Normally included
- Supply, drain, waste and vent rough-in
- Fixture setting and connection
- Shut-off valves
- Permit and inspection where required
- Pressure testing before close-in
Mechanical & electrical
Plumbing
Water finds every mistake, slowly. The visible fixtures are the cheap part; the drain, waste and vent design behind the wall is what determines whether the room works in ten years.
Licensed work
Licensed plumber — compulsory trade in Ontario
Plumbing is a compulsory trade in Ontario: the person doing the work must hold a Certificate of Qualification or be a registered apprentice working under supervision. Certificates can be verified through Skilled Trades Ontario. Most alterations to drain, waste and vent piping also require a municipal plumbing permit.
Scope
What the work is—and what it isn’t.
Most disputes begin with an exclusion nobody read. Confirm both columns against any quote you receive before comparing prices.
Normally excluded
- Fixture supply, unless stated
- Drywall and tile make-good
- Water service upgrade from the street
What moves the price
Why two quotes for the same room differ.
These are the decisions and conditions that actually drive cost on this trade. Understand them and a wide spread between quotes usually explains itself.
- 01
Whether fixtures move, and how far from the existing stack. Toilets are the most expensive to relocate.
- 02
Existing pipe material. Galvanized supply, lead, Kitec or poly-B all change the scope from a connection into a replacement.
- 03
Access — open walls and unfinished basements are far cheaper than finished space.
- 04
Venting. Adding a fixture often means adding a vent, which is real work inside finished walls.
- 05
Slab or crawlspace construction, where drains cannot simply be re-routed between joists.
- 06
Water pressure and whether the service size is adequate for added fixtures.
Cost ranges
What it costs in Halton.
Cost ranges for this trade have not been published yet.
Rather than repeat a national average that means nothing in Halton, this table stays empty until the figures are ones I have priced myself. The cost drivers above are the part that matters most anyway—they explain why the numbers vary.
If you want a real number for your property, that is what the walkthrough is for.
Book a free walkthrough →Before you sign
What the quote must contain.
If any of these is missing, ask for it in writing before you compare prices. A quote that cannot answer these questions is not a quote—it is an estimate wearing a suit.
- Certificate of Qualification or licence details on the quote
- Pipe materials specified for supply and for drainage
- Whether a permit is being pulled and by whom
- Confirmation the existing pipe material has been identified
- Shut-off valves at every fixture
- Pressure test before walls close
Walk away
Red flags on this trade.
None of these are matters of taste. Each one has a specific consequence, and each is visible before you commit any money.
- No permit for drain relocation
- Kitec or poly-B found and simply reconnected rather than flagged
- Mixed metals joined without a dielectric fitting
- Saddle valves
- No isolation valves, so a future repair means shutting off the whole house
Before the final payment
- Run every fixture simultaneously and watch for pressure drop and slow drains
- Check under every sink after a week
- Permit closed and inspection passed
- Photographs of the rough-in before it was covered — ask for these; they are worth having
If you are selling
What this does to a sale.
Kitec and poly-B are the two findings that most reliably reopen a negotiation. If either is present, knowing before the buyer's inspector does is worth more than the cost of finding out.
Ready to hire
I’ll give you one or two names, not a directory.
Contractors on the bench supply current WSIB, liability insurance and licence documentation, and I have walked their finished work. No referral fee is accepted from any of them.
A straightforward first conversation
Thinking about plumbing?
Tell me where you are in the process. We’ll discuss the property, the market, and the questions that matter most to you.