ERP for Plumbing, Heating and Air-Conditioning Trades — software for SHK-Handwerk
The SHK trade (Sanitär-Heizung-Klima — plumbing, heating and air conditioning) is one of the busiest segments of German Handwerk (skilled trades), with strong project rhythms, heavy materials flows through specialist wholesalers and a growing maintenance-contract base. An ERP for SHK-Handwerk has to balance project job costing, deep wholesaler order-portal integration, mobile service-call documentation, billing per HOAI principles where design work is involved, and maintenance-contract (Wartungsvertrag) management for boilers, heat pumps and ventilation systems.
Requirements for SHK-trade ERP
The functional core is a project-based job-costing model with material, labour and subcontractor lines, tied to a customer offer and downstream to time-and-material billing or fixed-price progress invoicing. Materials integration with SHK wholesalers (GC-Gruppe, Pfeiffer & May, Richter+Frenzel, Sanitär-Heinze) via IDS-Connect and OCI is effectively a baseline expectation — a craftsperson on a job site needs to query availability and place an order without leaving the ERP. Mobile service-call documentation must support digital signatures, photo capture and on-the-spot billing. Heizungstausch incentive schemes (KfW, BAFA) add a documentation burden for funded installations that the ERP must absorb cleanly.
Mandatory functions
Mandatory functions include: project and job-costing module with material, labour and subcontractor cost lines; IDS-Connect or OCI integration with the major SHK wholesalers; mobile app for service-call documentation with photo, signature and customer-facing invoicing; maintenance-contract management with planned-service scheduling and renewal workflow; HOAI-conformant billing for the design portion of larger heating or sanitary projects; subsidy-application documentation for KfW / BAFA-funded heat-pump and renovation installations; and a financial layer that handles German tax requirements (USt, § 13b reverse charge for construction services). Audit-trail support is needed on subsidy documentation because BAFA spot-checks can come years after the installation date.
Vendor landscape
Specialist Handwerk-ERP vendors with strong SHK coverage include Streit V.1 (long-standing market leader for SHK), openHandwerk, Hero-Software, Vario Software, CC e.gen, pds Software and label software. Most of these are sized for shops between 5 and 80 employees, which covers the bulk of the SHK Mid-Market. Larger installation businesses (50–250 employees) sometimes move to a generic SMB ERP with construction add-ons, but the loss of trade-specific wholesaler integration is a recurring source of regret. Selection criteria are usually weighted toward depth of wholesaler integration, mobile-app quality, and renewal-tracking for maintenance contracts.
Trends and outlook
The heat-pump boom and the German Gebäudeenergiegesetz (Building Energy Act) reshape the SHK trade demand mix faster than most software roadmaps. ERPs that absorb the KfW/BAFA subsidy-documentation workflow cleanly are gaining share. Skilled-labour shortages push more SHK businesses to standardise service-call routines through the ERP's mobile app, with quality-of-data benefits for downstream invoicing. Finally, the e-Rechnung mandate in Germany from 2026 onward forces all Handwerk businesses to issue and receive structured XRechnung/ZUGFeRD invoices, which is a non-trivial migration for shops still on paper or PDF.
Related Topics
Frequently Asked Questions
What is IDS-Connect and why does it matter?
IDS-Connect is the standard interface for German Handwerk-to-wholesaler integration, especially in SHK and electrical trades. It allows the ERP to launch into the wholesaler's web catalogue, retrieve a configured basket back into the project, and place the order in one transaction. ERPs without IDS-Connect support force craftspeople to manage two systems in parallel, which slows down quoting and order-picking on every project.
Are maintenance contracts a meaningful revenue stream?
For SHK businesses that have built a customer base of installed boilers and heat pumps, yes — recurring Wartungsvertrag revenue often makes up 15–30% of turnover and is significantly more stable than project income. An ERP that schedules services automatically, tracks renewals and bills recurring fees cleanly is a substantial commercial asset for a mature SHK shop.
Does the e-Rechnung mandate affect SHK businesses?
Yes — from 2026 onward, B2B invoices in Germany must be issued and received in a structured electronic format (XRechnung or ZUGFeRD). SHK businesses that bill commercial customers, housing associations or public clients have to be ready. Handwerk-ERP vendors are rolling out this capability now; checking the timeline and the surcharge model is a useful selection criterion.