How painters win strata repaint contracts

How it looks from their side

For a strata manager an exterior repaint is one of the biggest single costs a building faces, and it is paid from money owners have been putting aside for years. If the fund comes up short the owners face a special levy, which is the kind of news nobody wants to deliver at an annual general meeting. So the manager wants a painter whose price sits close to what the plan allowed, whose scope can be followed by owners who have never priced a coating system, and who can run a job on an occupied building without the complaints filling the manager's inbox for three months.

From their side it isn't really paint and labour they are buying. It is a project with residents, cars, balconies and pets in the way, and they are the person who answers when a balcony door is painted shut or a car in the basement gets overspray.

What they’ll ask you for

A price that can sit in the meeting papers

In Queensland, when spending goes over the major spending limit, the two quotes must be included with the notice of meeting, so every owner reads yours.

A scope written to a specification

Managers or consultants often write one first, and AS/NZS 2311 is a guide used as the basis for a specification rather than a specification in itself.

Height access matched to the building

Scaffolds a person or object could fall more than 4 metres from need a licensed scaffolder, and swing stages must be installed by someone with an advanced rigging or scaffolding licence.

A staging plan for balconies and lots

In Queensland the body corporate must give the owner or occupier at least 7 days’ written notice before an authorised person enters a lot to do work.

A lead paint method for older blocks

Lead paint was used in most homes built in Australia before 1970, and wet scraping or wet sanding is the safer way to prepare it.

A clear line between common property and lots

Under the NSW common property memorandum, paintwork inside a lot, including the entrance door, is the owner’s, so a scope that strays across the line causes billing arguments.

The work on offer

Full exterior repaint

Walls, eaves, balustrades and common property doors, planned in the sinking fund or capital works plan. Bought on a written specification, with quotes put to the owners at a general meeting.

Condition reports and quote inspections

A walk-around with photos of failed coatings, cracks and rust before the repaint is priced. Sometimes paid, and often what the manager uses to update the plan’s figures.

Common area interiors

Stairwells, lobbies, corridors and car park walls. Smaller jobs that often fall within the committee’s spending authority, so they are a common first job with a new firm.

Balcony ceilings, soffits and handrails

Done in stages because each one sits outside someone’s living room. In NSW schemes that adopt the common property memorandum, balcony ceilings and their painting belong to the owners corporation.

Metalwork and line marking

Rusting gates, fences, pool fencing and car park lines. Often bundled with the repaint or quoted as separate items owners can approve on their own.

Where the money for a repaint comes from

By the time a strata manager asks for a painting quote, the repaint has usually been sitting in a forecast for years. Each state names it differently, but in all of them owners pay into a capital fund every year so the big jobs don't need a special levy, and an exterior repaint is the textbook big job.

State	The fund and the plan	When owners see it
Queensland	The sinking fund budget must reserve for likely spending over at least the nine years after the current one, and the government's own example of that spending is painting a building	When the budget is set each year, and again when the repaint is put to a general meeting with two quotes attached
NSW	A 10-year capital works fund plan on the standard form, reviewed at least every five years, and the government's budgeting example sets money aside to repaint the common property	Every change to the plan is approved at the annual general meeting
Victoria	Tier one and tier two owners corporations must keep a 10-year maintenance plan and a maintenance fund, and smaller ones may choose to	The owners corporation reports on the plan at each annual general meeting

The practical point is that the plan already has a painting figure in it, often written by a quantity surveyor or building consultant some years ago, and your quote will be held up against it. Come in well above it and the manager has to explain why the fund falls short, while a price far below it makes owners wonder what you left out. Ask the manager what the plan allows for painting and when it was last reviewed. A short paid condition report with photos can give the manager the evidence to bring an old forecast up to date, and it puts your name on the building long before the repaint goes out to quote.

Specification, inspection and the quote owners read

On a larger building the manager may hire a consultant to write a painting specification and invite several painters to price it, and on a smaller block they may simply ask you to inspect and recommend. Either way, walk the whole building before you price and record what you find, such as chalking, flaking, cracked render, rusting balustrade fixings and failed sealant. AS/NZS 2311, the Australian and New Zealand guide to painting buildings, says it can't be named as a specification but can be used as the basis for one. If there is no specification, set out the preparation, the coating system and the number of coats for each surface so the owners have something to compare.

Then think about who reads it. In Queensland, when a job costs more than the scheme's major spending limit, the two quotes must be included with the notice of meeting, so your quote is printed in the papers that go to every owner. Put a one-page summary at the front with the total, the areas, the length of the job and what residents will need to do. Price metalwork, line marking and balcony ceilings as separate items so owners can approve the core repaint without arguing about the rest. Be clear about the line between common property and the lots, too. The NSW common property memorandum, which an owners corporation can adopt as a by-law, puts balcony ceilings and their painting with the owners corporation and paintwork inside a lot, including the entrance door, with the lot owner, so say which side of the line each item sits on.

Working at height on a building people live in

A repaint on a three or four storey block puts your crew at height for weeks, outside bedrooms and above driveways, and the manager will ask how you plan to do it before the owners vote. The method you choose decides the paperwork. Under Safe Work Australia's model code on falls, a scaffold that a person or object could fall more than 4 metres from must be erected by a licensed scaffolder and inspected by a competent person at least every 30 days, a boom lift with a boom of 11 metres or more needs a licensed operator, and a swing stage must be installed by someone with an advanced rigging or advanced scaffolding licence. Say in your quote which method you'll use on each elevation and why. Full scaffold blocks balconies for longer and costs more, and owners will compare it with quotes that use a boom lift.

Older buildings bring a second risk. Lead paint was used in most homes built in Australia before 1970, and plenty of walk-up blocks from that era are now due for another repaint. The NSW Government's LeadSmart advice is to leave sound lead paint alone or paint over it, to prepare it by wet scraping or wet sanding, and never to use an open flame on it. On a building that old, test before you price, put your containment and clean-up method in the quote and tell the manager what you found, because dust on a balcony where a toddler plays is the complaint that can stop a job.

Staging the work around residents

The quote that wins often shows the manager how the job will run week by week. Break the building into stages by elevation or by stairwell, and say when each stage starts and roughly how long residents will lose the use of their balcony, windows or car space. Some of that notice is a legal step rather than a courtesy. In Queensland, when the body corporate authorises someone to enter a lot to carry out work, it must give the owner or occupier written notice at least 7 days before entry, and the government suggests the notice names the company authorised to enter along with the date, time, length of the visit and the reason. Give the manager a draft notice for each stage with those details filled in so they can send it without writing it themselves.

Then keep the manager out of the middle, with one contact on site for residents and a photo update to the manager each Friday. Finish with a defects walk-through and a record of the colours and products used, because the next 10-year plan will be built from it. The strata managers page covers how managers choose contractors in general and the painters page covers the other buyers worth writing to. If you'd rather not send the first emails yourself, Curlew writes to strata managers near you in your business name.

A first email you could send

Subject: Repaint quotes for your Toowong buildings

Hi Megan, I run a small painting business in Indooroopilly and most of our work is strata repaints on walk-up blocks around Toowong and Taringa. If any of your buildings have a repaint coming up in the sinking fund plan, I’m happy to do a condition report first, with photos and a scope written so owners can follow it in the meeting papers. We stage the work by stairwell and can give you the entry notices ready to send. Would a condition report on one building be useful? Ben If this isn’t relevant to you, just let me know and I’ll leave it there.

An example only. The business is made up.

For a version with every line explained, see email to a strata manager.

Mistakes that cost the work

Quoting without asking what the plan allows

A price far from the fund’s figure pushes the manager into a special levy conversation, and owners tend to blame the quote.

Leaving balcony access to the last week

Without notice to each lot the crew stands around, and in Queensland entry to a lot for work needs at least 7 days’ written notice.

Dry sanding old paint on a pre-1970 block

Lead dust on balconies and in gardens is a health risk to residents, and it turns a repaint into a complaint the manager can’t defend.

One lump sum with no breakdown

Owners reading the meeting papers can’t see what they are getting, so they vote for the quote they understand.

Painting inside the lot line without approval

Entrance doors and internal paintwork are usually the owner’s cost, so the body corporate may refuse to pay for them.

Questions people ask

When do strata buildings decide on a repaint?

Usually at a general meeting, often the annual one, once the plan has flagged it and quotes are in. In Queensland the quotes for spending over the major spending limit go out with the notice of meeting.

What is a sinking fund or capital works fund?

It is money owners pay in each year for big jobs like repainting. Queensland calls it a sinking fund, NSW a capital works fund and Victoria a maintenance fund, and each sits behind a plan that looks about ten years ahead.

Do I need a licensed scaffolder for a strata repaint?

If a person or object could fall more than 4 metres from the scaffold, yes, it must be erected by a licensed scaffolder. Many repaints use a mix of scaffold, boom lifts and swing stages depending on the elevation.

Who pays for painting balconies and front doors?

It depends on the scheme. Under the NSW common property memorandum, balcony ceilings are the owners corporation’s while paintwork inside a lot, including the entrance door, is the owner’s, so check the by-laws for each building.

Is a paid condition report worth offering?

Usually, because managers need current figures for the 10-year plan, and the painter who wrote the report is a natural choice to quote when the repaint comes due.