Novatto Faucets Review & Rating Updated: September 16, 2025
Law Requirements
Warranty Footnotes:
1. "[F] or as s the original consumer purchaser owns their home …"2. "[F]inishes … are warranted to the original consumer … for … one year."Read the the Novatto Faucet warranty..
☆ What you need to know about faucet warranties.☆ See how we determine warranty scores.☆ Understanding the federal Magnuson Moss Warranty Act.☆ Learn how to enforce your product warranty.
This Company In Brief
Novatto is a sink company that also sells kitchen and bath sink faucets, bathroom furniture, and some accessories, all imported from China. The faucet collection includes a generous selection of faucets designed to be used with vessel sinks to complement the company's extensive collection of such sinks.
The company sells through showrooms and plumbing supply houses such as Briggs; big box lumber stores like Sutherlands, Lowes, and Builders Warehouse; and online through ATG Stores (a Lowes affiliate), Faucet Direct, Build.com, Amazon, Wayfair, and discount sites such as CyberMonday and NinjaSteals.
The faucets are of reasonable quality but with no design distinction. They are largely indistinguishable from faucets sold by any number of importers of Chinese-made faucets.
Unfortunately, however, Novatto faucets have not been certified to North American standards.
The Company
Novatto, Inc. is a South Dakota corporation organized in 2011 by Robert Mark Vander Waal. As of the date of this report, it is listed by the South Dakota Secretary of State as in "good standing," meaning that it can legally transact business in South Dakota.
However, its principal business address is in Phoenix, Arizona.
According to Arizon law, all "foreign" corporations with a business location in the state are required to file an Application for Authority to Transact Business with the Arizona Corporation Commission and maintain a registered agent and office within the state for service of process.
Records of the Commission show no application has been filed by Novatto, Inc. In consequence, the company is conducting business in Arizona illegally.
Novatto Faucets
It is obvious from the company website that sinks are the company's main product.
It sells bathroom and kitchen faucets to accompany its sinks, along with bathroom furnishings and accessories.
All products, including faucets, are imported from China.
The company's forté appears to be selling vessel sinks with matching vessel faucets as a set. This is a niche market, but probably a successful niche since it is thinly occupied.
Its other products include copper bathtubs, toilets, showeers, vanities, and accessories for the bath; and sinks and accessories for the kitchen.
Many of the kitchen "acessories" are actually replacement parts such as spray heads and a valve cartridge. The only true accessories are sink grates, a copper drain, and a faucet base plate (sold separately).
Notatto's faucet supplier is Wenzhou Haijun Sanitary Hardware Co., Ltd., a Chinese manufacturer that also supplies
Faucet Designs
The faucets are designs owned by Haijun, neither created for nor exclusive to Novatto.
They all appear in Haijun's . For example, the Novatto GF-136 Eclipse faucet is in the Haijun general catalog as the Haijun 81H36 faucet.
The faucets are fairly common Chinese designs. Most, with minor differences, are manufactured by dozens of Chinese faucet manufacturers.
Chinese faucet styles tend to be conservative. Chinese factories make money selling mass-market faucets to mass-market customers, and to reach the widest customer base, keep their designs well within conventional design limits. There are few design adventures in China and none in the Novatto collection.
Although the website divides its faucet and sink collections into Traditional, Mid-Century Modern, and Contemporary styles, almost all of the faucet designs are very contemporary.
Of the eleven faucets in the Traditional group, just five could arguably be classified as traditional styles. Its Mid-Century Modern group includes just two out of ten faucets that are not obviously contemporary designs, and neither faucet is close to having the elegant minimalist styling of the Mid-Century Modern era.
Novatto Faucet Finishes
Five finishes are available on Novatto faucets: Brused Nickel, Chrome, Gunmetal, Matte Black, and Oil-Rubbed Bronze. There is no option for special finishes.
The company does not have a great deal of faith in its finishes. The warranty against finish defects is a mere one year compared to the lifetime warranty on the rest of a faucet.
Novatto does not finish its faucets. They are delivered from the manufacturer already finished. Three different processes are used to produce the finishes.
According to Novatto, Chrome is an electroplated finish, Brushed nickel is produced using Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and the remaining finishes are powder coatings.
The type of process used makes a difference to the durability of the finish and the level of care and maintenance required to keep the finish "like new."
Electroplating
Electroplating is the time-proven standard, having served the industry well for over 100 years.
It involves immersing the faucet and the metal to be used as plating in an acid bath, then applying an electrical charge to both objects so metallic ions are drawn from the plating metal to the faucet.
Chrome the most commonly used plated metal, followed distantly by nickel.
In most instances, electroplating is a multi-coat process. Undercoats of copper and nickel usually precede the final decorative coating. The undercoats have two purposes:
- Some metals, chrome being one, do not adhere very well to naked brass. One or more nickel undercoats are used before the chrome is applied so the finish does not flake or peel. If finishing zinc, undercoats of copper then nickel are commonly used. The copper sticks well to zinc, nickle adheres tightly to copper, and chrome bonds securely to nickel.
- Undercoats help smooth out any imperfections in the faucet matrial. PVD, for example, has no gap-filling properties whatsoever, so it is not uncommon for faucets to be undercoated with electroplated nickel and/or chrome before a PVD coating is applied. The undercoats eliminate any potential flaws in the surface so they don't show up in the final finish.
Understanding Finish Warranties
A finish warranty does not protect against everything that can go wrong with a faucet finish.
It protects against defects caused by faulty materials or errors in the finishing process, generally subsumed under the rubric "manufacturing defects."
Blistering, delaminating, peeling, and spalling are the usual manufacturing defects. These are very rare – almost unheard of. The bad old days of peeling China chrome are long gone.
Most finish problems these days are caused by overzealous cleaning and ordinary wear and tear, neither of which is covered by a finish warranty.
If it peels, the company pays, but if you scratch it or it turns a funny color after you polished it a few times with Wham-X All Purpose Miracle Cleaner, you are on your own.
The durability of the finish depends on the metal used as the plating material.
Chrome is non-corrosive and very hard. It does not visibly tarnish [1] and resists scratches and other surface damage very well.
Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)
Other metals, such as Nickel, are softer and scratch fairly easily, which is the reason chrome replaced nickel as the preferred faucet finish early in the 20th century. Novatto's Nickel finish is a PVD coating, a very good choice.
The PVD finishing process is almost science fiction.
Load a chamber with unfinished faucet components. Remove all the air and add back a carefully calculated mix of nitrogen and reactive gases.
Add a chunk of the metal to be used for the coating, usually in the form of a rod then heat that rod to a temperature so high that the rod dissolves into individual atoms.
The atoms mix with the various reactive gases to get the color and finish effects you want and are then deposited in a very thin layer – 2 to 5 microns (.00008-.0002") – on the faucets. Although very thin, the coating is very hard (Rockwell HRC-80+ and Vickers HV-2600+) and bonded to the faucet at a molecular level, essentially becoming an integral part of the fabric of the faucet,
PVD is commonly used to simulate metals that are not very durable using metals that do are extremely hard.
Novatto's PVD Nickel, for example, is not nickel. It is probably titanium or zirconium made to look like nickel using PVD processing. It is very durable. Laboratory testing has shown PVD finishes it to be up to 20 times more scratch-resistant than electroplated finishes.
In our admittedly less scientific tests, a Scotch Brite® heavy-duty scouring pad was able to damage PVD Nickel very slightly, and it still took considerable effort. Brillo® pads had no effect at all. (Nonetheless, keep all scouring pads far, far away from your faucet finishes.)
Powder Coating
Gunmetal, Matte Black, and Oil-Rubbed Bronze are powder coatings.
These are much less robust, usually described as "semi-durable", requiring more care than electroplated or PVD finishes to maintain a like-new appearance.
They are essentially a powdered paint, used widely to produce a color finish. It may be the technology used to produce the color coat on your car.
|
Faucet Price Comparison
Novatto NKF-H06SS MAX Kitchen Faucet As of September 2025
|
|
|---|---|
| Retail Source | Price |
| Bath Barn | $346.50 |
| Briggs | $462.00 |
| Home Depot | $196.56 |
| Kitchen & Bath Autority | $290.78 |
| Novatto | $462.00 |
| Walmart | $195.37 |
| Wayfair | $199.99 |
| Prices are in U.S. Collars | |
The powder is applied using a special low-velocity spray gun that disperses the powder while giving it a positive electrical charge. The powder particles are drawn to the faucet which has been given a negative charge.
Once the powder is applied, the faucet is baked in an oven at about 400°F (204°C) which melts and bonds the powder and changes the structure of the coating into long, cross-linked molecular chains. These chains are what give the coating its durability.
Because it is a relatively soft finish, many manufacturers then apply a clear top coat of a tougher accrlic material to improve the finish's durability. Car makers do the same thing. The car's color coat is oversprayed with a more durable "clear coat."
A faucet's powder coated finish has about the same durability as the finish on your car, tough but not immune to scratches and chips.
Where to Buy
Novatto sells on its own website and through plumbing supply houses and showrooms such as Briggs Kitchen and Bath; big box lumber stores like Sutherlands, Lowe's Stores, and Menards; and online through Amazon, Wayfair, and Overstock.
Faucets on the Novatto website are generally sold at list price which is considerably higher than the price at which the faucets can be purchased from other retail sources. (See the Faucet Price Comparison table, above.)
The wide variation in retail prices suggests that the company does not enforce a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policy that limits how much dealers may discount from the manufactur's list price.
The lack of a MAP policy is good for buyers but disadvantages showroom dealers like Briggs that cannot affort to discount as heavily as lower-overhead internet sellers.
| Specification, Property, or Document | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ADA Compliant, Yes or No | 5 | |
| Aerator Manufacturer Identified | 0 | No |
| Baseplate Included, Yes or No | 5 | |
| Certifications Identified | 0 | Falsely claimed |
| Countertop Thickness, Maximum | 5 | |
| Dimensions/Dimensioned Drawing | 5 | |
| Drain Included, Yes or No | 5 | |
| Faucet Images: Multiple, Images, 360° Display, Video Link | 5 | May include a video. |
| Finish Images Provided | 5 | |
| Finish Process Identified and described | 0 | In general but not for each finish |
| Flow Rate Maximum Stated | 0 | No |
| Installation Instructions | 5 | Generic |
| Materials, Primary | 5 | |
| Materials, Secondary | 0 | None stated |
| Mounting Holes, Number ∓ Diameter | 5 | |
| Parts Diagram | 0 | None provided |
| Spray Head Material Identified | 0 | No |
| Spray Hose Type Identified | 0 | No |
| Supply Connection Size/Type Identified | 5 | |
| Supply Hose Included. Yes or No | 5 | |
| Supply Hose Type Identified | 0 | No |
| Valve/Cartridge Type Identified | 5 | |
| Valve/Cartridge Source Identified | 0 | No |
| Warranty Link Provided | 5 | |
| Watersense, Yes or No | 0 | No indicated |
|
SCALE:
90+ A Excellent, 80+ B Good, 70+ C Average, 60+ D Poor, 59- F Fail
| ||
| Download/Read/Print the minimum content required in an online faucet listing to permit an informed buying decision. | ||
Not all of Novatto's retailers sell its faucets. Some sell only sinks and accessories, items that are not required to be certified or registered.
A "showroom locator" on the website facilitates finding a retailer by zip code, but it is not always up to date.
Novatto Website
At our last update, we noted that the company website gave the impression of one that was not quite ready for prime time. A lot of things were seemingly left undone. It was was incomplete with many features that did not work and links that led nowhere.
Things have improved.
The website seems finished. Most of its features work, although we did get one 404 (page not found) error.
The search function is accurate and efficient. The information provided about individual faucets is better than it was, but still incomplete and far from sufficient for a fully informed faucet-buying decision.
Faucets are illustrated with several images, including one or more of the faucets installed in a bath or kitchen setting. Several images make visualizing the faucet much easier than a single image.
Even better are the 360° views provided by companies such as Clicking on the 360° icon displays the faucet in a box that allows the viewer to rotate the faucet with the mouse to view it from any angle.
The finishes available for each faucet are shown in a drop-down menu so the preferred finish can be easily selected.
Finishes are listed in plain English some of the time. For many faucets, however, finishes are displayed in code. Why? We have no idea, but it is certainly not very handy. To make a finish selection, you have to know, for example, that "NBF-01OORB" means oil-rubbed bronze or that NBF-084BN is brushed nickel.
Additional information about the faucet is displayed under four tabs: Details, Description, Specs, and Product Guides.
- Details: or Product Details: Basic information about the faucet, including number of mounting holes, number of handles, overall configuration, material (usually brass), and certifications.
- Description: Provides some additional information about the faucet, but also duplicates much of the Details tab in narrative form.
- Specs: Usually just dimensions, weight, and spout reach, no other specifications.
- Product Guides: Portable document format (.pdf) files that may include a specification sheet, installation instructions, a care and maintenance guide, and the warranty.
The installation instructions are useful to have in advance of purchase so your plumber can identify any problems that may occur at installation in the particular location you have chosen.
The link to warranty information is not only useful but required by recent additions to the Federal Trade Commission's consumer product warranty regulations.
The .pdf Specification Sheet is not a true specification sheet, which is used to provide very detailed information about the faucet, usually including a dimensioned drawing and possibly an exploded parts diagram. Novatto's sheet contains very few actual specifications.
Novatto Valve Cartridges
Missing in this jumbled cornucopia of information, however, is the identity of the ceramic cartridge used in the faucet.
Buying Rule for Smart Faucet Buyers
The Faucet Cartridge
Never buy a faucet unless you know who made the valve cartridge.
Its valve is the most critical part of a faucet. It is the component that controls water flow. Without a working valve, a faucet is no longer a faucet.
Companies that use good-quality valve cartridges in their faucets usually disclose the cartridge source on their websites.
Those that don't have the information on their websites will happily identify the cartridge in a call to customer service.
If the company declines to disclose the sources of its cartridges (because it is a "trade secret"), you can confidently assume it is not one of the better brands.
Replacement Cartridges: If Novatto does not stock the cartridge for your faucet, don't panic. Novatto's's valves are cartridges, so they are available from replacement parts sellers, such as Faucets Parts Plus or Chicago Faucet Shoppe, usually for leass than Novatto charges.
For more information about faucet valves and valve cartridges and the companies that make ceramic cartridges that are known to be reliable, see Faucet Valves & Cartridges.
The cartridges we examined are clearly of Chinese origin but contain no maker marks that identify the manufacturer. These could be from any of a dozen manufacturers, some making good cartridges, some not so good.
Its ceramic valve cartridge is the heart of a modern faucet. The cartridge controls water flow and (in single-handle faucets) water temperature.
With a working cartridge, a faucet is a faucet doing what faucets do: metering water in a safe and controlled manner. Without a working cartridge, a faucet is just an oddly-shaped paperweight.
So, it is vitally important that the ceramic cartridge is tough, durable, and long-lived.
Generally, companies that sell faucets with top-line cartridges are not at all shy about advertising the fact. Companies that don't use top-quality cartridges are more hesitant.
Where the cartridge is not identified, we assume it is not one of these top-drawer cartridges.
The Novatto cartridges we examined were generic. They were not inscribed with any marks that identify the manufacturer. We found the cartridges for sale on Chinese websites that supply valve cartridges, which tells us they are Chinese-made, but by whom, we don't know, and Novatto's website is not telling.
However, mixing cartridges for single-handle faucets like those used in the Novatto GF-136 Eclipse faucet were marked as meeting NSF and WRAS standards. The NSF mark indicates they have been tested and certified free of lead, other toxins, and dangerous pathogens, and are not harmful to drinking water. (WRAS is the English standard. It differs from and is slightly less rigorous than the U.S./Canadian NSF standards.)
They have not, however, been certified to the basic North American faucet standard, ASME A112.18.1/CSA 125.1.
A cartridge certified to that standard has been durability tested through 500,000 on-off cycles to simulate 78 years of normal household use, and a "burst test" in which ten times normal household water pressure is applied to the faucet for one minute to see if it will deform or leak.
If it fails either of these tests, the cartridge is not certified for use in faucets in North America.
Stem cartrodges used in two-handle faucets like the Novatto Muld faucet were not makred at all.
All About Valve Cartridges:
For more information on the types of faucet valves and the advantages and drawbacks of each type, see Faucet Valves & Cartridges.Novatto Faucet Warranty
The Novatto warranty comes close to the standard North American limited lifetime warranty, pioneered more than half a century ago by If anything breaks during the warranty period, the company promises to provide the parts required to fix it free of charge. But, while close,, it does not quite make the cut. Still, it is considerably improved compared to the company's past warranties.
Legal Defects in the Novatto Warranty
The Novatto faucet warranty does not meet the minimum legal requirements for a consumer warranty mandated by the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. § 2308).
-
Defective Captioning:
The first, and probably insurmountable problem with the warranty is its caption. It is clear from the text of the warranty that Novatto intends to offer a limited warranty, but its caption is just "Warranty".
However, Magnuson-Moss requires a consumer product limited warranty to be clearly and unambiguously "designated" in the caption with the word "Limited".
Without the word "Limited", a warranty is automatically converted to a full warranty, irrespective of any actual intent of the company. (15 U.S.C. § 2303(a), 16 CFR §700.6)
A full warranty gives the consumer many more rights, and these rights arise whether or not they are stated in the warranty (and even if they are specifically excluded by the warranty)
-
Ineffective Disclaimer of Incidental and Consequential Damages:
The Novatto warranty attempts to deny (lawyers say "disclaim") liability for
" … loss of profits or any direct or indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages howsoever incurred or designated arising out of any breached claim of warranty."
Magnuson-Moss permits disclaimer of special, incidental, or consequential damages in a product warranty if, and only if, the warranty also includes the following qualifying statement. 16 C.F.R. § 701.3(8)
"Some states, provinces, and nations do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations or exclusions may not apply to you."
The Novatto warranty does not contain the qualifying statement. Without it, the attempted disclaimer is ineffective and will be ignored by any court considering the matter (16 CFR § 701.3(8)), The buyer may be awarded not only incidental and consequential damages but also all of his or her attorney fees (15 USC § 2310(d)(2)).
-
Illegal Disclaimer of State Law Warranties:
The warranty also attempts to disclaim the applicability of state implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for purpose, although the language is itself awkward:
" Except as provided by law, this warranty is in lieu of and excludes all other warranties, conditions, and guarantees, whether expressed or implied, statutory or otherwise, including without restriction those of merchantability or of fitness for use."
Magnuson-Moss considers a company's written warranty to be a supplement to and an extension of implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for purpose arising under state law. These implied warranties cannot be "disclaimed." in a company's written warranty. .(15 U.S.C. § 2308(a))
-
Omitted Required Language:
The warranty must contain the following mandatory language designed to alert the consumer that he or she also has remedies for a faucet defect other than the Novatto warranty. 16 C.F.R. § 701.3(9)
"This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from State to State." The Novatto warranty does not include this mandatory language, and this omission alone makes it less likely that a U.S. court will find any of the restrictive provisions of the warranty enforceable."
- These requirements doe not apply in Canada, but most Provinces enforce similar mandates.
The warranty applies to just the original purchaser. It is not transferable to any subsequent owner.
For components other than finishes, the warranty lasts for as long as the original purchaser owns "their home." For finishes, it is one year.
We did not examine and test every Novatto finish, but the ones we did test were free of the usual manufaccuring issues and seemed reasonably durable, so the reasons behind the short-term finish warranty is not apparent.
However, undoubtedly Novatto's management knows more about its finishes than we will ever learn and has had years of experience with finish warranty claims. So, if the company believes its finishes will last just one year without a problem, we will take its word for it.
The warranty has problems in addition to its inexplicable finish warranty.
• It does not comply with the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. § 2308).
This statute determines the content and form of consumer product warranties in the U.S. (For a detailed explanation, see the sidebar, Legal Defects in the Novatto Warranty).
• It is poorly written, not drafted by a lawyer. No lawyer, not even one right out of law school, would have made so many basic mistakes. It is bviously a cut-and-paste warranty copied from other warranties. Unfortunately, whoever did the copying did not copy the right language.
The warranty's definition of lifetime is a good example of inept drafting.
The "lifetime" warranty does not last for anyone's or anything's actual lifetime, something that is almost universal in consumer product warranties. It is defined to last only …
Buying Rule for
Smart Faucet Buyers:
Warranty
Never buy a faucet unless you have carefully read and understand the faucet's warranty. It tells you more than the company wants you to know about management's true opinion of the durability and life expectancy of the faucet it sells.
The short, one year, warranty on Novatto's faucet finishes tells you, for example, that there may be a problem with the finishes that Novatto is glossing over in its descriptions of its faucets.
Learn how to interpret faucet warranties at Faucet Basics, Part 6: Understanding faucet Waruranties.
Learn how to enforce your warranty with step-by-step instructions at The Warranty Game: Enforcing Your Product Warranty.
Model Lifetime Warranty: For an example of a warranty that avoids Novatto's drafting problems and complies with the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, download and read our Model Limited Lifetime Warranty.
"[f]or as long as the original consumer purchaser owns their home."
One issue with this defintion arises from the phrase "consumer purchaser."
What if the purchaser is not a consumer?It would be common. for example, for a remodeling contractor to buy a faucet to resell to a homeowner. In which case, who has the warranty?
Not the homeowner. He or she is a consumer but not the purchaser. And, not the plumber. The plumber i a purchaser but not a consumer. He or she is a reseller.
We simply do not know who has the warranty, and we'll leave it to some overworked judge to puzzle this one out.
A simple change in language, however, from "consumer purchaser" to "original consumer owner" would eliminate the problem.
The second problem is this: the consumer purchaser is not required to continue to own the faucet for the warranty to remain in effect. He or she is only required to continue to own "their home."
Here is a simple example of why this is a problem:
You buy a Novatto faucet. A year later, you replace it with a different faucet and give the original Novatto faucet to cousin Nell, who installs it in her house.
What is the status of the warranty?
- The warranty cannot be transferred to Nell because it is, by its own terms, not transferable.
- It is still in force, however, since you still own a home that easily fits the warranty's defintion of "their home."
A few months later, the faucet starts to leak from a defective cartridge, so Nell asks you to make a warranty claim, and, being the good cousin, you do.
Does Novatto have to honor the claim?
Yes, it does. The warranty is still in force, and as long as it is in force, the warranty holder can make valid claims under the warranty no matter who actually owns the faucet.
In other words, while the warranty itself cannot be transferred to a subsequent owner of the faucet, the remedies available under the warranty can be claimed by the original purchaser for the benefit of anyone who owns the faucet.
A lawyer drafting the warranty would have written something along these lines:
"… for as long as the original purchaser owns the faucet and resides in the home in which the faucet is originally installed…"
… which takes care of this problem and two or three others.
Customer Service
Novatto's customer service is helpful, conmpetent, friendly, patient, fast, and efficient. In other words, everything a customer support service should be.
We did not conduct our formal structured service tests. They do not work with small companies. Agents quickly realize they are being tested and change behavior accordingly. We did, however, over the past 90 days, ask a series of questions which were promptly and, for the most part, correctly answered. Where the agents did not know the answer, they just said so rather than trying to wing it.
The only problem we encountered is that agent sometimes gave out false information, the most common being that Novatto faucets are certified. One even sent us a Certificate of Listin for another company claiming it was for Novatto faucets.
This misrepresentation is on management, however, and not the agents who are merely repeating what thay have been told, and what they have been told is false.
Better Business Bureau Rating
The company does not have a Better Business Bureau file, meaning that in all the years it has been in business, no one has filed a compliant about the company with the BBB, an enviable record of responsive customer service.
However, Novatto has not been accredited by the BBB, and is not pledged to the Bureau's high standard of business ethics.
Illegal to Sell, Illegal to Install
To legally import, advertise, offer for sale, sell, or deliver a faucet in the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii and overseas territories, Novatto must comply with a half-dozen federal laws and regulations. Canada has very similar requirements.
Novatto has a perfect record: its faucets comply with absoolutely none of them.
| Minimum Federal Legal Requirements for the Importation and Sale of a Faucet in the U.S. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Federal Statute or Regulation | Requirement | Novatto Compliance |
| 10 CFR § 430.32 | Must be certified [1] to a maximum flow rate of 2.2 gallons per minute or less. | None |
| 16 CFR § 305.24(a)(1) | Must be marked with a permanent legible marking indicating maximum flow rate. | None |
| 10 CFR § 430 | Must be registered with the Department of Energy. | None |
| SDWA 1417(a)(1)(A)) | Must be certified [1] as having a weighted average lead content in its waterway of no more than 0.25% (1/4 of 1%). | None |
| 16 CFR § 305.24(a)(2) | Must be marked with a "a permanent legible marking to identify the manufacturer located where it can be viewed after installation.[2] | None |
| 19 U.S.C. § 1304 | Must ust be marked in a conspicuous place on the faucet or packaging with the name of the country of origin. | None |
Table Footnotes
1. Testing and certification must be by an accredited independent laboratory. Faucets must be identified by the brand and model name or number under which they are offered for sale in a Certificate of Listing.
2. The term "manufacturer" means "any person who manufactures, produces, assembles, or imports" a faucet. (16 CFR § 305.2)
|
||
Novatto has a perfect record: its faucets comply with absoolutely none of them. (See the table, Minimum Federal Legal Requirements for the Importation and Sale of a Faucet in the U.S. for detailed information.)
To legally install a faucet in a household drinking water system, the faucet must comply with the plumbing code requirements adopted by state, provincial, and territorial statutes.
All plumbing codes require faucets to be tested and certified complaint with three standards:
- ASME A112.18.1 / CSA B125.1 Plumbing Supply Fittings: the joint Canadian/U.S. basic faucet standard that ensures the mechanical safety and reliability of faucets, and ease of repair.
- ANSI / NSF 372 Drinking Water System Components - Lead Content: the joint Canadian/U.S. faucet standard that ensures that lead and other toxic substances do not exceed maximum acceptable levels.
- ANSI / NSF 61Drinking Water System Components - Health Effects: the joint Canadian/U.S. faucet standard that ensures that water passing through the faucets does not pick up harmful chemicals or dangerous pathogens that cause illnesses such as Legionnaire's Disease.
Some states and provinces, such as California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Quebec, impose additional requirements, but certified compliance with these three standards is the absolute minimum everywhere.
The certification compliance information stated for Novatto faucets on the company website…T
"cUPC and AB1953 low lead compliant, NSF 61 and NSF 372 certified,"
… is simply not true.
Novatto faucets do not appear on any certificate of listing in the U.S. or Canada showing compliance with these standards.
Testing & Certification
In our initial review of this company in 2016, we noted that the faucets were not certified and, therefore, illegal to install in the U.S. or Canada. We also reported that the faucets had not been registered with the Department of Energy.
At that time, he company owner told us that Novatto was in the process of certification and registration.
In 2018, we were again told by a company spokesman that the company was in the process of certification and registration. In 2021, when we last revised this report, we got the same story.
In 2025, Novatto faucets are still not certified, and while the certification processe can often take a few months, none takes nine years. (Registration with the DOE takes just a few hours.)
The company is aware that the law requires its faucets to be tested, certified, and registered. For whatever reason, it has consistently failed to do so.
Legal Actions
The California Energy Commission sued Novatto, Inc. for illegally selling unapproved faucets in California from July 2015 to October 2020. The company paid a penalty of $5,000.00 to settle the suit in 2021 and agreed to stop selling unapproved faucets in California.
So far, the company has avoided the consequences of failing to register its faucets with the Department of Energy as required by law. The DOE is underfunded, understaffed, and a little overwhelmed, but it will get around to Novatto eventually. Considering the length of time it has sold unregistered faucets and the number of faucets it sells, at $560.00 per day per faucet, it can expect a monster penalty assessment.
Comparable Faucets
Chinese and Taiwanese faucets comparable to Novatto that are fully certified to U.S./Canadian standards, and compliant with U.S. law, usually with a stronger warranty, and legal to sell and install in both countries, include
Conclusions
Novatto has only the most casual regard for the laws of the land. As far as we can tell, it has found very few that it has not chosen to ignore.
It illegally conducts business in Arizona, knowingly sells faucets that are illegal for sale under at least four U.S. statutes, and illegal for use in a household water system in any locality in Canada or the U.S. It has also ignored provisions of federal warranty law designed to protect consumers from illegal warranty manipulation.
This lack of compliance with basic state and federal laws raises serious reasonable questions about the ethics of the company.
We can find no earthly reason to buy Novatto faucets.
They are off-the-shelf Chinese faucets of no particular design distinction and with no unique characteristics. Their quality seems reaonable, but similar, if not identical, Chinese faucets that are of equal quality and are certified safe, reliable, and lead-free through independent testing are imported by any number of other faucet companies, as the list above shows.
If you install a Novatto faucet in your home, you are at risk, not just from the very real possibility of harmful chemicals or dangerous pathogens, but from the law. If caught, you alone will bear the expense of replacing the faucet and possibly pay a small fine. But, in an ever-increasing number of jurisdictions, you can go to jail for a knowing and intentional violation.
So, buyer beware.
Continuing Research
We are continuing to research the Novatto and its sink faucets. If you have experience with faucets from any of this company, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us at starcraftreviews@yahoo.com or post a comment below.
Please note: we do not answer questions posted in the comments unless the answer would be of general interest. If you have a question, email us at starcraftreviews@yahoo.com. We will generally answer within one business day.
Footnotes
1. Chrome does tarnish, but the result is a thin layer that can be wiped off with a damp cloth. It is an almost ivisible film that usually manifests as a dulling of the finish rather than a change in color or texture.
Chrome polish ingredients include mild abrasives like aluminum oxide or kaolin. These produce microscopic scratches in the chrome which will eventually result in a permanent dulling of the finish. It should be used, if at all, very sparingly. Very dirty chrome faucets should be washed with a mild dishwashing liquid and dried with a soft cloth to prevent water spots.