Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Shower pan question. Is my contractor cutting corners?

We are in the middle of completely remodeling 2 bathrooms (guest and master) in our 30 year old house (new tiles, showers, tubs, cabinets, toilets etc..). The general contractor wants to start with tiling next week, but I noticed we still have the old shower pan with black tar paper with 2-3 inches mortar on top. When asked, my contractor said he did a water test and they look fine, so he did not touch them. I don't know how many years a shower pan should last, but common sense tells me that 30 years is a pretty long time, and they need to be replaced. Should we let them begin the tile job next week?
Thanks in advance for your input.

Weigh the risks involved and expense to replace the pan later, including damaging your new tile, and I think you will find that it would be far better to replace the pan now and not worry about it later...

If that shower pan was done right it will last many more years!! If you want him to replace it I suggest you do some research first. I've read it too many times that a contractor built a new shower pan but did not pitch the first layer, did not add a liner and or covered the wep holes.

If you agreed to have it replaced have him rip it out and replace it. Just make sure you know the process of building a shower pan so you make sure he does it right. Good luck.

Thirty years is indeed a long time. I can guarantee you that it wont last another thirty years. Now is the time to replace the pan.:)

We are in the middle of completely remodeling 2 bathrooms (guest and master) in our 30 year old house (new tiles, showers, tubs, cabinets, toilets etc..). The general contractor wants to start with tiling next week, but I noticed we still have the old shower pan with black tar paper with 2-3 inches mortar on top. When asked, my contractor said he did a water test and they look fine, so he did not touch them. I don't know how many years a shower pan should last, but common sense tells me that 30 years is a pretty long time, and they need to be replaced. Should we let them begin the tile job next week?
Thanks in advance for your input.

I'm curious to what the experts say. Seems to me, who has replaced a shower pan, totally rebuilt it, I should say, if the one you have is fine then why replace it? If you can afford to have it replaced and want it done, why not? If money is an object, I'd leave it alone.

Replacing a pan is not all that expensive. Its a small cost if shes doing the whole bathroom over. 30 years is a long time and I would not consider not replacing the pan if I was doing this job. Its very cheap insurance. If the customer insisted upon it I wouldnt guarantee the job.