Sanitary company does not install sampled sanitary articles

Hello everyone,

in June we went for the first time to the wholesaler of our general contractor for the sanitary equipment sampling. The consultation was very good and we selected a few things, including a shower WC.

Since we want to have it both in the guest WC and in the main bathroom, the shower WC from Geberit (approx. 3k extra charge per WC) was too expensive for us. So we went to the wholesaler again and then switched to a shower WC from another manufacturer.

The offer was revised and we were informed as follows:
"Unfortunately, we cannot offer you the shower WC you selected at the xx wholesaler, as it requires a hot water connection during installation. In our view, this installation is not 100% compliant with the Drinking Water Ordinance, which might create the possibility that bacteria could enter the pipe system and thus the drinking water.

Therefore, we offer you the xx shower WC."

However, we do not like the shower WC they offered. So we went to the wholesaler again and sampled another shower WC. The employee there was also surprised that they do not want to install the one previously selected.

For the one subsequently chosen, we again received the above-mentioned response and yet another WC was suggested.

The shower WCs offered by the sanitary company are priced similarly to the Geberit one, and somehow I can’t understand why we can sample a WC which, according to their opinion, is not compliant with the Drinking Water Ordinance. A naive question: should such a WC even be on the market then?!

This has been going on for several months now and we are supposed to arrange an on-site installation appointment with the sanitary company in the coming days and of course we would also like to make a decision about the equipment.

The company has normally delivered the updated offer quite promptly. However, we have been waiting for the last offer since September 8, 2021. I have a bit of the suspicion that they are stalling us so that we ultimately accept the WC they are offering.

How should we proceed now? Another company is not possible; our general contractor works only with this one.

You cannot expect a plumbing company to install everything that a wholesaler carries. After all, the plumbing company has to be liable, and you cannot dictate what they should be liable for. The chosen toilet with a warm water connection is not fundamentally prohibited - the plumbing company views the technology (warm water connection) critically. None of this has anything to do with the purchase price.

How should we proceed now? Another company is not possible, our general contractor only works with this one.

Change your approach and talk to the plumber about what you want and what he can offer. This will dissolve the triangle over the wholesaler. Your selection might be somewhat larger if you show a willingness to pay a bit more for the installation of an object unfamiliar to the plumber because he will need more time for it. When you build with a general contractor, you simply do not have all the options.

You can't expect a plumbing company to install everything that a wholesaler carries. After all, the plumbing company has to be liable, and you can't dictate what they should be liable for.

I don't want to dictate to the plumbing company what they should be liable for. This plumbing company does not have its own showroom! I can only sample from the wholesaler specified by the general contractor, and unfortunately, you are not informed in advance about what they would install and what not.

The selected toilet with hot water connection is not fundamentally inadmissible – the plumbing company views the technology (hot water connection) critically. This has nothing to do with the purchase price.

But I can't know beforehand what the plumbing company finds critical and what not.

Change your approach and talk to the plumber about what you want and what he can offer. That will dissolve the triangle involving the wholesaler.

I have already done that; the lady from the company told me that they currently have no own showroom and cooperate with several wholesalers.

When I asked how I could know in advance what they would install and what not, her answer was "you can't know that." I suggested sending her a list of what we want and that she should please check if that works. Since September 8, 2021, I have been waiting for a response.

Your selection might be somewhat larger if you show willingness to pay a bit more for the installation of an item unknown to the plumber, because he will need more time for it. When building with a general contractor, you simply don't have all the options.

They are welcome to charge for it if they have to put in more effort. But they did not do that; instead, they dismissed it outright. Next time, I will gladly mention explicitly that they should also charge for their effort accordingly.

They just have to install a system separator. It then costs about 150-500 EUR more per WC. I don’t have your construction status on hand, can they still install a hot water connection?

I don't have your construction progress at hand,

So far, the shell is up, the sanitary company has not been here yet.

Yes, then he can firstly still install hot water there but must then install system separators. It all costs a bit more. In the end, it may also not be cheaper than taking a shower toilet with a built-in instantaneous water heater. So if you find something you like aesthetically. In the end, I only had one socket installed as a preparation next to the toilet. Since I am the only one who wants something like that anyway, there were more important things to spend money on immediately...