Wasserman & WMF Faucets, by Plumbwerk, Inc. Review & Rating Updated: Aoril 21, 2025
Law Requirements
Warranty Footnotes:
1. …warranted to be free from defects in material or workmanship under normal use for the lifetime you own the product."2. Finishes are guaranteed against "tarnishing, flaking and discoloration" only.
- Doanload/Read/Print the Wasserman warranty.
- Learn more about faucet warranties.
This Company In Brief
Plumbwerk, Inc. imports and sells inexpensive faucets, many of which are plastic or zinc, made in Indonesia and China.
Its primary brand is Wasserman but it also sells as WMF on hosting sites such as Amazon and Walmart. Many of its faucets are sold under both brands.
The faucets are of average quality, manufactured by Asian factories. Some are plastic.
Plumbwerk has considerable confidence in the durability of the faucets, offering a well-written lifetime warranty to the original buyer.
Its customer service, however, leaves a lot to be desired, and its Better Business Rating of "D" on a scale of A+ to F suggests that it does not always handle customer issues effectively.
Plumbwerk sells economy faucets imported from manufacturers in Indonesia and China.
It sells under two brands: Wasserman and WMF. Many of its faucets are sold under both brands, often on the same retail website, under different model numbers.
- Wasserman: is a tradename under which Plumbwerk conducts business and is one brand under which the company sells faucets. Plumbwerk has registered Wasserman Faicets® as a U. S. trademark. Its website is at WassermanFaucets.com.
- WMF: is a registered brand name used by Plumbwerk to sell its economy faucets including some plastic faucets. The brand soes not have its own website.
The company sells on a proprietary website, wasserman.com, and through sites that host third-party sellers such as Amazon, Walmart, and Wayfair.
The WMF brand does not have a proprietary website.
The Company
Plmbwerk, Inc. is an Illinois corporation organized in 2016 by Fongyu Wu and Tsai-YU Wu, currently the company's president and secretary.
The company moved to its present address in 2016, occupying a building formerly housing Phillips Electric.
It initially sold plumbing products as Plumbwerk® and Westmont Forge®. It no longer sells as Westmont Forge and most Plumwerks-branded faucets have disappeared.
As of the date of this report, we found one plastic Plumbwerk faucet for sale at Menards. The Plumbwerk and Wetmont Forge trademarks have been abandoned. (Plumbwerk should not be confused with )
The words, "Wasserman Faucets" (88086908) (but not the stand-alone word "Wasserman") and WMF (88219799) have been registered as trademarks in the U.S. covering "Faucets; Shower heads; [and] Sinks" but not in Canada. The Wasserman logo (see above) has not been registered.
The Manufacturers
Plumbwerk does not manufacture or even assemble its faucets and they are not, as the name Wasserman (a variation of "water-man" in German) suggests, made in Germany. They are manufactured in Asia.
We have identified two companies that we know manufacture Plumbwerk faucets and one that provides faucet cartridges. We believe we have them all but there may be others.
The known manufacturers are:
PT Citi Plumb, founded in 2015, is an Indonesian company that manufactures faucets and shower components. According to import and customs records, it is Plumbwerk's principal supplier. Import records show eight large shipments to Plumbwerk over the past 6 months.
We have found no indication that City Plumb is an ISO-9001 manufacturer. We have examined the usual registries, including those that typically cover Indonesia. But there is no central registry, so it is easy to miss a registration. The City Plumb website does not mention ISO-9001 registration.
Wellmade Faucets Corp. is an ISO-9001-certified manufacturer organized in Taiwan but manufacturing in Guangdong, China.
Both companies specialize in inexpensive faucets for mobile homes, recreational vehicles, manufactured housing, and multi-unit housing. Most of their North American customers provide plumbing products to these industries. These include American Brass Manufacturing, LaSalle Bristol, and Posey Supply Company.
A third supplier, Long TaiCopper Corporation of Taiwan plays a minor role.
It makes well-regarded commercial faucets for restaurants and institutional kitchens selling under the Lucky Top brand.
It does not, however, supply faucets to Plumbwerk. What it does provide are valve cartridges although since Plumbwerk uses the word "faucet" to describe its shower controllers, we don't know whether these are shower valves, faucet valves, or both.
Faucet Materials
Brass is the preferred material for faucets because it is strong enough to handle household water pressure of as much as 60 pounds per square inch (psi) year after year without fail, easily fabricated, and takes applied finishes very well.
We have not, however, found a single brass faucet in the Plumwerk lineup.
Instead, Plumbtech faucets are made of stainless steel, plastic, and what the company calls "hybrid metal."
Plastic
Quite a few Plumbwerk faucets are made of plastic, although the word "plastic" is an anathema in the industry and rarely used by the company. They are described on the Wasserman website as "non-metallic" faucets.
The plastics common in faucets are Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Polyoxymethylene (POM). These are low-cost, easily manufactured, non-toxic, impact-resistant plastics often used in incidental faucet components such as aerators, base plates, and, parts that are not subject to household water pressure.
Plastic, as you can imagine, is not strong enough to handle pressure year after year. Household water pressure can be as high as 60 pounds per square inch (psi). This may not seem like much but it is equivalent to placing a four-ton weight on one square foot of your floor – a weight that will immediately collapse the floor.
Plastic faucets have legitimate uses.
They are a regular feature of chemical laboratories where caustic chemicals could damage most metal faucets. They are entirely adequate as a temporary faucet while waiting for your permanent brass faucet to be delivered from the Italian hinterland of the upper Piedmont.
They can also be effectively used where water pressure is very low such as in recreation vehicles fed from a tank on the roof.
But as permanent household faucets, they are at best suspect.
Stainless Steel
A few of the faucets sold by Plumbwerk are made from stainless steel. These tend to be the company's pricier faucets.
It is very common to find stainless steel kitchen faucets. Plumbwerk, however, also sells stainless steel bathroom faucets, which are much less common.
Steel is much harder and stronger than brass. It can be made in thinner profiles that use less material and still have more than adequate strength.
Stainless 304, also known as "food-grade" stainless, is by far the most common alloy used in faucets.
It includes chromium and nickel. The nickel gives the steel a crystalline structure which increases its strength. The chromium helps the steel resist corrosion.
Why Stainless Steel Does Not Rust: Properly alloyed stainless contains at least 10% chromium (which gives stainless its slight yellowish tinge) and a dollop of nickel. These form a coating of oxides and hydroxides on the outer surface of the steel that blocks oxygen and water from reaching the underlying metal, preventing rust from forming. The coating is very thin, only a few atoms thick, so thin that it is invisible to the eye under ordinary light but thick enough to protect the faucet.
"Hybrid Metal"
The majority of Plumbtech's faucets are made of what it calls "hybrid metal."
Hybrid metals do exist. They are combinations of metal and other materials like ceramics and polymers that make the material stronger, lighter, and/or less likely to corrode. Commonly used in the automotive industry and aeronautics, hybrids are fairly expensive and have not yet shown up in anything as mundame as faucets.
Buying Rule for Smart Faucet Buyers:
The FaucetValve
Never buy a faucet unless you know who made the valve.
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 valves in their faucets usually disclose the valve source on their websites. Those that don't will happily identify the valve in a call to customer service.
If the company refuses to reveal the sources of its valves (because it is a "trade secret"), you can confidently assume it is not one of the better brands.
For more information about faucet valves and valves and the companies that make valves known to be reliable, see faucet Valves & Cartridges.
From visual examination we have concluded that Plumbwerk calls "hybrid metal" is nothing more exotic than zinc. (We asked the company to verify our conclusion but it has not responded to the request.)
Zinc is another of those words that faucet companies avoid using.
The material got a bad reputation in the 1950s and '60s when very inexpensive economy faucets were introduced by some major American manufacturers. These were functional but, for the most part, not very attractive, so zinc became associated with clunky, cheap-looking faucets.
Yet, zinc or, more specifically, zinc-aluminum (ZA) alloys can be a reasonable substitute for brass. ZA is easy to form, shape, and machine and takes finishes very well. It is not as strong as brass, so some adjustment to how faucets are manufactured is needed.
Fortunately, the two faucet manufacturers making Plumtech's faucets possess extensive experience with zinc alloys, which considerably reduces our concerns about their quality.
However, if a company is going to sell zinc faucets, it should honestly identify them as such, not as some mysterious "hybrid metal."
Faucet Valves
The most important component of a faucet is its valve. The valve controls the faucet's function, turning water on and off and regulating water temperature. If the valve fails, the faucet is out of business until it is repaired or replaced.
Plumbwerk faucets include two types of valves: the older washerless valve and the newer, more durable, ceramic disc valve.
Washerless valves, invented by Alfred M. "Al" Moen in the 1940s, were used in faucets through the 1970s. It is a reliable valuve but the rubber seals wear out over time and need to be replaced every three to six years. If they are renewed regularly, however, the valves will last nearly forever.
Replacing them is an unwelcome but not particularly onerous chore and one that is well within the ability of even a modestly talented do-it-yourselfer with basic tools. A repair kit with everything needed to replace the rings costs just a few dollars at almost any hardware store.
Ceramic disc valves are the newer technology invented separately by in the 1970s. Water flow is controlled by nearly indestructible ceramic discs rather than rubber rings and washers.
Ceramic valves are the better choice for most households. Washerless valves are more suited to multi-unit dwellings where on-site maintenance can take care of replacing worn rings and washers.
We don't know who makes Plumbwerk's valves. There are no markings on the valves that identify their manufacturers.
Where they come from is important.
There are good valves, precsion products that will last nearly forever and not-so-good valves that are lucky to last a few years. Only by knowing the manufacturer can we gauge their quality.
This critical information should be but is not disclosed on the Wasserman website. We have asked the company to identify its valves, but have not had a response.
Faucet Finishes
Plumbwerk faucets are offered in the standard finishes available on most Asian-made faucets: Chrome, Brushed Nickel, and Matte Black. Very few lavatory faucets are offered in White.
Chrome and Brushed Nickel are electroplated. Matte Black and White are powder coatings.
Electroplating
Electroplating is a traditional process for finishing faucets. 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 does not bond well with brass, so one or more undercoats, usually of nickel, are applied before one or more coats of chrome.
The process is potentially hazardous to the operator and the environment.
It involves toxic and corrosive chemicals that must be disposed of safely. No other coating technology even comes close to the dangers involved in electroplating.
Powder Coats
are paints applied in powder form. They are characterized by a faucet company that uses a lot of them, as "semi-durable", requiring more care than electroplated or PVD finishes to keep that like-new appearance.
The process was invented by Daniel S. Gustin during World War II as a replacement for slow-drying liquid paints to speed up the production of war materials. He was awarded a patent for his "Electrostatic Coating Method and Apparatus."
The "apparatus" is 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.
Power coats will not stand up to gross misuse. Brillo® pads will do not just some damage, but substantial damage to the finish as will many harsh household cleaners. But, with reasonable care, the finish will last a lifetime.
Faucet Warranty
WMF and Wasserman faucets have the same warranty.
The Plumbwerk faucet warranty is a full rather then a limited warranty. It is well written and to be admired for its brevity and clarity, unlike most faucet warranties.
It guarantees faucets to be "free from defects in material or workmanship under normal use for the lifetime you own the product." The lifetime warranty includes finishes. These are guaranteed against "tarnishing, flaking and discoloration."
The process to be used to make a warranty claim is clearly described along with a contact telephone number or email.
Consequential & Incidental Damages
Consequential and incidental damages refer to damages, other than the defect in the faucet, caused by the defect.
For example your Wasserman faucet leaks and floods your kitchen. The leak in the faucet is the direct damage. The damage to the kitchen is the consequential damage and your expenses in making a warranty claim against Plumbwerk, including any attorney fees, if any, are incidental damages.
By disclaiming consequential and incidental damages, Plumbwerk hopes to be liable only for the repair of the faucet, not the rest of the kitchen or your costs of proving your warranty claim.
It largely complies with the minimum requirements for consumer product warranties specified in the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301) with Three exceptions.
Consequention & Incidental Damages
The firt is its attempt to avoid liability for what are called incidental and consequential damages with this language:
"This warranty also does not cover any losses, injuries or costs including indirect, incidental or consequential damages."
It is entirely legal for a company to exclude these kinds of damages from a written warranty but it must be done in the right way to be effective. Specifically, it must include the qualifying language required by Magnuson-Moss:
"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."
Without this qualifying language, the attempted exclusion has no effect.
Sole, Exclusive,, or Final Deision
The company tries to make itself the sole decider of what remedy will be used to restore as defective faucet with thi language:
"… the defective product or part will be replaced at our discretion." (Emphasis supplied)However, a written warranty may not indicate, directly or by implication, that "the decision of the warrantor … is final or binding in any dispute concerning the warranty … [or] that [the company] alone shall determine what is a defect under the agreement." (16 CFR § 700.8)
Duty to Install
Other than providing replacement parts or a replacment faucet, the company tries to shield itself from any other "… losses, injuries or costs …"
However, a faucet is a product that has utility only when installed and where the repair or replacement of a product (like a faucet) requires the product to be uninstalled and reinstalled, the cost of removal and installation must be provided by the company "without charge." (16 CFR § 700.9)
Wasserman's Website
WMF has no website. The Wasserman website is basic but easy to navigate. Finding a faucet is very simple. Click "Products" on the main menu.
The site has a search function, but it is limited.
Website Search
Searching for a finish is accurate. The site returns all of the products available in the selected finish. A search on a faucet style like "widespread" or "centerset" is equally productive. It even found all of the kitchen faucets available with a spray.
Non-product searches on terms like "warranty" or "returns" were not productive. Nothing was found.
Misleading and Inconsistent Specifications
Once a faucet is located, however, the information provided about the faucet is very incomplete, and much of it is misleading or disclosed in euphemisms.
| Specification, Property, or Document | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ADA Compliance (Yes/No) | 5 | |
| Aerator Manufacturer | 0 | |
| Base plate included (Yes or No) | 5 | |
| Certifications Identified | 0 | Faucets are falsely claimed to be certified. |
| Countertop Thickness, Maximum | 1 | Stated in a few listings |
| Country(ies) of Origin | 0 | |
| Dimensions/Dimensioned Drawing | 1 | Partial in some listings. |
| Drain Included (Yes/No) | 2.5 | Lavatory faucets only. Noted only when a drain is included. |
| Faucet Images, Multiple, 360° Display, or Video Link | 5 | Multiple images from all angles and at least one image of the installed faucet. Good visualization. |
| Flow Rate(s), Maximum | 4 | Sometimes inaccurate |
| Installation Instructions | 0 | |
| Materials, Primary (Brass, Stainless, etc.) | 2 | Stated as euphemisms: "Hybrid metal" or "non-metallic |
| Materials, Secondary (Zinc, Plastic, etc.) | 0 | |
| Mounting Holes, Number of | 2 | Sometimes stated. |
| Mounting Holes, Diameter of | 2 | Sometimes stated. |
| Parts Diagram | 0 | |
| Spray Head Material | 0 | Pulldown, pullout, pre-rinse kitchen faucets only |
| Spray Hose Manufacturer | 0 | |
| Spray Hose Type | 0 | |
| Supply Connection Size/Type | 0 | |
| Supply Hose Included (Yes/No) | 2.5 | Stated only when a hose is included |
| Supply Hose Manufacturer | 0 | |
| Supply Hose Type | 2.5 | Stated only when a hose is included |
| Valve/Cartridge Type | 5 | Usually but not now always specified |
| Valve/Cartridge Manufacturer | 0 | |
| Finish(es) | 5 | |
| Finish Process | 0 | |
| Finish Images (Yes/No) | 5 | |
| Warranty On Website (Yes/No) | 5 | |
| Warranty Link in Listings | 0 | The warranty link is a stub. Not active. |
| WaterSense® Listed (Yes/No) | 0 | Claim of Watersense® listing on some retail sites is false. |
|
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. | ||
For example, nearly every faucet is identified as certified to North American faucet standards, although we know that while some are certified to one or even two standards, none is certified to all three required standards(see more below).
Other specifications provided about a faucet are inconsistent. For example, faucets described as being made of a hybrid metal on the Wasserman site are identified as made of stainless steel on Amazon or Walmart. Which is correct is impossible to determine without examining the faucet.
The specifications are so haphazard from one faucet to another that it is clear that data entry personnel are working without a template that helps ensure consistent and complete specifications.
Minimum Listing Specifications
The website does not provide all of the specifications and documentation required for an informed faucet-buying decision.
We identify 30 or so faucet specifications that are important to a fully-informed buying decision. Everything from how the faucet is presented in images to the number of mounting holes needed.
The number varies slightly from company to company and from faucet to faucet. Not every faucet listing requires every specification.
For example, WaterSense® listings apply only to lavatory faucets. So, a kitchen faucet listing does not need WaterSense® information.
Similarly, the material used in a spray head and spray hose information applies to sprays usually found only on kitchen faucets. Bathroom faucets seldom include sprays.
The specifications that Plumbwerk provides about its faucets are disappointing—devoid of most of the basic specifications required for an informed faucet-buying decision.
Certifications, spout reach and height, valve and aerator type and source, installation instructions (usually downloadable), a dimensioned scale drawing, and a parts diagram (both also usually downloads) are nowhere to be found.
Overall the site provided just under half of the required minimum information, a failing score.
Testing & Certification
To be installed in a drinking water system in the U.S. or Canada, a faucet must be independently tested and certified compliant with rigorous mechanical standards and certified lead-free and drinking water safe.
Plumbwerk routinely misrepresents the certification status of its faucet – identifying all of its faucets as certified.
That is simply not true. No WMF faucet is fully certified. While some Wasserman faucets made by Wellmade have been certified to one or two of these standards, not even one faucet has been certified to all three as required by law.
To be a legal faucet, it must be certified to all of the standards. In consequence, Wasserman and WMF faucets are illegal to install in a drinking water system in North America. Their only legal use in some states and provinces is in recreational vehicles.
Here are the details:
Comparable Faucets
Faucets made in Asia that are fully certified and legal to use in North America, comparable to Plumbwerk faucets in quality with the same warranty, but not necessarily comparable for design or price, include
Conclusions
Plumbwerk is a company that concentrates on marketing much to the exclusion of everything else.
It is very casual about complying with the laws that ensure faucet safety and durability and govern the sale and use of faucets in the U.S. and Canada. None of its faucets are legal for sale in the U.S. or for installation in a drinking water system in either the U.S. or Canada.
The company is not forthcoming about the characteristics of its faucets. Terms like "hybrid metal" for zinc and "non-metallic" for plastics are not intended to inform potential buyers. They are intended to conceal important facts about its faucets using euphemistic terminology.
In our view, a company that needs to disguise the true nature of its faucets to sell them to an unsuspecting public should probably think about selling faucets that do not need to be disguised.
The company has an excellent warranty, although with some flaws, but lacks adequate customer service supporting the warranty. It has no reliable long-term source of replacement parts which raises our concern about how it will honor its lifetime warranty in the long run.
None of the members of our rating panel would buy these faucets for his or her own use.
Continuing Research
We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Plumbwerk faucets, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please post a comment below or contact us by email at starcraftreviews@yahoo.com. Please note: we do not answer questions posted in the comments below. If you have a question, please address it to our public email. We generally answer within one business day.