Bathroom landed in Melbourne

The bathroom we priced

1200 wall-hung vanity with stone top, basin, basin mixer, shower rail and rose with a concealed mixer, toilet suite with concealed cistern, towel rail and accessories. Tiles priced separately.

Landed in Melbourne, line by line

Every line from the factory gate to your site. Low, middle and high use the low, middle and high of every published rate at once. Estimate: no delivered Elje job sits behind this figure yet.

Shipped with a kitchen

On its own, a bathroom pays the full set of fixed charges and Elje's minimum fees. Added to a kitchen in the same shipment it adds about $4,254 to the kitchen's landed price ($3,296 to $5,554), because the port, broker, delivery and Project Plan are already paid. Estimate.

Against Melbourne prices

Supply only is the fair comparison with a landed price; installed prices include labour, which you pay either way.

The local set is priced from real products at an Australian online retailer that ships nationally: a Timberline or Parisi 1200 vanity, Phoenix or Gessi tapware, a Caroma or Villeroy and Boch wall-faced toilet suite. Many were on sale.

Is it worth it?

Not on its own. Shipped alone it lands at about $7,909, inside the $5,900 to $10,100 a local set costs, because one bathroom carries a whole shipment's fixed charges. Shipped with a kitchen it adds about $4,254, well under the local price. Estimate.

The Melbourne market

Melbourne sits about 5 percent above Brisbane on the cost index, level with Perth. Rider Levett Bucknall forecasts a flat 4 percent a year rise in building costs, the gentlest of the capitals. Stone fabricators charge 15 to 20 percent more per metre than in Brisbane or Adelaide, and Melbourne's big tile houses do not publish online prices.

How it gets to Melbourne

Foshan factory to Nansha, Shekou or Yantian, a direct service to the Port of Melbourne, then a short run to the suburbs.

Australia's busiest container port, with terminals at Swanson Dock (DP World, Patrick) and Webb Dock (VICT), a few kilometres from the city.

Outer suburbs and growth corridors: container at the kerb. Inner suburbs: depot unpack and a small truck is usually easier.

What moves the number

• Vanity size and top. A 1200 vanity with a stone top costs about twice a 900 with a ceramic top.
• Cistern. A concealed cistern and panel costs more than a close-coupled suite, and needs a wall cavity ready for it.
• Finish. Brushed brass, gunmetal and other PVD finishes cost more than chrome at the factory, but far less than the same finish here.
• Two factories. Tapware and sanitary ware often come from a different factory to the vanity, so two inspections.
• Tiles are priced separately. See tiles.

What it has to comply with

• Every tap, mixer, waste, toilet and cistern needs a current WaterMark certificate in the maker's name. A licensed plumber is not permitted to install a product without it.
• Toilets, taps and showers need WELS registration and labelling before supply.
• Toilets and basins: tariff 6910.10.00, general duty 5 percent, Free from China with a certificate of origin.

Notes for Melbourne

Cool and changeable. Kitchens and bathrooms run cooler and drier than in Queensland, so standard moisture-resistant board in wet rooms is normal.

• Melbourne gets the most sailings from South China of any Australian port, so there is more choice of vessel and shared container.
• Inner-city Victorian and Edwardian houses have narrow side lanes and laneway access. Plan the delivery before the container is booked.
• Plumbing and building practitioners are registered with the Victorian building regulator. Imported certified products are installed the same way as local ones.

Questions