Full Kitchen Installation
Full Kitchen Fitting Belfast
A kitchen fit is five trades in a small room in the right order. CSW installs kitchens across Belfast and sequences it so you get the room back as quickly as possible.
Five Trades, One Small Room, One Order
A kitchen installation is not really a joinery job. It is a strip out, a bit of building work, plumbing, electrics, plastering, tiling, joinery and flooring, all happening in the smallest and most used room in the house. The units are the easy part. What decides whether it takes two weeks or six is whether those trades were sequenced properly and whether anybody checked the walls and floor before ordering.
The commonest cause of a kitchen fit dragging on is discovering something at strip out that should have been known beforehand. A floor that is thirty millimetres out across the room so nothing sits level. A wall that turns out to be stud where a wall unit was going. Waste pipes that do not run where the layout assumed. None of those are unusual and all of them are findable in advance if somebody looks.
The other reason is waiting. Waiting for a worktop template because nobody booked it early enough, waiting for an appliance that was ordered late, waiting for an electrician who was not told which day. We would rather set the running order out at the start and be honest about the days you will not have a kitchen.
Strip Out And Preparation
Old kitchen out and disposed of, walls and floor checked for level and plumb, and any building work, plastering or floor levelling done before the first new unit arrives.
Services And First Fix
Plumbing and electrics run to where the new layout actually needs them, including waste runs at a proper fall, before anything gets covered up by cabinets.
Units, Worktops And Finish
Cabinets set level and scribed to the room, worktops templated and fitted, appliances installed and tested, tiling, flooring and final trim.
Why CSW Fit Kitchens
Builders And Joiners In One
If a wall needs moving, a floor levelling or an opening forming, that is our own trade rather than another contractor and another delay.
Sequenced Before It Starts
The running order is planned at the survey, including which days the room is genuinely out of use, so you can arrange around it.
We Check Level First
Floors and walls measured before units are ordered. A room thirty millimetres out across its width changes what will fit.
Certification Chased
Nobody is obliged to certify electrical work in Northern Ireland, so we ask for it upfront rather than leaving you with nothing.
Worktops Booked Early
Templating is a fixed lead time and it is the single most common cause of a kitchen sitting half finished. It goes in the diary at the start.
Site Kept Liveable
Dust sheeting, a route in and out, and a temporary arrangement so you are not living entirely out of a microwave in the hall.
The Regulated Parts Of A Kitchen
Fitting cabinets is not regulated. Some of what happens around them is, and one thing works very differently here from the rest of the United Kingdom. This is general guidance and your district council's building control service is the authority on your particular job.
Electrical Work Has No Statutory Certification Here
This is the most important thing on this page. Part P does not apply in Northern Ireland, and there are currently no statutory requirements for domestic electrical installation work here equivalent to the England and Wales self certification regime.
A kitchen carries more electrical work than any other room: ring circuits, appliance spurs, an oven circuit, hob supply, extraction, under cabinet lighting. None of that has to be notified or certified by anybody as a matter of law. If you assume a certificate arrives at the end because that is what happens across the water, it may simply not.
- Ask for the electrician's registration with a recognised body before the work starts.
- Ask for an installation certificate on completion, and ask for it before the units cover everything.
- In a privately rented property, The Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 apply separately and are worth checking.
When A Fit Becomes Building Control Work
Replacing a kitchen within an existing room is not a building control matter. It becomes one when the fabric changes: taking out a load bearing wall to open into the dining room, forming a new external opening for doors or a window, or altering the drainage layout.
There are two routes. A Building Notice can only be used for minor planned work to a single domestic property. Anything structural is a Full Plans application, where the drawings and calculations are assessed and the council can issue a Notice of Passing of Plans.
- Building control in Northern Ireland is your district council. There is no private approved inspector route here.
- Structural openings are inspected before they are boxed in, not after the kitchen is fitted over them.
- Ventilation and extraction to outside is worth getting right whether or not the job is notifiable.
Moving The Sink And The Drainage
Relocating a sink or a washing machine means new waste runs, and those need a proper fall to somewhere sensible rather than the shallowest gradient that fits under the units. A waste run laid lazily will block repeatedly for the rest of its life.
If the work involves anything beyond internal pipework, note that building over or near, or realigning, a public sewer, water main or associated works without NI Water's prior consent is an offence under Article 236 of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, with a protected strip of three metres or one and a half times the depth.
- Decide the sink position early, because the waste run may constrain the layout more than the cabinets do.
- Access to any external gully or chamber should be preserved rather than built over.
- Where a run has to cross the room, it is worth discussing before the layout is finalised.
The Running Order That Makes It Quick
Survey Before Anything Is Ordered
We measure the room at several points and check the floor for level and the walls for plumb, and in an older Belfast house those readings will disagree. A floor out by thirty millimetres across the room means base units need packing and scribing, and it is much better to know before the order goes in than on fitting day.
We also establish what the walls are made of. A wall unit run planned across what turns out to be stud partition needs different fixings and sometimes noggins put in, and that is a five minute job at first fix and a nuisance afterwards.
Strip Out And Build
Old kitchen out, disposed of, and the room taken back to bare walls and floor. This is when anything genuinely unexpected appears, and it is the right time for it to appear because nothing new has been ordered around it yet.
Any building work happens now: structural openings, floor levelling, plastering, moving a doorway. Done at this point it is straightforward. Done after the units are in it is disruptive and expensive.
First Fix, Then Units
Plumbing and electrics go in to suit the agreed layout, with waste runs at a proper fall. This is the point at which to be certain about where appliances go, because moving a dishwasher after first fix means opening a wall or running pipework somewhere visible.
Then cabinets, set dead level off the highest point of the floor and scribed into the walls. Level matters more than anything because the worktop and every door alignment depends on it, and a base run set to a sloping floor cannot be corrected later.
Worktops, Appliances And Trim
Worktops in stone or composite are templated once the cabinets are in and then take a fixed lead time to fabricate. That gap is the single most common reason a kitchen sits half finished, and it is entirely predictable, so it goes in the schedule at the start rather than being discovered.
Then appliances installed and tested, tiling or splashbacks, flooring, plinths, cornice and the final trim. The trim is what makes the room look fitted rather than assembled, and it is worth the extra day.
How A Kitchen Fit Runs
Survey And Sequence
Measurements, floor level, wall construction and services located, then a running order that says which days the room is genuinely out of use.
Confirm The Layout
Appliance positions, sink position and waste runs agreed before ordering, because these constrain the layout more than the cabinet sizes do.
Strip Out
Old kitchen out and away, room back to bare walls and floor, and anything unexpected found now while nothing has been ordered around it.
Building Work And First Fix
Structural work, plastering and floor levelling, then plumbing and electrics run to the agreed positions with waste at a proper fall.
Units And Templating
Cabinets set level and scribed in, then the worktop templated immediately so its lead time runs while the rest of the work continues.
Fit Out And Finish
Worktops, appliances installed and tested, tiling, flooring, plinths and trim, then a clean and a walk round with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a kitchen fit take?
It depends far more on the sequence than on the size of the kitchen. The two things that stretch it are unexpected findings at strip out and the worktop lead time. Both are largely predictable, which is why we set a running order at the survey and tell you which specific days you will be without a working kitchen.
Will my new kitchen electrics be certified?
Only if you ask for it. Part P does not apply in Northern Ireland and there are currently no statutory requirements for domestic electrical installation work here, so nobody is legally obliged to notify or certify a kitchen rewire. Ask for the electrician's registration and an installation certificate, and ask before the units cover everything.
Why do worktops hold everything up?
Because stone and composite worktops are templated only after the cabinets are in, and then take a fixed lead time to fabricate. That gap is completely predictable and it is the commonest reason a kitchen sits half finished. It goes into the schedule at the start so the rest of the work runs alongside it.
What usually gets discovered at strip out?
A floor out of level across the room, a wall that turns out to be stud where wall units were going, and waste pipes that do not run where the layout assumed. None are unusual and all are findable in advance if somebody measures and checks before ordering, which is exactly why we survey properly first.
Does fitting a kitchen need building control approval?
Not within an existing room. It becomes a building control matter when the fabric changes: removing a load bearing wall, forming a new external opening, or altering the drainage. Anything structural is a Full Plans application rather than a Building Notice, which is limited to minor planned work on a single domestic property.
Can I move the sink to under the window?
Usually, but decide it early. The waste run has to fall properly to somewhere sensible, and a run laid at the shallowest gradient that fits under the units will block repeatedly for the rest of its life. The sink position often constrains the layout more than the cabinet sizes do.
Can I live in the house during the fit?
Almost always, and we plan for it. We sheet and seal, keep a route in and out that does not run through your living space, and set up a temporary arrangement so you are not living entirely out of a microwave in the hall. The days the room is genuinely unusable are identified at the start.
Will you fit a kitchen I have bought myself?
Yes, and it is common. The one thing worth doing is letting us survey the room before you order, because the room's real dimensions and the floor level decide whether a given layout will work. Ordering first and measuring afterwards is where the awkward filler panels come from.
Why does the level of the base units matter so much?
Because everything after it depends on it. Cabinets are set dead level off the highest point of the floor, and the worktop, every door alignment and every appliance opening follows from that. A base run set to a sloping floor cannot be corrected once the worktop is on. It is the least visible and most important step.
Do you take the old kitchen away?
Yes, strip out and disposal are part of the job. It is worth saying because it generates more material than people expect, particularly with a tiled splashback and an old floor coming up. The room goes back to bare walls and floor, which is also when anything unexpected shows itself.
More Kitchen Installations From CSW
Get Your Free Quote Today!
Let us survey the room before you order anything. Checking the floor level, the wall construction and where the waste runs takes half an hour and it prevents most of what goes wrong in a kitchen fit. No charge for the visit.
- Call us: 07703 433214
- Email: Cswbuild@gmail.com
- Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland