Bathroom renovations in Wellington
A Wellington bathroom renovation runs about $24,000 excl. GST, against a New Zealand typical of $22,000 (CheckMyBuilder): a factor of ×1.09. Of its four regions, only Auckland is dearer.
We are not taking Wellington bookings yet, because no crew is contracted here. What follows is what the published sources say about doing a bathroom in Wellington, including Wellington City Council's own consent rules and fees, and what we will do here once we can.
| Figure | Wellington | New Zealand | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical bathroom renovation | $24,000 | $22,000 | CheckMyBuilder, excl. GST |
| Budget tier | $8,720–$16,350 | $8,000–$15,000 | National band × 1.09 |
| Mid-range tier | $16,350–$38,150 | $15,000–$35,000 | National band × 1.09 |
| Premium tier | $38,150–$76,300 | $35,000–$70,000 | National band × 1.09 |
Checked 16 September 2026. CheckMyBuilder publishes one figure per region, not a Wellington breakdown by tier, so the Wellington tier rows are its national bands multiplied by the Wellington factor. That is our arithmetic, and it is exactly what the calculator does.
Do you need a building consent in Wellington?
The rules are national. Schedule 1 of the Building Act decides what is exempt, and it reads the same in Wellington as anywhere else: the consent guide covers the clauses and MBIE Determination 2024/054. Wellington City Council's own pages put it in two lines. On renovating a house: you need a consent for “all work that affects the structure of a building, and all plumbing or drainage work other than simple repairs”. On small plumbing and drainage work, the bathroom example: “installing any new shower or toilet in an existing bathroom or laundry where a shower or toilet wasn't there before”, or increasing the total number of sanitary fixtures.
What that means for the usual Wellington jobs:
- Like-for-like refresh or retile, with fixtures replaced where they already are: no consent, but the plumbing still has to be done or supervised by a registered plumber, and the work still has to meet the Building Code.
- Adding a second basin, a separate shower or an ensuite: consent. If the consentable part is plumbing or drainage under $10,000, the council has a cheaper minor works route.
- Moving a wall or touching the structure, common when a 1920s villa bathroom is enlarged into a hallway or a toilet room: consent.
If you do exempt work and want it on the record, the council will place a record of exempt building work on your property file for $100. It notes that this doesn't mean the information will appear on a LIM. Our records guide lists what to keep either way.
| Item | Fee, GST inclusive |
|---|---|
| Minor works plumbing/drainage consent, residential, work under $10,000 | $673.50, all-in (lodgement, plan check, CCC, capped inspection time) |
| Lodgement fee, every other consent | $178.50 |
| Plan check, residential, project under $10,000 | $636.50 |
| Plan check, residential, $10,001–$20,000 | $1,414.00 |
| Plan check, residential, $20,001–$100,000 | $1,555.50 |
| District Plan check, project under $20,000 / over $20,000 | $140.50 / $272.00 |
| Inspections | $283.00 an hour |
| Code compliance certificate, residential | $178.50 |
| Online (Simpli) application fee | $51.75 |
| Record of exempt building work on the property file | $100.00 |
From the council's all building consent fees and small plumbing and drainage work pages, read 25 October 2026. Levies are on top: BRANZ $1.15 per $1,000 of project value from $20,000, MBIE $1.75 per $1,000 from $65,000, and the council's accreditation levy of $0.50 per $1,000. A restricted building work check is $90 per consent where the job includes restricted work.
What a $30,000 consented bathroom pays the council
Our sums from the council's schedule, for a residential job valued at $30,000, applied for online:
| Lodgement | $178.50 |
|---|---|
| Plan check, $20,001–$100,000 | $1,555.50 |
| District Plan check, over $20,000 | $272.00 |
| Online application fee | $51.75 |
| Code compliance certificate | $178.50 |
| BRANZ levy, $1.15 per $1,000 | $34.50 |
| Accreditation levy, $0.50 per $1,000 | $15.00 |
| Total before inspections | $2,285.75 |
Inspections are added at $283 an hour; the consent approval letter lists which inspections the job needs. No MBIE levy under $65,000.
What about Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua and Kapiti?
The consent rules are the same everywhere in the region, because they are national; what changes is which council you apply to and what it charges. On the same $30,000 bathroom, Upper Hutt is the cheapest of the three councils we priced and Hutt City the dearest, but Hutt City's fee already covers four inspection hours, so the gap is smaller than the headline fees suggest.
| Council | Total | Inspections | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington City Council | $3,417.75 | $283 an hour | Inspections on top of the application fees |
| Hutt City Council (Lower Hutt) | $3,905.50 | $260 an hour | Application fee includes 4 inspection hours |
| Upper Hutt City Council | $2,652.00 | $240 each | Base fee 0.62% of value + $856 |
Our sums from each council's 2026–27 schedule, read 30 October 2026: Wellington City, Hutt City and Upper Hutt. Each includes lodgement or digital lodgement, processing, the code compliance certificate, the BRANZ levy and the council's accreditation levy. Four one-hour inspections is our assumption; a job that needs more pays more. Porirua homes apply to Porirua City Council and Kapiti homes to Kāpiti Coast District Council; we have not priced those two yet.
Can you renovate a Wellington bathroom for $10,000?
Only as a light refresh. CheckMyBuilder's national budget tier is $8,000–15,000 excl. GST, which at the Wellington factor of ×1.09 is $8,720–$16,350: new tapware, a vanity, lighting and paint, with the shower, toilet and drains staying where they are. Once the job needs a strip-out, new waterproofing and tiles, it is in the mid-range tier, about $16,350–$38,150 here. A refresh is the honest $10,000 bathroom.
What do Wellington bathrooms throw up?
Access, first.A lot of Wellington homes sit above or below the street, up a flight of steps or a zig-zag path, and a bathroom renovation means carrying out the old bath, the tiles and the lining and carrying in a vanity, a shower tray and boxes of tile. That is labour time a flat section doesn't cost, and skip placement can be awkward on a narrow road. The council notes that Wellington's topography sometimes means using the road reserve for private structures; the same streets make deliveries slow.
Old timber houses.Villas and bungalows from before the Second World War are common in the inner suburbs, and their bathrooms often sit on a suspended timber floor that has had a century of damp. Expect to find soft framing under an old shower, and expect a tiled shower over timber to need the floor checked and stiffened before anyone waterproofs it. If a consented job finds rot, the council says to talk to it: replacing rotten framing you didn't know about is its own example of a change that may need an amendment.
Changing your mind mid-job costs time. Wellington City Council lists switching an acrylic shower to a tiled one as a major variation that needs a consent amendment, with related work stopping until it is approved. Decide between tiled and acrylic before the consent goes in.
Asbestos.WorkSafe says homes built before 1 January 2000 may contain asbestos, including in wet-area linings, behind wall tiles and under vinyl, and a great deal of Wellington's housing is older than that. What to test before strip-out, and WorkSafe's asbestos-in-the-home page.
What has to happen before we take Wellington work?
The same four things as everywhere, and until they are all true this page carries a waitlist and not a buy button:
- Contract a bathroom crew that takes subcontract strip-out, carpentry, waterproofing and tiling work.
- Contract a licensed plumber, checked on the PGDB register, and a registered electrician, checked on the EWRB register.
- Agree an asbestos testing and licensed-removal route for pre-2000 homes.
- Name them here, with their registration details and the suburbs they cover.
Wellington questions
How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Wellington?
CheckMyBuilder puts an indicative Wellington bathroom renovation at $24,000 excl. GST, against a New Zealand typical of $22,000, so the regional factor is 1.09. Its national tiers are $8,000–15,000 budget, $15,000–35,000 mid-range and $35,000–70,000 premium; at the Wellington factor those become $8,720–16,350, $16,350–38,150 and $38,150–76,300. That is our arithmetic, the same the calculator does.
Do I need building consent for a bathroom renovation in Wellington?
The exemptions are national, in Schedule 1 of the Building Act. Wellington City Council's own pages put it plainly: you need a consent for work that affects the structure and for plumbing or drainage work other than simple repairs, and its example is installing a new shower or toilet in an existing bathroom where there wasn't one before. Repairs, maintenance and altering existing plumbing can be done without consent, by or under a registered plumber.
What does Wellington City Council charge for a bathroom consent?
If the only consentable part is plumbing or drainage under $10,000, a residential minor works consent is $673.50 all-in. A full consent is built up from a $178.50 lodgement fee, a plan check fee by project value ($636.50 under $10,000, $1,414 from $10,001 to $20,000, $1,555.50 from $20,001 to $100,000), a District Plan check, inspections at $283 an hour and a $178.50 code compliance certificate. All GST inclusive.
What does a bathroom consent cost in Lower Hutt or Upper Hutt?
On a $30,000 residential bathroom with four one-hour inspections, our sums from each council's 2026-27 schedule come to about $3,906 at Hutt City Council, whose $3,115 application fee already includes four inspection hours, and about $2,652 at Upper Hutt City Council, against about $3,418 at Wellington City Council. All GST inclusive; extra inspections or processing time are charged on top.
Can I renovate a bathroom in Wellington for $10,000?
Only a light refresh. CheckMyBuilder's national budget tier is $8,000-15,000 excl. GST, which at the Wellington factor of 1.09 is $8,720-16,350. That buys new fittings, paint and perhaps a vanity where everything stays put. A full strip-out with new waterproofing and tiles sits in the mid-range tier, about $16,350-38,150 in Wellington.
Can I swap a consented acrylic shower for a tiled one partway through?
Not without telling the council. Wellington City Council lists 'any new materials, for example acrylic shower unit to a tiled shower unit' as a major change that needs an amendment to the consent, and says related work should stop until the amendment is approved. Moving a fixture within the room is listed as a minor variation.
Can you do my Wellington bathroom now?
Not yet. We contract a bathroom crew, a licensed plumber and a registered electrician in an area before we sell a visit there, and that is not done in Wellington yet. Join the waitlist and nothing is charged; we email you when visits open, with a payment link.