Quick answer
A freestanding or built-under dishwasher slides into a standard 600 mm gap under the 900 mm bench and swaps in minutes when it fails. An integrated model hides behind a matching cabinet panel on a hinge kit, costs more to buy and to fit, and ties the appliance to your joinery. Most NZ kitchens, and every rental, do better freestanding.
Key points
- Dishwashers are 600 mm wide and roughly 820 to 850 mm tall on adjustable feet, sized to disappear under a standard 900 mm NZ bench.
- Integrated means a matching door panel, a hinge kit and fitting labour on top of a dearer machine; the calm joinery wall is real, and so is the bill.
- Power and water always go in the cabinet beside the dishwasher, never behind it, or the machine stands proud of the run.
- Rentals should never integrate: replacement models rarely match the old panel pattern, and the gap needs a machine this week, not a joinery order.
- Semi-integrated keeps the controls visible above a shorter, lighter panel, the cheaper route to a quiet run.
An integrated dishwasher dies more quietly than any other appliance in the house. There is no brand name on the front to glare at, just a cabinet door that has stopped being a dishwasher and started being a very expensive cupboard. Then the second problem surfaces: the replacement machine is a different make, its hinge kit does not line up with the old panel drillings, and the decor that panel was cut from left the catalogue five years ago.
That scene is worth holding in your head, because integrated vs freestanding is not really a question about this dishwasher. It is a question about the next one, and the one after that. The joinery will outlive three machines. Choose with that timeline in front of you and the answer usually gets simple.
The 600 mm gap every dishwasher lives in
Nearly every dishwasher sold in New Zealand is built to the same envelope: 600 mm wide, roughly 820 to 850 mm tall on adjustable feet, made to slide under a 900 mm finished bench between two cabinets. In the joinery that position is a plain 600 mm void. No carcass, no shelf, benchtop running over the top. It is the cheapest 600 mm in the whole kitchen, because it is the one module with nothing in it.
Freestanding and built-under are the same machine as far as the cabinetry cares. A true freestanding unit keeps a finished top and can stand alone at the end of a run; the more common built-under version loses the lid and tucks under the benchtop. Either way the front you see is the maker's own door, and when the machine dies, the new one slides into the same 600 mm gap with the same hoses in about ten minutes. That swap speed is the headline feature nobody puts in the brochure.
Integrated and built-under compared, with the services rule that applies to both.
What integrated actually involves
A fully integrated dishwasher hides behind a panel cut from the same decor as your doors, hung on the appliance with a hinge kit. Four consequences follow. The panel is a joinery item, cut, edged and drilled to the appliance maker's template, so it gets made with the kitchen rather than bought later. Your machine must be an integrated model, which costs more than its built-under sibling. Fitting the hinge kit and aligning the panel adds labour on install day. And every maker publishes a panel weight limit, which a thick or stone-look door material can exceed before you start.
- Matching door panel: cut from the kitchen decor, edged on all four sides, drilled to the maker's template.
- Hinge kit: couples the panel to the appliance door; sliding and fixed-hinge patterns exist and they are not interchangeable between brands.
- Kick continuity: the kick rail runs unbroken beneath the panel, which is most of why the run reads as one wall of joinery.
- Panel weight limit: check the maker's figure before committing to a heavy door material.
None of that argues against integrating. It is simply the honest bill for the look: one flat run of cabinetry with no steel interrupting it. In a small open-plan townhouse where the kitchen is effectively the living room wall, that calm is worth paying for, and our guide to standard kitchen sizes in NZ townhouses shows how often the kitchen and the couch now share one sightline.
Should you choose an integrated or freestanding dishwasher?
Start with tenure and sightlines. If the kitchen faces the living space and you expect to own the house for the machine's whole life, integration is defensible. A dishwasher parked around a corner, where nobody ever stands back and admires the run, is a panel nobody sees, so spend that money elsewhere. Rentals stop at freestanding, no exceptions. And if the budget is tight, the panel and hinge kit money buys a better machine instead, which you will notice every night for a decade.
| Situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open-plan kitchen you own long term | Fully integrated | The joinery wall stays unbroken and you control the decor |
| Hard-working family kitchen | Built-under | Ten-minute swap when it dies, no panel to match |
| Rental property | Freestanding, always | Replacements rarely match the old panel pattern |
| Quiet joinery on a real budget | Semi-integrated | Visible controls, shorter panel, simpler fit |
Rentals and the dead-panel problem
A rental dishwasher lives a hard life and dies young, and it sits high on the list of what fails first in a rental kitchen. When it goes, the property manager needs a machine in the gap this week, because the tenant is texting daily. A freestanding replacement is a delivery. An integrated replacement is a hunt for a model whose hinge pattern suits the old panel, or a new panel in a decor that may no longer exist, and the tenancy does not wait for joinery.
The same arithmetic catches owner-occupiers a decade in. Machines change shape between generations, panels get water-damaged at the bottom edge, and door ranges roll over every few years. If your decor has been dropped by the time you need a new panel, you are into matching a discontinued Melteca colour: solvable, but it is a project, and the usual answer is matching to the closest current decor so the difference never sits beside an original door.
Semi-integrated, the honest middle ground
A semi-integrated machine keeps its control strip visible at the top of the door and takes a shorter decor panel below. You give up the perfectly unbroken wall. In exchange you keep controls you can read without opening the door, the panel is smaller, lighter and easier to fit inside any maker's weight limit, and the machine price usually sits between built-under and fully integrated. For a kitchen that wants quiet joinery without full commitment, it is a fair trade rather than a compromise.
What it means on install day
In the build sequence the gap is fixed at manufacture and the machine arrives last. Joinery goes in, benchtop goes on, then the plumber and electrician make their connections. The appliance itself is commonly supplied by you rather than the kitchen maker, which is normal and worth having in writing, exactly as appliances by others works in kitchen contracts. An integrated panel is then hung and aligned to the door gaps around it, and that is fine work: a 2 mm drift reads instantly at eye height in a run of matching doors. We hang the panel with the same gap discipline as the doors either side, because that alignment is the entire point of paying for integration.
Fix the dishwasher position before rough-in; the electrician, the plumber and the joiner all work from that one decision.
Decide before the joinery is priced
The dishwasher call has to land before the kitchen is priced, because it changes the joinery: a 600 mm void either way, plus a panel, a hinge kit allowance and a kick detail if you integrate. Have three things ready for whoever prices your kitchen. First, the appliance decision, or at least integrated versus not. Second, which side of the machine the sink base sits, so the services land in the correct adjacent cabinet. Third, your door decor code if the kitchen already exists. If you are still testing layouts, the online designer on our site lets you set the dishwasher gap and every cabinet width in millimetres and watch the price move as you do it. And if the current machine works and only the panel looks tired, replace the panel, not the kitchen.
Frequently asked questions
Is an integrated or freestanding dishwasher better in NZ?
For most households, freestanding or built-under is the better call: it slides into the standard 600 mm gap, costs less than the integrated version of the same machine, and swaps out in minutes when it fails. Fully integrated earns its keep in open-plan rooms you own long term, where one unbroken wall of joinery matters every day. Rentals should always stay freestanding.
Can I replace an integrated dishwasher with a freestanding one?
Yes. The cavity is the same 600 mm void, so a built-under machine slides straight in once the old panel and hinge kit come off. You may need to trim or refit the kick rail beneath, and the front will now be the maker's steel or coloured door rather than your cabinetry. Keep the old panel; a joiner can sometimes reuse the material elsewhere.
What size is the gap for a dishwasher in an NZ kitchen?
600 mm wide, under the standard 900 mm finished bench. Machines run roughly 820 to 850 mm tall with adjustable feet to suit the space beneath the benchtop. The joinery leaves a bare void: no cabinet base, no back, with the benchtop continuing over the top and the services entering through the side of the neighbouring cabinet.
Do integrated dishwashers cost more?
Yes, three times over. The integrated model of a machine usually costs more than its built-under sibling, the matching door panel is a joinery item that has to be cut, edged and drilled, and the hinge kit plus alignment adds fitting time on install day. You are buying the unbroken joinery wall, and that is the honest price of it.
Where should the power point for a dishwasher go?
In the cabinet beside the machine, usually the sink base, never on the wall behind it. Hoses and the flex pass through drilled holes in the cabinet side to reach the connections. A GPO behind the appliance pushes the machine proud of the cabinetry line, and it makes isolating the power a pull-the-machine-out job instead of opening a door.
Should a rental have an integrated dishwasher?
No. When a rental dishwasher dies the gap needs a working machine within days, and an integrated replacement means finding a model that suits the old hinge pattern and a panel decor that may be discontinued. A freestanding machine is a same-week delivery into a standard 600 mm gap, which is what a tenancy actually requires.
What is a semi-integrated dishwasher?
A machine with its control strip visible at the top of the door and a matching cabinetry panel fitted below it. You get most of the quiet-joinery effect with a smaller, lighter panel that is easier to fit and sits within panel weight limits, plus controls you can read without opening the door. Price and fitting effort sit between built-under and fully integrated.