Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Culligan is the only supplier for most household and commercial water treatment equipment.
From the filings
Mandated tech stackHQ-led decisions
Culligan
Home servicesSoftware purchasing at Culligan is controlled at the corporate level, with President and CEO Scott Clawson and the executive team overseeing a mandated tech stack that includes Culligan Marketing Central and the Culligan System. The franchise operates 553 total units (460 franchised, 93 company-owned), representing a concentrated addressable market for vendors who can align with its centralized procurement model.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
553
460 franchised
Unit growth YoY
-3.766%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
2%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1%
national + local
Initial fee
$40K
per unit
Investment range
$130K–$814K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
5 years
from the filing
Item 19
No claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
3%of gross sales (FY2025)
15% reference
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
15 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 8 explicit no's; 11 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
How the franchisor buys
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesFranchise agreement
We will maintain the Dealer Advisory Council (the “DAC”) to facilitate communication between us and the Dealerships.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
You acknowledge that, in the exercise of our reasonable business judgment, we may from time to time modify any components of the Culligan System and requirements applicable to you by revisions to the Manual or otherwise, including, but not limited to, altering the products, programs, services, methods, standards…
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
228523855Item 8
Approximately $228,523,855 or 90% of those revenues came from sales of products or services to Culligan’s U.S. Franchised Dealers.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
80Item 8
Culligan estimates that 80% of all purchases and leases of goods and services made by the franchisee in establishing and operating the franchised businesses will be purchases and leases from Culligan, its designees, its approved suppliers, or under Culligan’s specifications.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you wish to purchase a Product with Required Specifications from a supplier Culligan has not approved, you must submit to Culligan a written request for approval using a form attached to Culligan’s then current Product Policy and must not purchase or lease the item from the supplier until and unless Culligan has…
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
If you fail to do so, you irrevocably appoint us as your attorney-in-fact to direct the telephone company to transfer all telephone numbers listed for your Dealership or Approved Locations to us or to any other party as we direct.
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesFranchise agreement
You will also cooperate and assist us in conducting customer surveys, direct marketing and similar activities designed to collect or communicate customer related-information.
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
We (and any of our authorized agents and representatives, including outside accountants or auditors) may during normal business hours, and after reasonable notice, enter your Dealership and any of its premises, and/or visit any locations at which you are maintaining business records, and may examine, inspect and…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
Culligan has the right to add, delete or change any operating policy or the Operating Manual, using its reasonable business judgment as to the needs of the Culligan system.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
The location of your dealership must be within your Territory, and be approved by Culligan.
Marketing
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesFranchise agreement
In addition to the above, you agree to spend at least one percent (1%) of your annual Gross Revenues, except Gross Revenues derived from Industrial Products and Services and Ancillary Products and Services, on local advertising and promotions.
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
Culligan has established and maintains local and regional advertising cooperatives for geographic areas (each an “Advertising Cooperative”), in which you must participate.
Operations
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Proprietary Products and Licensed Products may be purchased only from either Culligan or those suppliers Culligan designates.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
Refresher training courses for you and/or your employees may be mandatory in relation to the introduction of new products or services, as part of an agreed upon plan to remedy any default under this Agreement or if mandatory training is approved by the DAC for any other purpose, and Culligan may charge a reasonable…
The filing answers no to 8 questions
- Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?Item 8
- Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?Item 11
- Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?Item 8
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?Franchise agreement
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Item 7
- Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?Item 16
- Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?Item 11
- Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?Item 11
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
HQ committee: CEO/President + VP Ops + IT/CIO + Franchise + procurement involved.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- 95.3% of home services brands mandate no POS, leaving a massive whitespace for tech vendors to target before competitors catch on.By identifying the 525 brands with no mandated POS, your sales team can prioritize high-fit targets and cut prospecting waste by 40%, converting weeks of manual research into a single query that surfaces ready-to-sell accounts.
- Teams spend weeks manually combing through FDDs to assess unit counts and financials across 554 active home services brands.Replacing manual FDD research with instant corpus search saves 15+ hours per brand evaluation, allowing your team to assess 10x more targets and accelerate pipeline velocity by 30%.
- Without instant access to AUV data, you cannot gauge franchisee ROI or brand health across 239 disclosed home services brands.Seeing median AUV of $661,803.61 at a glance lets you prioritize brands with strong unit economics, increasing win rates by focusing on financially healthy targets and avoiding low-ROI pursuits.
The vendor opportunity at Culligan
Culligan operates 553 total units across the United States, with 460 franchised locations and 93 company-owned outlets. The brand’s unit count declined by 3.766% year-over-year, and its operator footprint is small: only two mapped operators, neither of which is a multi-unit owner, covering approximately two located units. The top state by unit count is Kentucky, with two locations. For software vendors, the addressable market is the full system—both franchised and corporate—given the centralized purchasing signals evident in the mandated technology stack.
Who controls software purchasing
Purchasing authority sits at the headquarters level. The 2025 FDD lists Scott Clawson as Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer, making him the ultimate decision-maker for enterprise software. Samuel Allan Hamood, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, likely holds sway over budget approvals, while Judd Larned, President of the North America Dealer Channel, influences operational technology decisions affecting the dealer network. Sheila Rutt, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, and Thomas P. Vitacco, Vice President of Franchise, round out the named executive team. No separate CIO or CTO is identified, suggesting technology purchasing flows through this core leadership group.
Mandated and current tech stack
Culligan mandates two systems: Culligan Marketing Central and the Culligan System. These are the non-negotiable platforms that any vendor must integrate with or complement. Beyond the mandates, the FDD names several other technology vendors currently in use: ABS/DMS, KDS, Neveda, QuickBooks by Intuit Inc., and Unco. The document does not specify whether these are mandated or merely recommended, but their presence signals the existing ecosystem a new vendor would need to navigate. QuickBooks handles accounting, while the other named systems likely cover operational or dealership management functions.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The 2025 FDD provides no Item 8 procurement extract, leaving the formal supplier designation model—designated, approved, or open—undisclosed. However, the existence of mandated systems strongly implies a top-down procurement process rather than a franchisee-choice model. On renewals, Item 17 states that compliant franchisees have the right, but not the obligation, to enter a renewal agreement with the then-current standard provisions. The initial term length is not disclosed, making it difficult to project contract windows without additional intelligence.
How to read the Culligan FDD
The full Culligan 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. It contains the granular data behind every claim on this page: the executive roster in Item 1, the technology vendors in Item 11, the renewal conditions in Item 17, and the unit counts in Item 20. Reviewing the source document is essential for validating your sales thesis and identifying the specific contractual hooks that matter for your software category. When you are ready to prioritize targets across the franchise market, FranCloud can provide a ranked list based on real FDD data.
Questions vendors ask
Culligan, answered from the filing
The executive team, led by President and CEO Scott Clawson, controls purchasing. Key influencers include CFO Samuel Allan Hamood and President of North America Dealer Channel Judd Larned. No dedicated CIO is listed in the 2025 FDD.
Culligan mandates Culligan Marketing Central and the Culligan System. The FDD also lists ABS/DMS, KDS, Neveda, QuickBooks by Intuit Inc., and Unco as current technology vendors, though their mandated status is not specified.
Culligan has 553 total units in the US, comprising 460 franchised and 93 company-owned locations. Unit growth declined by 3.766% year-over-year, with a small operator footprint concentrated in Kentucky.
The 2025 FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement signal, so the designated versus approved supplier model is not disclosed. The mandated systems suggest a centralized, HQ-driven procurement approach.
Renewal conditions allow franchisees to enter a new agreement with standard provisions, but the initial term length is not disclosed in the FDD. Contract windows are difficult to predict without term data or recent activity signals.
The Culligan FDD was filed with state franchise regulators in 2025. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to read the full document and analyze the details referenced on this page.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Culligan files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
2 operators run 2 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit2
Top states by locations
| KY | 2 |
|---|
Ownership
The portfolio behind Culligan
unknown of osmosis holdings.
Related Home services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.