As the heating season approached, Mr. Su started using his underfloor heating system. However, after only a week of use, he noticed that large areas of his floor had buckled and the wall skirting began to become soaked and blistered. Mr. Su promptly contacted the underfloor heating company.
After testing, it was discovered that a section of pipe in the living room had developed a crack and was continuously leaking water, causing significant water accumulation on the floor.
Mr. Su requested that the company replace the pipes and compensate for the damage to the flooring and other decoration losses. The underfloor heating company, however, claimed that the installation had passed a pressure test at the time, and there were no issues with the underfloor heating product or its design and construction. They suggested that the subsequent installation of the flooring might have caused the pipe damage and therefore refused to take responsibility for compensation. Left with no choice, Mr. Su filed a complaint with the Licang Branch of the Qingdao Administration for Industry and Commerce.
After an on-site investigation, the administration staff determined that the composite flooring Mr. Su had installed did not require the use of nail guns during installation, making the possibility of human error damaging the underfloor heating pipes unlikely. According to the "Shandong Province Consumer Protection Regulations," the warranty period for home renovation projects must be no less than two years, while kitchens, bathrooms, and exterior walls with waterproofing requirements must have a seepage prevention guarantee period of five years. Since the underfloor heating components were damaged within the warranty period, leading to partial damage to the home's flooring, the underfloor heating installer should bear the responsibility for repairs and corresponding compensation. After mediation, the underfloor heating company agreed to compensate the consumer 7000 yuan for the loss of flooring, walls, and other decoration damages.
It is understood that in recent years, underfloor heating has become a new favorite in home renovations as an emerging heating method. Complaints related to this have also been on the rise. Some smaller companies opt for low-quality, low-cost piping and auxiliary materials, increasing the spacing between pipes or using substandard specifications to cut costs, resulting in underfloor heating systems failing to meet expected performance levels and even posing safety hazards. The administration reminded consumers to choose legitimate companies with appropriate qualifications when selecting underfloor heating systems, avoiding short-term cost savings that could lead to future problems. Additionally, during later-stage ground construction, one should avoid operations like nailing, inserting wooden wedges, or cutting stones that could damage the underfloor heating pipes and cause leaks. Furthermore, regular maintenance of the underfloor heating equipment should be conducted to prevent impurities from accumulating and blocking the pipes.
In recent years, the underfloor heating construction industry has faced challenges due to persistently low prices, dwindling profits, and increasingly difficult business conditions. While some companies attempt to raise prices, they often find themselves unsupported by competitors, leaving them struggling in the quagmire of price wars. This situation makes the underfloor heating construction sector akin to a bone with little meat—unprofitable to pursue but hard to abandon.
During a night discussion held in a Kazakh yurt on the Nan Shan Grassland during the China Underfloor Heating Ten Thousand Li Journey Xinjiang Summer Camp, perceptions about the low-price predicament facing underfloor heating construction companies were overturned. It was concluded that escaping the price war quagmire was not impossible and depended less on the competitiveness of the market environment and more on the robustness of one's own technical capabilities.
### Night Discussion Background
Recently, during the China Underfloor Heating Ten Thousand Li Journey Xinjiang Summer Camp organized by the Radiant Heating and Cooling Committee of the China Construction Metal Structure Association and the China Underfloor Heating Network, at the request of some underfloor heating construction enterprises, the organizers held a night discussion in a Kazakh yurt on a moonlit night on the Nan Shan Grassland. The discussion centered around topics such as "How can underfloor heating construction enterprises escape the low-price competition quagmire?"
### Key Speakers at the Night Discussion
- **An Jianhui**: General Manager of Weinan Huanlv Geothermal Engineering Co., Ltd.
- **Yan Huiping**: Chairman of Shanghai Huitiong Industrial & Trade Co., Ltd.
### Cai Yong's Dilemma
During the China Underfloor Heating Ten Thousand Li Journey Xinjiang Summer Camp, Cai Yong from Hami Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang struggled to immerse himself in the picturesque landscapes of Xinjiang like the other participants. His distraction was not due to familiarity with the local scenery as a native of Xinjiang but rather because of an unresolved issue weighing on his mind—due to extremely low pricing for underfloor heating construction, despite the hard work involved, Cai Yong's profit margins in Hami were very thin. He had attempted to raise the price of underfloor heating construction but abandoned the effort due to lack of support from competing companies. Cai Yong hoped that experts in the summer camp could provide guidance.
### An Jianhui's Diagnosis
Often, medical experts start their diagnoses with questions, and the "expert consultation" at the underfloor heating night discussion followed suit. After gaining an initial understanding of Cai Yong's concerns, An Jianhui asked specific questions to analyze the root of Cai Yong's problem and offered indirect solutions.
**An Jianhui**: Have you calculated the resistance of the underfloor heating end system for a gas-fired heating hot water boiler-based system?
**Cai Yong**: No.
**An Jianhui**: Have you calculated the range within which Re (Reynolds number) adapts to the flow rate of the underfloor heating system?
**Cai Yong**: No.
**An Jianhui**: Do you prepare construction materials during the process of undertaking underfloor heating projects?
**Cai Yong**: Yes.
**An Jianhui**: Do you prepare construction reports before entering the site?
**Cai Yong**: Yes.
**An Jianhui**: Do you prepare construction organization plans?
**Cai Yong**: Yes.
**An Jianhui**: How do you prepare the construction organization plan?
**Cai Yong**: We generally prepare the construction organization plan before entering the site, usually copying previous ones directly. (This is an unstandardized practice — Editor's note).
### An Jianhui's Advice
"In the contracts we sign, we clearly specify the operating cost range of the underfloor heating system we design. If the cost exceeds this range, users can bring relevant vouchers to our company for reimbursement."
To increase the construction price of underfloor heating projects, customer recognition is essential. And to gain customer recognition, one must possess solid technical expertise.
If customers perceive no significant difference in technical capability between companies, they will naturally believe that the outcome of their underfloor heating project would be similar regardless of who undertakes it. Consequently, they will prefer the lowest bidder. In this process, lacking a technical edge leaves one without pricing power.
For the underfloor heating end systems we undertake, if the construction price per square meter (excluding backfill) is below 68 yuan, we firmly refuse to proceed.
Our firm stance on pricing stems from our thorough technical preparation.
We once resolutely rejected a design institute's plan. During the implementation of a certain underfloor heating project, we initially found flaws in the design institute’s proposal. We recommended a redesign, but when our suggestion was relayed to the design institute by the client, it was rejected. The design institute insisted their plan was sound. Faced with this, we made our position clear: unless the design institute signed off on the design and assumed responsibility, we would abandon the project. Later, through coordination by the client, our company and the design institute's relevant technical personnel engaged in a technical debate. Ultimately, the design institute fully adopted our revision suggestions.
During construction, all workers from shipping to backfilling and coiling are our company's trained technicians. Moreover, our design department, sales department, and engineering department are relatively independent and each handles their respective duties. If a construction company hires random labor teams from the market to lay the underfloor heating system, it is almost certain that such a company cannot grow. Imagine that today you hire these workers at 8 yuan per square meter, but tomorrow someone else offers them 10 yuan per square meter, and they may immediately leave. Also, if cross-construction affects your desire to pause underfloor heating construction, you'll find that the hired labor team is unwilling to stop. Because the workers were hired by the foreman from the market, even if the project pauses, he still needs to pay them. In this situation, they often rush the schedule, compromising the quality of the completed project.
**Related Person's Interjection**: If the developer asks for design drawings, should you give them? What if the developer gives the drawings to another construction company to execute?
**An Jianhui**: Impossible.
When negotiating with the other party, we make sure they understand that "underfloor heating" is a system, not a commodity. Whether this system achieves the expected heating effect depends on the design and construction. If the developer values my construction drawings, it shows they also value the heating results of the underfloor heating system. If the developer lets another company construct based on my drawings, it will be difficult to achieve the expected results. First, the construction of the underfloor heating system must be done by professionals. Even details like the determination of the bending radius of the underfloor heating pipe affect the entire system's operational resistance and energy consumption differently depending on the handling method.
Besides, the underfloor heating system cannot function without our company's debugging. When designing the underfloor heating system, we consider data such as the construction situation of high-rise and multi-story buildings, heat coefficients, wind speed, wind pressure, and outdoor environmental temperatures. Different reference data result in different system heat dissipation amounts. Therefore, accurate calculations based on scientific parameters are necessary to design an effective underfloor heating system. Only by strictly adhering to these technical standards can one gain the developer's recognition.
When undertaking residential underfloor heating projects, we clearly specify the operating cost range of the user's underfloor heating system in the contract. If the cost exceeds this range, users can bring relevant vouchers to our company for reimbursement. For this purpose, before each heating season, we debug the underfloor heating system for users and record the readings of their gas meters. During the heating season, users can directly activate the underfloor heating system. On March 15th when the heating season ends, we go to the user's home to shut down the underfloor heating system and record the gas meter reading again. If the operating cost of the underfloor heating system during the heating season exceeds our commitment, users can bring payment vouchers to our company for reimbursement.
### Yan Huiping's Advice
"Our company, although specializing only in underfloor heating systems, has four technicians enjoying State Council allowances. Before deciding to do something, we conduct extensive preparatory work. We must know where our advantages lie in this matter. Otherwise, we definitely won't get involved."
According to the host, it is said that Mr. Yan has a set of secrets for achieving high prices for underfloor heating systems. Could you introduce how you do it?
**Yan Huiping**: To achieve high prices for underfloor heating systems, your clients must have sufficient economic strength. Therefore, if you encounter such a client, you must hold onto them tightly. Capturing one such client can bring you a large number of similarly high-end clients in the future. Imagine, if your client is a millionaire, then among his circle of friends, there are bound to be many millionaires. Of course, to hold onto such clients, the quality of your project must be guaranteed. Consider, if you can't even produce a complete design plan, how can you hold onto your clients?
Our company, though specializing only in underfloor heating systems, has four technicians enjoying State Council allowances. Before deciding to do something, we conduct extensive preparatory work. We must know where our advantages lie in this matter. Otherwise, we definitely won't get involved. For example, during our preparation to enter the home intelligent system installation, we considered: if we compete with Siemens and other brands, I will surely fail. So how can we survive? We identified the weaknesses of related brand products: their automatic systems are entirely manually operated and cannot achieve remote coverage. We decided to create an integrated home intelligent system capable of remote coverage. Following this idea, I had all our engineers research this aspect, and once the research results were out, we entered this field. Due to our designed home intelligent system, ordinary electricians can install it, and it can cover wherever there is a network. This way, we expanded the market.
Therefore, if your company lacks a strong technical team, it will be difficult to do well in underfloor heating construction, let alone achieve high prices.
### Conclusion:
Due to editorial needs, outstanding speeches from enterprise leaders during the night discussion could not be fully elaborated here. Moving forward, the newspaper will present insights from industry insiders in various formats to offer as much inspiration as possible.
Text整理: Chen Jinzhou, Cui Caifeng
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