ᐅ Assessment of Heating and Plumbing Quotes

Hello,
Two new houses are being built to KfW40+ standard.
I have received the following quotes for the two houses.
The quotes are based on the calculated heating load.

I noticed that only for the mechanical ventilation system the materials are listed separately, so I was only able to check the price for that part.
I quickly and easily found several companies online where the prices are about 25 percent cheaper for me as a private end customer. Now I would like a price assessment for the rest.

I would like to negotiate with the heating installer and confront him with this. He definitely will not be installing the photovoltaic system, as his price is 8,000€ higher than other offers.

The offer is for a building with 3 residential units and a basement; the other quote is similar but for 2 residential units. I actually thought I would get a good price due to synergies since two houses are being built next to each other.

Here are a few examples of the price differences:

Vaillant recoVAIR VAR 360/4 E apartment ventilation device with heat recovery – Heating and solar at discount prices
Price in store 3359€
Price from installer 4464€

Vaillant CO2 air quality sensor – Heating and solar at discount prices
Price in store 325€
Price from installer 411€

Vaillant flexible flat air duct 52 x 132 mm (20 m) – Heating and solar at discount prices
Price in store 199€
Price from installer 252€

By the way, if anyone here can make me a competing offer and is possibly interested in carrying out the work, please feel free to get in touch.
Civil engineering has already started, heating and sanitary installation scheduled for April to May 2022.

The links don’t work for me.

Have you considered that the quote includes delivery and installation? Is that the case with the link as well?

In addition, the craftsman has to earn his money too, so it is absolutely common for material prices to be marked up. After all, he also has to place all the orders and will have professional contacts who don’t offer discount prices.

I can’t contribute anything constructive to the general offer. That’s not my trade....

Are you really comparing equipment and part prices from "heizungsdiscount24" with the prices of your local plumbing specialist? Are you new to the internet? 😀

I would order online and handle the planning with the trades myself, coordinate the interfaces, and also do all the wiring and connections. Can you do that? No? Then trust your heating technician.

But yes, you are right to some extent. It is cheaper online, and I have partially bought my sanitary equipment online and installed it myself.
However, with this approach, many tradespeople will likely give you a hard time because, for reasons I don’t understand, they use a mixed pricing method. I would prefer a pure hourly rate, but then the material cost would probably be about twice as high.

There are pages of discussions on this topic here with arguments for and against.

Welcome to the plumbing and heating industry. The explanations already provided here are often repeated. Still, it is almost certainly true that the installer can buy materials at a lower cost, but they are under no obligation to pass this saving on to you. (Since the installation is usually billed separately, this likely has nothing to do with that price difference.) Therefore, kindly ask if they can offer you a better deal, but don’t expect internet prices to be matched. Unfortunately, pricing in this sector is highly non-transparent and is often fiercely defended by those who benefit from it.

Live and let live...
If your heating breaks down on a Friday at 7 PM in winter, you will be glad to have a good relationship with your heating technician...

Or just stick to the "being cheap is cool" mentality and accept that the other party will sort your orders (no matter how urgent) as low as possible in their stack...