Franke Faucets Review & Rating Updated: December 9, 2024
also trading as
Franke Kitchen Systems LLC
800 Aviation Parkway
Smyrna, TN 37167
(800) 626-5771
Franke Kindred Canada Ltd.
1000 Franke-Kindred Road
Midland, ON L4R 4K9
(866) 687-7465
KWC Group AG
KWC-Gasse 1
5726 Unterkulm
Switzerland
info@kwc.com
Law Requirements
Warranty Footnotes:
1. "All faucets … installed in a private residence carry a limited lifetime warranty on all mechanical parts [and chrome finishes] to be free of manufacturing defects in material and workmanship under normal usage." All other finishes are guaranteed for just five years.2. The Franke faucet warranty does not comply with the U.S. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301).
Download/Print the Franke faucet warranty.
Learn more about faucet warranties.
Company In Brief
Franke Holding AG is a leading supplier of kitchen sinks and the equipment that goes with them such as ovens, vent hoods, and waste disposal equipment.
While it sells products for domestic use, its primary focus has always been on its food service division which provides equipment to institutional and commercial kitchens.
In 2021, as part of its "One Franke" consolidation strategy, it began divesting itself of its residential products by selling its Water Systems business units, including KWC brands, to an investment group managed by Equistone Partners Europe.
After reorganizing its purchase as KWC Group AG, and two years of consolidation, Equistone began selling off its various segments.
In 2024 it sold KWC's medical equipment division to Alumbra Group, and its Chinese manufacturer, Nokite EcoSmart Water Heating Systems Co., back to Franke Holding. an Italian manufacturer, purchased KWC's home division.
Franke faucets remain a part of Franke Group which is owned by Arteis Group. Michael Pieper, formerly a manager of Franke Group, is the owner of Artemis Group.
Franke Holding AG is a Swiss company based in Aarburg. The name is pronounced FRANK-ee in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and FRAWNK-eh in Switzerland and most of the rest of the world. Its primary business is providng kitchen equipment to the food service industry.
The Company
Franke was founded in 1911 by Herman Franke as a sheet metal shop.
It did not make its first kitchen sink until 1925 but has since become one of the world's leading suppliers of kitchen sinks and the equipment that goes around them, such as faucets, ovens, vent hoods, and waste disposal systems.
The company also manufactures food service equipment, beverage containers (including beer kegs), coffee systems, aerospace and gas turbine parts, and devices for disinfecting medical equipment.
Franke entered the U.S. market in 1976 with its acquisition of the Progressive Corporation, a manufacturer of stainless steel restaurant equipment sold under the Gold N-Chef and Therma-tote brands. Carron Phoenix Ltd., a composite sink manufacturer was acquired in 1990, and Federal Home Products, a sink manufacturer in Ruston, Louisiana. in 1996.
In 1998 Franke further expanded its North American operations by buying a controlling interest in Kindred Industries, a well-known Canadian manufacturer of Steel Queen stainless kitchen sinks. Franke still sells Steel Queen sinks and some Steel Queen accessories in Canada. They are not available in the U.S.
After buying Kindred, Franke moved most of its North American operations to Canada.
1n 2013 Franke bought , an excellent Swiss sanitary wares company from Hansa. Hansa had been purchased by Finland's Oras Group, and in the process shed KWC which was quickly snapped up by Franke and made a part of its Water Systms Division.
Franke kept the KWC brand for 8 years, then, in a classic tail-wags-dog scenerio, Franke sold it as part of its Water Systems Division in early 2021 to an investment group managed by Equistone Partners Europe.
In March 2021 Franke divested itself of its two Water Systems divisions in a sale for an undisclosed amount to Equistone Partners Europe, a private equity firm representing several investment funds. The acquisition was reorganized by the new owner as KWC Group AG consisting of a division producing commercial products and the second the second dealing in home products.
All of Franke's domestic faucets were gathered under the KWC Group AG which became the producer of both KWC- and Franke-branded faucets.
Patrik Wohlhauser, CEO of the Franke Group explained that the sale permitted Franke to concentrate its resources on its main businesses of selling residential and commercial sinks, food service equipment, and its coffee systems, areas in which it is already an industry leader.
In 2024, Equistone announced the sale of KWC's home division to brands in the U.S.
Franke's Sinks
Franke is well known for its stainless steel sinks. Franke's kitchen division, Franke Kuechentechnik AG, still makes many of the company's stainless steel sinks in Aarburg, Switzerland. Franke Kindred also manufactures steel sinks in Canada. But, Franke also produces stainless sinks overseas.
Franke (China) Kitchen Systems Co., Ltd. produces stainless steel sinks in Guangdong province. Most of these serve the Asian market, but a substantial number end up on our shores, imported through Franke Asia Sourcing Ltd. located in Hong Kong. Franke (China) is the company's main supplier of stainless steel sinks. Others are imported from Holland where they are manufactured by Franke Nederland B.V.
Some stainless steel sinks are manufactured totally outside of the Franke complex of companies by contract suppliers. One such supplier is Jiangxi Zoje Kitchen & Bath Industry Co., Ltd., producing stainless sinks in China.
Most of Franke's enameled cast-iron sinks are made in Streĉno, Slovaki by Franke Slovakia S.R.O..
Other types of sinks sold under the Franke and Kindred brands are manufactured outside of the company.
Many of Franke's ceramic sinks are made by Villeroy & Boch, the Saarland manufacturer of high-quality ceramic products since the 18th century now owned by the giant ceramics company, Eczacibasi Group of Istanbul, Turkey. Others are manufactured by Harsa Sanitaryware, Ltd., a subsidiary of formerly of Israel, now manufacturing in Turkey. Its granite sinks are imported from Carron Phoenix Ltd., a UK manufacturer owned by Franke.
Franke's Faucets
Frank does not manufacture its own faucets. It never has. Franke may design the faucets, but it does not produce them.
The company benefits from the presumption that its faucets are made in Switzerland and, therefore, must be of superior quality. In fact, the faucets are made almost everywhere in the world except Switzerland. A few are even made in the U.S.
About 80% of Franke faucets are made in China, up from 50% just seven years ago. Import and certification records show that Franke faucets are made by an unusually diverse group of manufacturers, including:
- Nokite Eco Smart Water Heating Systems Co., Ltd of Foshan, China is a manufacturer of stainless steel faucets. It has been wholly owned by Franke Water Systems since March 2024 and provides most of the kitchen faucets sold by Franke. It also manufactures for the .
- Joden, Inc. of Jiangmen, China sells its own brand of award-winning bath wares in the Asian market under the Joden name and manufactures single lever and single handle pullout spray faucets for Franke;
- NCIP, Inc., a Taiwanese company, manufactures in Taiwan and China for a number of faucet companies that sell in the U.S. and Canada including
- (Foshan) Shunde Nokite Plumbing and Sanitary Products Co., Ltd. is a Chinese manufacturer that is majority-owned by Franke. It manufactures several single lever pull-out out faucets for Franke and Franke Kindred of Canada and makes parts and components for other Franke faucet models. It also manufactures faucets or faucet components for
- Taiwan Shin Jhin Lih Sanitation Co., Ltd. of Taiwan sells its own Silverly brand faucets throughout Asia and makes just one faucet for Franke, the 4009719 kitchen faucet with side spray in chrome. It is also one of the main faucet suppliers to
- makes several Franke kitchen and bar faucets. Hamat sells its well-respected faucets in North America under the Hamat and Houzer brands. It also manufactures for other companies that sell in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to Franke, these include
- Similor AG is a Swiss manufacturer that sells bath wares under the Laufen brand name in Europe;
- Perrin & Rowe, Ltd. in Rainham, England manufactures Triflow faucets for Franke. These faucets dispense hot, cold, filtered water in one unit eliminating the need for a separate filtered water tap. The company also manufactures the upscale
- American Faucets and Coatings, a California faucet manufacturer, designs, makes and sells its own up-scale, high-quality faucet line. It also makes several kitchen faucets for Franke.
- RSS Manufacturing, also in California, manufactures and sells the up-scale line of high-quality faucets and manufactures two faucets for Franke: Swan Bridge and Lalingua Bridge.
At one time four Franke faucets were made by the upscale Italian faucet company. But, Franke has discontinued these models (DW0400, DW-480, FB-500, FB-580)
Franke changes suppliers with fair frequency, so by the time you read this, its faucet suppliers may have changed again.
Franke's Faucet Deigns
Franke designs are often award-winning and widely copied.
The company's cadré of industrial designers, Satyendra Pakhalé, Nathan Li, Luca Nichetto, and Constance Guisset, supplies Franke with a steady stream of innovative designs.
The company also hires outside talent like Studio BGR a collaboration of designers Andrea Garuti, Manuela Busetti and Matteo Redaelli who designed the Chill-Out and Grammy faucets.
Franke Faucet Quality
The faucets are good quality products. The company has a rigorous quality assurance program in place that helps ensure high-quality faucets no matter who makes them.
The faucets are brass or stainless steel with higher-end – usually Kerox, and Traenkle – ceramic valves.
The weakest feature of the Franke faucet line is its finishes.
There are only three of them, chrome, nickel, and bronze while other upscale faucet manufacturers offer as many as 30 finishes. And, although Franke claims that its "[f]inishes are durable if cared for correctly", its meager finish warranty does not support its claim.
While chrome finishes are guaranteed for the lifetime of the faucet, nickel and bronze are guaranteed for just five years. Franke should have more faith in its finishes. If its current suppliers cannot provide lifetime finishes, then perhaps it needs new suppliers. On the other hand, one supplier, Globe Union Industrial Group offers a lifetime finish warranty on every faucet it manufactures for itself, so the suppliers may not be the problem.
Whatever the reason, if Franke says its finishes other than chrome will survive just five years, then we assume the company knows something about its finishes that we don't and will take it at its word. We suggest that you think carefully before buying a faucet with a paltry finish warranty such as this one, especially as there are so many good faucets on the market with a lifetime finish warranty.
Franke Website
The Franke consumer website is colorful and dynamic but not easy to navigate.
It takes a while to figure out how to display faucet products. Once you figure that out, there is a filtering option to help you drill down to the faucet you are looking for, but the filtering system is itself a little odd.
The filter categories are "Faucet Version", "Faucet Operation", and "Spray Type." Faucet operation gives you four handle choices: 2-handle, side lever, single lever, and top lever. We tried "side lever" and pulled up five pages of faucets with side handles. "Top-lever" was not as accurate. It resulted in eleven top-handle faucets, but also six side-handle faucets.
Moving on to "Faucet Version", there are 17 options, all to do with the faucet configuration: arc-spout, pull-down-spray, swivel-spout, and so on.
Oddly enough, there was no option to filter on faucet finish – the faucet feature of most interest to the typical buyer.
We conclude that while the filters work well, they are not as useful as they could be. Re-labeling "Faucet Operation" to "Handle Placement" would be a more useful heading, and adding a "Finish" filter would be of enormous benefit.
Once you arrive at a faucet that you would like to examine in more detail, the detail is lacking.
Product information is very sparse. It includes spray type (stream, spray, spray, and stream), flow rate, and countertop hole diameter, all helpful. But, the ceramic cartridge is described only as "ceramic cartridge" which is not at all helpful. Where to buy invariably lists "showroom."
What's missing are the available finishes and multiple images of the faucet to facilitate visualization of the faucet from multiple viewpoints.
All listings contain a link to a "factsheet" that supposedly can be downloaded. Clicking on the link in most instances, however, offers the option of printing the document with or without your preferred dealer information. Click on print and the document is created. Only then are you given the option of downloading the document. The process is very confusing until you get used to it.
The information in the factsheet is disappointing – just a rehash of the same specifications already displayed in the faucet listing. The only additional information is a small dimensioned drawing which helps determine whether a faucet is a good fit for your kitchen sink.
A link to installation instructions is provided, but you have to page down to find it. There are also links to product pictures that do not actually display the product pictures. You have to save them to your device, then you can display them. The "pictures" turned out to be the same image already displayed in the product listing.
The link to "Technical Drawing Marketing" also does not immediately display the drawing. You have to save it to your device, then you can open it. After we saved it to the desktop, we opened it and found that it was nothing more than the same dimensioned drawing contained in the factsheet, just larger.
We could not find an exploded parts diagram for any faucet anywhere on the Franke site. A parts diagram is commonly provided on faucet websites. (see Faucet Basics, Part 8: How to Buy a Faucet for more information.) The faucet's certifications are not listed nor is a link to the faucet's warranty.
All in all the site is long on promotion with an abundance of pretty pictures, but short on hard information which is woefully lacking.
Franke Faucet Warranty
The Franke faucet warranty for products purchased on or after October 1, 2023 is a mess.
Our panel of seasoned warranty lawyers had a time parsing out its terms in any sort of reasonable order, but here's what they came up with:
- The warranty applies only to the original owner of the faucet, it cannot be transferred to a subsequent owner.
- Body, spout, handle (e.g. the non-moving parts that are extremely unlikely to fail), and chrome finishes are guaranteed for the "expected useful lifetime" of the faucets
- Cartridges, hoses, electrial componets (e.g. the moving parts that are most likely to fail), and any finish other than chrome are limited to a 5-year warranty.
- Aerators are guaranteed for just 1 year.
- Franke, at its option, may repair or replace the product or components necessary to restore the product to good working condition. All decisions by Franke are "final."
- Franke reserves the right to inspect the faucet's installation prior to the actual replacement of the product or component part.
- The customer pays to have replacement parts or a new faucet shipped by Franke and for the labor to install the parts or replace the faucet.
- Franke disclaims all other warranties INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, (1) ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, (2) WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE … (Capitalization in the original warranty text.)
There are more than a few problems with the warranty.
Unneeded Penny-Pinching
Some of its provisions are just plain chintzy.
What does a billion dollar international company gain by gouging a customer for the few dollars it takes to ship replacement parts or a new faucet? How is that going to play with friends, family, and the guys in the carpool?
The loss of goodwill is far greater than the modest cost of shipping – something companies like learned many decades ago but which appears to have escaped Franke's attention.
Legal Problems
These are also many legal problems with the warranty which suggest to us that whoever wrote the warranty was less than completely familiar with the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301), the law that dictates the content and form of consumer product warranties in the U.S.
Here are a few of the more obvious issues, but not all of them by any means:
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"Expected Lifetime of the Faucet:
The non-moving parts of a faucet (body, spout, handle) are guaranteed for the "expected lifetime of the faucet." Just what is the "expected lifetime" of a faucet? Exactly when does a faucet dies, and how does one determine that a faucet is dead?
- The warranty provides no help. It does not described how that "expected lifetime" is to be determined. So, we don't know how long Franke expects its faucets to last – although based on its faucet warranty we could plausibly conclude that it's not for very long.
- This lack of definition violates Magnuson-Moss which requires the duration of a warranty to be clearly defined "in simple and readily understood" language (15 U.S.C. § 2302(a)) that allows the duration of the warranty to be easily determined by a prospective buyer.
- Absent a defintion, courts have little choice under the legal doctrine of contra proforentum but to interpret "expected lifetime" to mean the longest period of time reasonably possible given the wording of the warranty.
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Defective Exclusion of Consequential and Incidental Damages:
Warrantors like Franke are free to exclude consequential and incidental damages from warranty coverage, and Franke makes the attempt with the following language:"This warranty does not allow recovery of incidental or consequential damages such as loss of use, delay, property damage or other consequential damage, and Franke accepts no liability for such damages."
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However, Magnuson-Moss requires that if an attempt is made to exclude consequential or incidental damages, the following language must be added to the warranty:
"Some States do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you."
The required language is entirely missing from the Franke warranty, which makes the attempted exclusion of consequential and incidental damages void and without legal effect.
Consequential and incidental damages are those other than the defect in the faucet itself. For example, your Franke faucet leaks and damages your cabinets. The leak is a "direct damage" to the faucet. The damage to the cabinets is a "consequential damage". If you need to hire an engineer to prove that the leak caused the damage to the cabinets, the engineer's fees are an "incidental damage". CollecStively, consequential and incidental damages are collectively called "indirect" or "special" damages;
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Illegal Attempt to Exclude State Law Warranties:
Franke attempts to exclude state law warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with the following lanaguage:"EXCEPT FOR THE WARRANTIES SET FORTH HEREIN, FRANKE MAKES NO WARRANTY WHATSOEVER WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCTS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, (1) ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, (2) WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, …" (Capitalization in the original.)
- The problem with this attempt is that it is not allowed.
- Magnuson-Moss does not permit a company that provides a written warranty to reject or exclude (lawyers say "disclaim") state law implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. (15 U.S.C. § 2302(a))
- Written warranties are intended by Magnuson-Moss to supplement implied warranties. They are "in addition to" not "in place of." So the language in the Franke warranty that seeks to substitute the Franke's written warranty for state law implied warranties is just a bluff that has no legal effect.
- What this means to you, a potential buyer is that not only do you have the warranty protection offered by the company, but also all of the protections provided by state law in your state's implied warranties of merchantability and fitness.
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Lack of Pre-Sale Availability:
The Franke faucet warranty is not online. We had to dig through the paperwork that came with our test faucets to find the warranty buried in installation instructions.
- What's online appears to be a summary of the warranty, provided by Franke "as a service to our customers." Customers would be better served if Franke posted its actual warranty.
Franke Customer Support
Franke customer service passed our basic tests for product knowledge and ease of use. Wait times were reasonable, and we received competent help with our purely imaginary faucet installation problem.
The Better Business Bureau rates Franke's response to consumer problems an "A-" on a scale of A+ to F, up from a B at our last update. Franke is not a BBB accredited business.
Testing & Certification
Comparable Companies
Faucet companies are comparable to Franke made in China, Taiwan, Israel, and the U.S. include:
Conclusions
Franke faucets are expensive, especially for what are, in the final analysis, primarily Chinese faucets designed by a Swiss company.
Frank's prices for faucets manufactured by Globe Union are an example. They are considerably higher than Globe Union charges for faucets of similar quality sold as one of its own brands such as We don't see any substantial difference in durability, reliability, functionality, or finish.
Whether a Franke faucet is worth the much higher price because it is designed in Switzerland and wears a Franke nameplate is essentially a personal judgment. Our opinion, however, is that it is not.
Conyinuing Research
We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Franke faucets, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please starcraftreviews@yahoo.com or post a comment below.