different things are worth asking about. Public liability covers damage and injury on your property while the work is going on. Separately, in the ACT, residential building work that needs building approval and is valued at $12,000 or more requires residential building work insurance or a fidelity fund certificate; an internal kitchen or bathroom upgrade that needs no building approval does not. Ask whether your job falls over that line and who is carrying the cover.

Ours is public liability insurance to $20 million. Ask us for it and we will send you the certificate of currency, with the insurer named and the date on it, rather than the word "insured" on a web page.

The warranty question, asked properly

"A 10-year warranty" and a warranty of "up to" ten years are different promises, and plenty of renovation websites use both on the same page. Ask four things:

• What exactly does it cover - workmanship, the membrane, the fixtures?
• For how long, and from what date?
• What is excluded?
• Does it transfer if you sell the house?

Then ask for it in writing. A warranty you cannot produce on paper is a sentence on a website. Here is ours. Every job comes with a 10-year warranty on our workmanship, waterproofing included. You get it in writing at handover, along with the product warranties for every fixture.

Reading a quote: what must be itemised

A quote you can compare lists:

• demolition and waste removal, separately, not bundled into one line;
• waterproofing, with the membrane type, the coverage area, and the compliance certificate included;
• tiling, with labour and materials split, and a tile allowance per square metre;
• plumbing, with fixture connections and any relocation clearly noted;
• the electrical scope, itemised;
• fixtures and fittings, either supplied by the contractor or shown as Prime Cost allowances;
• the project management or builder's margin, stated openly;
• how variations and unexpected costs will be handled.

It should also come with a written project timeline: start date, milestones, estimated completion. What is included in a bathroom renovation goes through each of those line items in detail, and the cost guide has the numbers to check them against.

All residential building work should be backed by a written contract. If the job is being done on an emailed paragraph and a handshake, you have no mechanism when something goes wrong.

Six red flags

1. No mention of a waterproofing certificate. Walk away. It is a legal requirement under the National Construction Code, not an optional extra.
2. No breakdown between labour and materials. Without it you cannot compare two quotes at all.
3. An allowance that is obviously too low. A tile or fixture allowance that could not buy decent materials for a room that size is a variation waiting to happen.
4. No site inspection. Quoting without seeing the bathroom produces ballpark estimates, not binding prices.
5. A price well below the rest. A quote well below the ranges in our cost guide usually means something is excluded.
6. A promise to demolish, waterproof and tile in three or four days. The membrane needs a minimum of 24 hours between coats and another 24 to 48 hours before tiling. Cutting that is one of the most common causes of waterproofing failure, and it is invisible once the tiles are laid. Our guide to bathroom renovation mistakes covers the rest of them.

One more test, which never appears on the quote at all: a renovator who does not inspect the substrate before quoting, and does not tell you up front what it might cost if there is damage underneath. Older homes here - ex-government houses and 1960s to 1980s brick homes in Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Woden and the Inner North - routinely hide compressed fibre cement sheeting and subfloors that have been wet for decades.

The questions to ask before you sign

• Are you licensed, and can I see your licence number?
• Who performs the waterproofing - you, or a subcontractor?
• Will you issue a waterproofing compliance certificate?
• Is your quote fixed-price, or subject to variations?
• What happens if you find hidden damage under the tiles?
• What does the warranty cover, for how long, and is it in writing?
• Who will actually be on site, and who manages the job day to day?
• Can I speak to two recent customers, or see an address where you have worked?

That last one matters more than testimonials. A quote on a website cannot be checked; a review on a Google Business Profile can, and a customer you can ring can tell you what the job was like in week three. So ask us for it: two recent customers you can ring. Our reviews name the suburb each job was in, and the projects, named by suburb and room are there to be checked the same way.

Queanbeyan: the border matters

Renovation businesses here advertise "Canberra and Queanbeyan" constantly and almost none of them mention that Queanbeyan is in New South Wales. It is a short drive from Fyshwick, so plenty of trades work both sides, but the paperwork is different.

For a Queanbeyan job, licensing, approvals and consumer protection follow NSW rules, and approvals go through Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. The ACT works differently: there are no local councils, most internal bathroom work is exempt from development approval, and where an approval is needed it goes to the Territory Planning Authority. If a website tells you to "check with your local council" about a Canberra bathroom, it was not written for you.

When to start looking

Good renovators are booked ahead, so start the conversation before you are ready to start the job. A business with no waiting list at all is worth a second question. Use that lead time properly: set the budget first and let it dictate the scope, decide the style, research fixtures and materials for durability as well as looks, and get quotes from several licensed tradespeople.

Apex Bathrooms ACT has been renovating bathrooms across the city since 2008, with 800+ completed jobs, and every project is managed by the owner from the first consultation to handover. You can read the rest of that story on our about page or see the work on the bathroom renovation page.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check a bathroom renovator's licence in the ACT? Ask for the licence number and the name it is held in, then look it up on the register for the jurisdiction your house is in. A number you can check beats any logo on a website.

What should a bathroom renovation quote itemise? Demolition and waste separately, waterproofing with the membrane and certificate, tiling with labour and materials split, plumbing, electrical, fixtures or allowances, the margin, and how variations are handled.

One quote is well below the others. Why? Usually because something has been left out, or will come back later as a variation. Compare the inclusions line by line before you compare the totals.

My house is in Queanbeyan. Does that change who I can hire? Queanbeyan is in New South Wales, so licensing, approvals and consumer protection follow NSW rules rather than ACT ones. Check the tradesperson is licensed for your side of the border.

Who issues the waterproofing certificate, and what do I do with it? A licensed waterproofer inspects the finished membrane and issues it before tiling starts. Keep it - it is the document that proves the wet area was built to AS3740:2021.

Ask us the same questions

Build your bathroom in the instant quote designer and send it to us, then ask for a fast free quote and ask Oleg every question on this page. We would rather you asked us than found out later.

Written by Oleg Cha, owner of Apex Bathrooms ACT. Renovating Canberra bathrooms since 2008. Updated September 2026.