Why contractors switch suppliers
Cabinets are the longest-lead, highest-value line in most kitchen jobs, so the supplier controls your schedule and a large share of your margin. Contractors change suppliers for three reasons: a lead time that slipped and left a kitchen open, a quote that moved after drawings were signed, and a client presentation that did not sell because there was nothing to show. The questions below exist to prevent those three outcomes.
The nine questions to settle before the first order
Ask for the answers in writing. A supplier that will not put them in a trade agreement is telling you how a callback will go.
- ◆Pricing: what the trade discount is a percentage of, whether it differs by role, and how long a quote is held.
- ◆Lead time: production time after approved drawings, and whether it is written into the order.
- ◆Drawings: elevations, plan views and cut sheets, in what format, and how fast a client render comes back.
- ◆Documentation: surface and board technical sheets, CARB compliance, hardware specifications, a certificate of insurance and license verification for your submittals.
- ◆Install: boxes only, installed, or either; who warranties the install when your crew sets them.
- ◆Payment: deposit, progress billing or net terms, and how a credit application works.
- ◆Risk: warranty, damaged-in-transit claims, remakes and the change-order policy once drawings are signed.
- ◆Clients: samples and finish chips, a showroom or workshop visit, co-branded renders.
- ◆Capacity and area: where they deliver, what delivery costs, and what happens to your date when the shop is full.
What to compare on the product itself
Frameless (European) construction has no face frame, so drawers and doors are wider for the same box and the look is flush. The box material matters more than the catalog photo: thermally fused laminate (TFL) on a particleboard or MDF core is the standard for frameless European lines and resists moisture and wear better than paper-faced melamine; veneers and lacquers cost more. Ask whether the board is CARB Phase 2 and TSCA Title VI compliant for formaldehyde, whether the hardware is Blum, Hettich or an unbranded import, and what the warranty covers on each.
Swell builds with Egger and Cleaf TFL surfaces on frameless boxes with Blum and Hettich hardware, and supplies the manufacturers' technical and sustainability documentation and CARB compliance paperwork with a trade application.
Run one kitchen first
The lowest-risk way to change suppliers is a single kitchen on a project with schedule room. You learn the drawing turnaround, the delivery, the fit and the punch list before you commit a multi-unit job. Swell's Registered tier has no minimum for exactly this reason.
How Swell's trade program answers each question
Swell Contracting makes European frameless cabinetry in its own San Diego workshop and sells it to the trade through a tiered program: Registered at 15 percent, Partner at 25 percent for three or more kitchens a year, and Elite at 35 percent for ten or more or an exclusive-spec relationship, each a discount from Swell's standard retail pricing. Production runs about three weeks after approved drawings, every tier gets a free photorealistic client render in 48 hours, and cabinets ship delivered for your crew or installed by Swell under its CSLB B license. Payment terms, delivery, warranty and change-order handling are written into the trade agreement at approval, which is reviewed within one business day of the application.