Bathroom Renovation Checklist (India): Survey-to-Handover Working Document

A bathroom mid-renovation with old tiles stripped from one wall, exposed CPVC plumbing and a survey checklist clipped to a board in the foreground

Renovating an existing bathroom is a different discipline from building a new one. You are not filling an empty shell — you are surveying finished, waterproofed, tiled work, deciding what comes out and what stays, and rebuilding in an occupied home where a wrong sequence means reopening a wall you just tiled. This checklist is the working document Studio Matrx uses to run that job in order: survey, approvals, demolition, rebuild, finishes and handover. Copy the tables into your project file and tick down them on site.

It sits alongside the design brief and the cost sheet: use the bathroom design checklist for India to fix the specification, and price the scope this checklist defines against the bathroom renovation cost guide for India.

A renovation is demolition plus construction. Half the failures on Indian sites are not bad workmanship — they are the wrong order of work, or a survey step skipped before the first tile came off.

How to use this document

Work through the six phases top to bottom; do not start a phase until the one before it is signed off. The site engineer or interior designer fills the survey and keep-vs-replace tables during the first walk-through, the project manager owns approvals and logistics, and the contractor drives demolition through finishes. Print the phase checklist, tick each line on site, and photograph anything you note as "keep" so there is no dispute later. Every row here is a starting point — verify against your actual bathroom, the contract scope and your society's bye-laws, and get a licensed plumber and structural check where the checklist flags one.

The renovation timeline at a glance

Before the line-item lists, here is where each phase sits and roughly how long it runs for a standard 40 sq ft (about 5x8 ft) apartment bathroom stripped to slab. Treat the days as indicative — they stretch with society working-hour limits, waterproofing cure time and material lead times.

Phase 1–6: the site checklist

This is the core deliverable. Each phase lists the concrete checks in the order you do them. Copy it into your snag/handover sheet and add project-specific rows.

Phase	On-site checks — tick each before moving on
1 · Survey & decisions	Water-test existing floor slope (pour a bucket; confirm fall to trap, no ponding); check for existing leaks and damp on the slab below; locate plumbing shafts, risers and the concealed cistern access; note WC waste (S-trap/P-trap) position; measure clear internal dimensions and door swing; test geyser and exhaust for reuse; mark load-bearing vs partition walls; photograph everything before demolition.
2 · Approvals & logistics	Obtain society/RWA NOC and confirm permitted working hours (typically 9am–6pm, no Sundays); pay debris/interior-work deposit; book the service lift and cover it; agree material staging and debris-bagging area; arrange water shut-off and stored-water backup for the flat; notify the flat below in writing; confirm no wet-area or shaft relocation that needs municipal approval.
3 · Demolition & strip-out	Isolate water at the flat's main valve and cap open ends; switch off and remove the geyser MCB circuit; erect dust protection (polythene at door, wet-cloth over drains); strip tiles and screed to slab; remove sanitaryware, salvage items marked "keep"; plug the floor trap to stop rubble entering the stack; bag malba and cart out same day per society rules.
4 · Rebuild services & waterproofing	Re-run concealed plumbing in CPVC/UPVC and pressure-test at 1.5x working pressure for 24 h before closing walls; set WC and drain points to the new layout; lay electrical conduits, geyser line and exhaust duct (IP-rated, RCBO-protected); build screed to a 1:80–1:100 fall to the trap; apply two-coat waterproofing membrane with 150 mm coving up walls; flood-test 24–48 h and check the ceiling below before tiling.
5 · Finishes & fit-out	Lay floor and wall tiles on adhesive with correct fall retained; grout and cure; install false ceiling and waterproof paint above tiles; fit WC, basin, vanity, geyser, exhaust and CP fittings; seal all wet junctions with anti-fungal silicone (not cement); fix mirror, accessories and shower/glass last to avoid damage.
6 · Snag & handover	Re-run a flood test and a 24 h stack/drain test; check every joint, valve and geyser for leaks; confirm slopes drain dry with no ponding; test all electrical points and RCBO trip; clean site, remove protection; hand over warranty cards, spare tiles (same dye-lot) and the as-executed plumbing photos.

What to keep vs what to replace

The single biggest cost lever in a renovation is scope — and scope is decided item by item during the survey. Reusing a sound geyser or door saves money honestly; reusing failed waterproofing or corroded pipe is a false economy you pay for twice. Use this decision table on the first walk-through.

Element	Keep if…	Replace if…	Default call
Wall & floor tiles	Layout unchanged, no drummy/hollow tiles, no seepage below, finish acceptable	Any hollow sound, cracks, damp below, or you are moving fixtures	Replace in a gut job; keep only for a cosmetic refresh
WC / sanitaryware	Branded, no hairline cracks, seal intact, position unchanged	Cracked, stained, dated, or the waste position is moving	Replace — it is cheap relative to reopening tiled walls
Geyser & exhaust	Under ~5 yrs, tests clean, correct capacity	Rusted tank, weak flow, undersized, no ISI mark	Keep if young and tested; else replace
Concealed plumbing	CPVC/UPVC, holds a 24 h pressure test, no galvanised (GI) pipe	Any GI/corroded line, low pressure, past leaks	Replace all concealed pipe in a gut renovation
Waterproofing membrane	Provably intact, dry ceiling below, under warranty	Any seepage sign, unknown age, or you have chipped the screed	Replace — never tile over doubtful waterproofing

Indicative timeline by phase

Sequence and duration are as much a part of the deliverable as the checklist. The table gives realistic day-counts for a full gut of a standard apartment bathroom at occupied-home pace; a cosmetic refresh runs roughly a third of this. Durations are indicative and depend on city, crew size, society hours and material lead times.

Phase	Indicative duration	Gate before you proceed
Survey & decisions	1–2 days	Scope, keep-vs-replace list and drawings signed off
Approvals & logistics	2–7 days	Society NOC in hand, deposit paid, water/lift arranged
Demolition & strip-out	1–2 days	Slab exposed, debris cleared, trap plugged
Services & waterproofing	4–7 days	Plumbing pressure-test + flood-test both passed
Finishes & fit-out	6–10 days	Tiles cured, fixtures set, silicone sealed
Snag & handover	1–2 days	Final flood/leak test clear, warranties handed over
Total (gut renovation)	~15–30 working days	—

Common mistakes

Skipping the pre-demolition survey. Not water-testing the old slope or checking the ceiling below means you inherit an existing leak and blame the new work.
Demolishing before the society NOC and working hours are confirmed — a stop-work order mid-strip leaves the flat without a bathroom for days.
Tiling over doubtful waterproofing to save time. It reappears in a year and you pay the full demolition again.
Closing walls before the 24 h plumbing pressure test. A concealed joint found after tiling is the most expensive rework on site.
Ordering the concealed cistern or diverter late, forcing you to reopen a finished wall.
Not plugging the floor trap during demolition — rubble in the stack blocks the whole riser and the neighbours' drainage.
Sealing wet junctions with cement instead of anti-fungal silicone, which cracks and lets water track behind fixtures.

Run the phases in order, gate each one on a passed test rather than a calendar date, and the renovation lands on time with the concealed layers you cannot see later done right.

This checklist is a starting template, not a substitute for site judgement. Verify slopes, loads and codes against your actual bathroom, follow your society's bye-laws, and have a licensed plumber and, where structure is touched, a qualified engineer confirm the work.

Related resources & guides

Bathroom design checklist for India — fix the specification before the renovation scope is set.
Bathroom renovation cost guide for India — price the scope this checklist defines.
Bathroom waterproofing checklist for India — the phase-4 wet-area steps in full detail.
Bathroom handover checklist for India — the phase-6 snag and sign-off document.