Correct, its a brass adapter that converts the water supply. It's 100% correct that some plumbing products should have a WELS rating. Saving water is an important thing for us all to try to acheive - right? Maybe though, your European brand is imported here in Australia so if it has a WELs rating then that would apply to your product, no matter where you bought it. You may also be able to take advantage of a warranty that applies in a different country. You just need to read the fine print.

Are you left or right handed? Place it where ever is the most natural for you to reach. Ensure it's not too close to the wall (if that may be an issue). Cheers, Penelope

There certainly can be legitimate functional reasons/purpose for basins to be required set appropriately in relation to the wall to suit the selected wall spout setup, and having experience with similar details the spout length chosen can determine the basin position and does need to be a certain length to work properly. Sometimes this requires adjustment of basin size and bench depth. In this case something's clearly happened.....without understanding the company's particular processes my guess is that the bench depth larger than what it should be. It's your home/investment, you have to live with it long term. IMO what differentiates (great from ordinary) builders is their capacity to resolve issues and shoulder responsibility when something like this occurs. Believe me they (should) have enough fat built in the profit margins to resolve these types of issues. The good news is you actually have a physical example you can refer to in the company's display home. If required go and measure it and compare it to yours to be 100% sure - in custom/boutique situations clients don't have that luxury/back-up check. Try not to play or get drawn into a "blame" game, or accept lame excuses (which the industry is expert in ;) ), it doesn't matter exactly how it went wrong, the main thing is you want to get it right/resolved. Stick to your guns ;)

Hi Fiwi When we look at basins, regardless of the overall dimensions or type of mount we look at the depth of the bowl internally and its shape. For practicality we always choose a deep bowl with a curved bottom of some sort to allow proper drainage. Its a great look to have flat square bottoms with corners and shallow angles as you have now, but the reality is as you said that they need help to be washed out. The deep and wide bowl is better for shaving too as it keeps the rinsing within the bowl. There are plenty of great looking basins that have the above. We often use an undermount or inset basin such as these give practicality without bulk eg as below But there are also plenty of good surface mounted also. Cheers