How a job runs, and who actually does the work
Bathroom Renovation NZ is the contracting party and the project manager. We are not a plumbing company, not an electrical company and not a Licensed Building Practitioner. A partner bathroom crew strips out, waterproofs and tiles. A licensed plumber does the sanitary plumbing and a registered electrician does the prescribed electrical work. Every one of them is named in your contract with their registration details.
Who does what, and who licenses them
| Work | Who can do it | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| Sanitary plumbing | A person authorised under the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act 2006 | PGDB public register |
| Prescribed electrical work | A registered and licensed electrical worker | EWRB public register |
| Restricted building work (structural, or weathertightness on the building envelope) | A Licensed Building Practitioner, or the homeowner under an owner-builder exemption | LBP public register |
| Tiling and waterproof membrane | Not a licensed trade in New Zealand. Ask for membrane-system training and records instead | The membrane manufacturer's installer list |
The three stages
- 1
Measure
The $395 visit: about 60 to 75 minutes measuring, photographing, taking non-invasive moisture readings around the shower and bath, looking at the subfloor where there is safe access, and checking the fixtures and the fan. Within 5 working days you get a scaled plan of the room now and as proposed, a line-item budget range, a consent check naming the Schedule 1 clause it turns on, an asbestos flag for pre-2000 homes, and a written scope saying who does the restricted work.
- 2
Build
A fixed-price contract with the disclosure statement and the MBIE consumer checklist. Then strip-out, repairs priced as variations before they happen, plumbing and electrical rough-in, substrate and membrane with every coat photographed, tiling, fit-off. Paid in stages: 20 on signing less your credit, 35 at rough-in, 35 at tiling, 10 on hand-over.
- 3
Hand over
A walkthrough, then the records pack, and the last 10% is released against it. Because exempt work gets no council inspection, that pack is the only record that exists of what went in behind your tiles.
Consent, and who works it out
We put the position in writing at the visit, with the clause named, rather than telling you it is “usually fine”. The two clauses that decide most bathrooms:
Schedule 1, clause 12 of the Building Act 2004 exempts “building work in connection with any internal linings or finishes of any wall, ceiling, or floor of an existing dwelling”. MBIE Determination 2024/054 decided that in an existing dwelling the internal linings include the backing substrate, the wet-area membrane applied to it, the tiles adhered to the membrane and the fixings, adhesives and grouting, so installing a wet-area membrane as part of a tiled shower is within clause 12 and did not require building consent.
Building Act 2004, Schedule 1 cl 12; MBIE Determination 2024/054, 2 October 2024 · checked 16 September 2026
Schedule 1, clause 35 exempts “alteration to existing sanitary plumbing in a building, provided that the total number of sanitary fixtures in the building is not increased by the alteration; and the alteration does not modify or affect any specified system”. Water heaters are excluded. Clause 35 sits in Part 2 of Schedule 1, which applies to sanitary plumbing and drainlaying carried out by a person authorised under the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act 2006.
Building Act 2004, Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 35 · checked 16 September 2026
Determination 2024/054 records that building work must comply with the Building Code to the extent required whether or not building consent is obtained (section 42A(2)(a) of the Building Act). Exemption removes the consent step, not the standard.
MBIE Determination 2024/054, para 4.1 · checked 16 September 2026
Exemptions apply to the work as it actually is, not as it is described on a website. Check your own job with your council before anyone starts.
The records pack
- Dated photos of the framing and substrate once the linings are off.
- Photos of anything found, and of the repair.
- Dated photos of each membrane coat across the whole wet area.
- The membrane product data sheet and its installation instructions.
- The plumber's name, business and registration details, and any certificate they issue.
- The electrician's certificate of compliance for prescribed electrical work.
- The extractor fan make, model, duct diameter and flow rate.
- A note on lodging the records with your council, where the work was exempt.
What has to be true before we take any money
Ten things. None of them is optional, and until all ten are true the buttons on this site join a waitlist rather than taking a payment.
- A Stripe account verified in the operating company's real legal name, with a New Zealand bank account, and GST registration before the first contract.
- One bathroom company contracted to take subcontract strip-out, carpentry, waterproofing and tiling work in the launch city, plus someone contracted to deliver the visits.
- A licensed plumber, checked on the PGDB public register, and a registered electrician, checked on the EWRB register. Each supplies an insurance certificate.
- An LBP builder partner and a consent designer before any Reconfigure that needs consent or restricted building work. Until then Reconfigure stays on the waitlist.
- An agreed asbestos testing and licensed-removal route for homes built before 2000, before any strip-out.
- A lawyer-reviewed residential building contract, our disclosure statement, and the unedited MBIE consumer checklist.
- Our own public liability and contract works insurance, because we are the contracting party.
- At least two crew quotes on standard Refresh and Retile scopes, so package from-prices come from real numbers.
- Terms of trade, privacy and this disclosure published.
- A full end-to-end test in Stripe test mode: calculator, checkout, webhook, record, both emails, refund.
We publish this because it is the reason the buttons say what they say. A company that is ready takes bookings; one that is not should say so.
Questions
Are you a building company?
We are the contracting party and the project manager. We are not a plumbing company, not an electrical company and not a Licensed Building Practitioner. A partner bathroom crew does the physical work; a licensed plumber and a registered electrician do the restricted work. All of them are named in the contract, with their registration details, before you sign.
Why does that matter to me?
Because it decides who you chase if something goes wrong. With one contract, the Building Act implied warranties sit with us rather than being split across three companies you found separately. And because it is the truth: a company that is vague about who holds which licence is usually being vague on purpose.
Why can't I book right now?
Because the gates on this page are not all met yet. We are not going to take $395 for a visit we cannot deliver. Joining the waitlist costs nothing and reserves nothing, and we email you when visits open where you are.
What's in the records pack?
Dated photos of the substrate and each membrane coat, the membrane product data sheet and installation instructions, the plumber's name and registration details and any certificate, the electrician's certificate of compliance for prescribed electrical work, the fan specification, and a note on lodging the records with your council where the work was exempt.
Do you take referral fees?
Not today, because no arrangement exists. If you tick the box on the visit form, and we do not cover your area, we may pass your enquiry to a bathroom specialist who does, and be paid a referral fee for it. It is an unticked box, it is described on the form, and nothing gets passed on until an arrangement is actually in place.