Process and cost factors
What actually happens on a bathroom survey
The short answer
A proper survey is a fact-finding visit, not a sales call. Someone needs to see the existing pipework, the floor structure and the electrics before a layout can be trusted, because a plan drawn from a tape measure alone misses the things that change the job.
Worth checking on site
A soil stack location and its fall are confirmed on site rather than guessed from a floor plan.
Your questions answered
Do I need to be present for the survey?
It helps, because decisions about keeping or moving fittings often get made on the spot and you know how the room is actually used.
What should I have ready beforehand?
Clear access to the bathroom, the airing cupboard or boiler cupboard, and any existing plans or previous invoices for work done to the pipework.
The moving parts
- The surveyor should lift or check under any
- accessible flooring near the WC and shower to see joist direction and existing waste routes.
- Water pressure and flow should be checked at the point of use
- not assumed from the mains supply, since combi boilers and older tanks behave very differently.
- Photographs of the stopcock
- consumer unit and any visible damp or movement give the design team a record to work against later.
- A soil stack location and its fall are confirmed
- on site rather than guessed from a floor plan.
Want this scoped properly before you commit?
We look at the room, check the services, and put the scope in writing so you can compare like with like.