Häufig gestellte Fragen
Which industry ERPs are leading in the plumbing, heating and air-conditioning (SHK) trade?
The established SHK industry solutions include Streit (formerly Streit V.1), Label Software (KWP), Sander & Doll, pds and Hottgenroth, complemented by cloud-based providers such as HERO or ToolTime. In the mid-market, generalists such as Sage 100 and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with trade-specific industry packages are also in use. Industry-specific systems reduce customising effort and usually cover SHK workflows such as on-site measurement, maintenance contracts and wholesaler catalogues out of the box, but come with stronger vendor lock-in. The selection should be guided by your company size and the share of new-build, service and emergency call-out business.
Which interfaces matter in an SHK ERP?
Central is the connection to SHK wholesalers via DATANORM for price and article master data, plus IDS-Connect for live queries of prices and availability directly from within the order. Newer standards such as Open Masterdata add on-demand master data, while SHK-Connect acts as an industry-wide directory service mapping the addresses and connections of market partners. On top of that come the DATEV interface for accounting, ZUGFeRD for e-invoices, and APIs for subsidy schemes and energy performance certificates. Large wholesalers such as Cordes & Gräfe (the GC Group) or Richter+Frenzel support IDS-Connect, so the ordering workflow runs without manual re-keying or fax.
What does an SHK ERP cost?
Cloud solutions for smaller SHK businesses often start at around 50 to 100 EUR per user per month on subscription, with no large upfront investment. For mid-market on-premise or hybrid projects, an implementation effort of 2,500 to 6,000 EUR per user is realistic, so a rollout with around 20 users quickly reaches a five- to six-figure sum. With classic licence models, annual maintenance and update fees of typically 18 to 22 percent of the licence sum come on top. Additional costs often arise for data migration, interfaces to wholesalers and modules such as REB/GAEB measurement, whose licence can separately cost a few hundred to a few thousand euros per year.
How does an SHK ERP support GEG obligations and hydraulic balancing?
Since 1 October 2024, Section 60c of the GEG has mandated hydraulic balancing for newly installed water-based heating systems in buildings with at least six residential or usage units — this expressly applies to all heat generators, including heat pumps, not just gas or oil heating. The decisive method is the more demanding Procedure B with room-by-room heating load calculation according to DIN EN 12831, which is also a prerequisite for the KfW heating subsidy. A suitable ERP helps store the associated protocols, calculations and evidence audit-proof in the installation file and link them to the respective order. Also relevant are the heating system inspections under Section 60b GEG, which are mandatory for older existing systems in larger buildings with staggered deadlines.
Can an SHK ERP help with BEG and KfW funding applications?
In 2026, heat pumps are subsidised as a grant via the KfW heating subsidy (product 458), with eligible investment costs of up to 30,000 EUR per residential unit and funding rates of 30 up to a maximum of 70 percent, depending on combinable bonuses such as the climate-speed, income and efficiency bonus. The application requires that a supply or service contract with a suspensive or resolutory funding condition has been concluded beforehand, and the project must be completed within 36 months of approval. An ERP supports this above all by cleanly documenting quotations, contracts, invoices and technical evidence and keeping the documents needed for the funding process structured and ready. The actual application is submitted via the KfW portal; the legally sound assessment of each individual case remains the responsibility of the installer and the energy consultant.
Cloud or on-premise — and how important is the mobile technician app in the SHK trade?
SHK trade software is available both as a cloud/SaaS model and as an on-premise installation; cloud variants score with a fast start without your own servers and location-independent access, while on-premise offers more control over data and customisations. Decisive in practice is a capable mobile app that lets technicians view orders on site, scan material from the service van, document with photos and confirm work with a digital signature. Since SHK jobs often take place in basements and boiler rooms, the app should be offline-capable and synchronise data later. Equally important is maintenance contract logic with automatic appointment and route scheduling, so that recurring maintenance including GEG-compliant records is reliably planned.