Delta-Q

What Delta-Q does

Delta-Q, Inc. is a privately held manufacturers' representative agency founded in 1975, headquartered in Fullerton, California, with a 15,000 square foot distribution warehouse in Orange County. The firm provides full-service sales representation in the Southern California and Las Vegas/Nevada markets for over 15 plumbing and HVAC equipment manufacturers, operating through a 15-person outside sales team segmented by channel (wholesale, commercial, and residential builder) and a supporting inside sales and warehouse operation. Delta-Q's go-to-market centers on channel coverage — daily contact with regional leaders of national distributors and local independent wholesalers, engineering support for specifying engineers on commercial projects ranging from apartment buildings to stadiums, and access to homebuilder purchasing and design personnel in two of the country's most important housing markets.

The company's revenue model is commission-based manufacturer representation, augmented by buy/sell resale and consignment warehousing services that provide principals turnkey access to the wholesale channel. Delta-Q represents established brands including Grundfos (water pumps), Jones Stephens (rough plumbing), Rinnai (commercial boilers), Pioneer Industries (faucets), Caleffi, Lawler (tempered water), Stingray Systems, Wiseman Industries (plumbing chemicals), and more recently added brands in sustainability categories such as Waterdrop Systems (CO2 heat pump plants) and Wahaso (water harvesting). The firm uses the Repfabric CRM platform to manage thousands of contacts and to track large projects from design through commissioning, and operates buy/sell and consigned inventory on enterprise business software.

Delta-Q is family-owned, with Derek Johansson serving as president since 2009 following his father's 25-year leadership tenure. The firm employs 11-50 people total and is consistently recognized by its manufacturer principals for nationwide-leading sales growth, though it provides no public revenue figure beyond a stated "sales exceeding $50M" across its represented brand portfolio. The business is purely a sales and distribution operation with no software products, technology platform, or AI capabilities — its moat is grounded in decades-old channel relationships, territory coverage, and warehouse infrastructure rather than technology differentiation.

Name

Delta-Q

Legal name

Delta-Q, Inc.

Website

https://deltaqinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Delta-Q is a family-owned manufacturers' representative agency founded in 1975, providing full-service plumbing and HVAC sales representation across Southern California and Nevada for over 15 equipment brands via wholesale, commercial, and builder channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Fullerton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Manufacturer Representation/Commission: Delta-Q generates revenue as a manufacturers' representative through commissions from the plumbing and HVAC brands they represent in Southern California and Nevada markets. They buy and resell products from their principals, providing turnkey access to the plumbing wholesale market, as well as offering consignment warehousing services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Delta-Q, Inc. is a manufacturers' representative firm that provides full-service sales representation in Southern California and Nevada for plumbing and HVAC equipment manufacturers. Its services span wholesale distribution coverage, commercial project sales to specifying engineers, residential builder sales, and inside sales/warehouse management from its 15,000 sq ft facility in Orange County. The firm buys and resells products on behalf of its principals and also offers consignment warehousing services.

Product overview

Delta-Q is a manufacturers' representative firm (not a software/product company) that provides full-service sales representation for plumbing and HVAC equipment manufacturers in Southern California and Nevada. Since 1975, Delta-Q has represented over 15 highly respected brands in the professional plumbing and HVAC markets. The company operates through four core service offerings: Wholesale Sales Representation (market coverage to distributors with daily presence), Commercial Sales Representation (engineering support and project-based sales for commercial buildings), Residential Builder Sales (access to homebuilders responsible for tens of thousands of housing starts), and Inside Sales & Warehouse Management (order processing, warehousing, and technical support). Delta-Q's portfolio includes represented brands such as Grundfos (water pumps), Jones Stephens (PEX plumbing products), Lawler (tempered water solutions), Pioneer/Rinnai/Stingray (commercial fixtures), Waterdrop (CO2 heat pumps), Wahaso (water harvesting), and Wiseman (plumbing chemicals). Sales exceed $50M across the represented brands with 15 outside salespeople covering wholesale, commercial, showroom, and builder market channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wholesale Sales Representation Full-service sales representation to wholesale distributors in Southern California and Nevada, providing daily contact with regional leaders of national distributors and owners/managers of local independent wholesalers. Includes demand creation with contractors and homebuilders, counter day demonstrations, tradeshow representation, customer training, technical support, and marketing planning and competitive research.
• Commercial Sales Representation Sales representation to specifying engineers and mechanical contractors on commercial projects ranging from multi-use apartment buildings to high-rises and stadiums. Includes engineering lunch-and-learn presentations, project design support, dedicated commercial quotations, quote and job tracking software, submittal generation, contractor field service and training, and startup and commissioning support.
• Residential Builder Sales Representation Sales representation to local, regional, and national homebuilder offices and new construction plumbing contractors in Southern California and Las Vegas. Provides access to companies responsible for tens of thousands of housing starts per year, with assistance on builder and contractor incentive program design and implementation and field training and support.
• Inside Sales & Warehouse Management Full-service order processing, warehousing, and billing systems operated from a 15,000 sq ft warehouse in Orange County. Includes buy-and-resell and consignment warehousing, technical support, same-day shipping, will call, loading dock service, billing and collections, and an accurate inventory control system that eases the burden on manufacturer call centers.

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• AmtrolcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Amtrol brands in Southern California and Nevada markets. Amtrol is a manufacturer of plumbing and HVAC equipment.
• BarnescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Barnes products in Southern California and Nevada wholesale markets.
• CalefficoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Caleffi brands in Southern California and Nevada markets.
• Falsken Water SystemscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Falsken Water Systems in Southern California and Nevada wholesale markets.
• GosscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Goss flame tools and accessories in Southern California and Nevada. Goss Inc. has been serving industries since 1940 with flame tools and accessories.
• GrundfoscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Grundfos water pump products including circulating pumps, pressure boosting pumps, sump and sewage pumps in their territory.
• Lawler ManufacturingcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Lawler Manufacturing, a provider of tempered water solutions including pre-plumbed complete mixing and re-circ stations, master mixing valves, and emergency shower mixing valves.
• Jones StephenscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Jones Stephens, a leader of rough plumbing products with 30 years of innovation for professional contractors, offering PEX systems, pipe insulation, and complete plumbing products.
• Pioneer IndustriescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Pioneer Industries brands including Olympia, Pioneer, and Central Brass faucets, specializing in serving builders, contractors and distributors.
• RinnaicoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Rinnai commercial boilers including the RCB-Series High-Efficiency Wall-Hung Condensing Boiler for commercial applications.
• Stingray SystemscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Stingray Systems, providing tepid water solutions for emergency drench showers and eye/face wash stations for commercial and industrial professionals.
• WahasocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Wahaso, which provides water harvesting solutions for commercial buildings including rainwater, greywater, stormwater, and condensate collection systems.
• Waterdrop SystemscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q represents Waterdrop Systems, manufacturers of pre-manufactured drop-in central heat pump plants using CO2 refrigerant for domestic hot water applications.
• Wiseman IndustriescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDelta-Q has been the North American importer for Wiseman Industries for over 30 years, distributing water-soluble plumbing flux (Everflux) and other plumbing chemicals including Everclens, Dambuster, Everfree, Fizzoff, Evershower, and Everad products.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Winsupply: Winsupply is a national plumbing, HVAC, and industrial supply cooperative/distributor that serves local markets much like Delta-Q's territory model. It performs intermediary sales, warehousing, and technical support functions between manufacturers and contractor/builder customers.
• Hajoca Corporation: Hajoca is the largest privately held U.S. plumbing distributor and similarly acts as a multi-brand intermediary between manufacturers and trade customers (contractors, builders). Like Delta-Q, it combines inside sales, warehouse fulfillment, and multi-channel coverage to serve professional plumbing markets in defined territories.

Broad incumbents

• NIBCO: NIBCO is a leading U.S. manufacturer of valves, fittings, and flow-control products for plumbing and HVAC. It sells through manufacturers' reps and distributors into the same wholesale and specifying-engineer channels Delta-Q covers, making it both a competitor for representation talent and a complementary supplier in the channel.
• Ferguson Enterprises: Ferguson is the largest North American distributor of plumbing, HVAC, and waterworks products, operating a nationwide branch network. It offers a much broader product portfolio and geographic reach than Delta-Q, but addresses the same intermediary role between manufacturers and professional trade buyers.
• Reliance Worldwide Corporation: Reliance Worldwide manufactures plumbing solutions (push-to-connect fittings, PEX, SharkBite) that compete with brands represented by Delta-Q such as Jones Stephens PEX systems. It uses independent rep agencies and distributors across North America in similar fashion to Delta-Q's operating model.
• Rheem Manufacturing: Rheem manufactures water heating, HVAC, and pool/spa equipment sold through manufacturers' reps and distributors. Comparable as a Delta-Q competitor for rep-firm mindshare and as a supplier using similar territory-based coverage models in Southern California and Nevada.
• Watts Water Technologies: Watts is a global plumbing, HVAC, and water quality products manufacturer whose lines (valves, fittings, drainage) overlap with brands Delta-Q represents such as Amtrol and Pioneer. Comparable as a building-products manufacturer relying on rep firms like Delta-Q to access wholesale and commercial channels.
• A. O. Smith Corporation: A. O. Smith is a major manufacturer of residential and commercial water heaters and boilers, comparable to Rinnai (a Delta-Q principal). It employs independent manufacturers' reps and distribution networks similar to Delta-Q's structure to reach wholesale, builder, and commercial channels.

Others

• Rinnai: Rinnai is the manufacturer of tankless water heaters and the RCB-Series commercial boilers that Delta-Q represents. Like Grundfos, Rinnai is an upstream principal rather than a competitor, but it is relevant for benchmarking the kind of high-efficiency, code-aligned brands driving Delta-Q's specification activity.
• Grundfos: Grundfos is the global water pump manufacturer that Delta-Q represents in Southern California and Nevada. As a principal/supplier, Grundfos is the upstream counterparty in Delta-Q's representation agreement rather than a competitor, but it provides a useful comparable for portfolio depth in building-services pumping.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/deltaqinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/delta-q-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Delta-Q