Trades / Painting

Painting subcontracts: the risks and what to negotiate

Painting comes last, so it absorbs everyone else's delay and everyone else's damage. The contract decides whether you are paid for repeated return visits, touch-ups caused by others and the compressed programme at the end of the job.

AI risk report, not legal advice. The scanner gives general information about the risks in a document. It is not a lawyer, does not know your circumstances, and can be wrong. For decisions with legal consequences, get advice from a construction lawyer.

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Where painting and decorating subcontractors lose money

Touch-ups caused by other trades

Every trade that follows you marks finished walls. If touch-ups are included in your lump sum without limit, you paint the same wall several times for one price.

Compressed end-of-job programme

Delay upstream lands on the last trade. Check whether directed acceleration and extra shifts are paid.

Back-charges at handover

Defect lists at handover mix your workmanship with damage by others. Insist on notice and evidence before any deduction.

Payment at the tail of the project

You claim last, when the builder's cash flow is tightest. Know your state's payment schedule and adjudication rights before the final claims.

Three things to push for in your departures schedule

Touch-ups caused by other trades paid as a variation
Directed acceleration paid
Written notice and evidence before any handover back-charge

The free scanner finds these clauses in your actual contract in about two minutes and writes the departures schedule for you.

What the Index says

Live figures from the Australian Subcontract Index, 90 real subcontracts. The Index holds no painting contracts so far, under the 10-contract threshold, so these are national figures across all trades. Nothing under 10 contracts is ever shown.

100%have time bars that kill the claim entirely (66 of 66, all trades)

97%let the builder set off without notice (75 of 77, all trades)

78%have liquidated damages with no cap (31 of 40, all trades)

25 daysmedian payment terms (n=75, all trades)

5%median retention (n=65, all trades)

5 daysmedian notice window for variations (n=60, all trades)

See the full live Index →

Painting subcontracts by state

Queensland →Payment capped at 25 business days; payment schedule due in 15.

New South Wales →Payment capped at 20 business days; payment schedule due in 10.

Victoria →Payment capped at 20 business days; payment schedule due in 10.

Western Australia →Payment capped at 25 business days; payment schedule due in 15.

South Australia →Payment schedule due within 15 business days of your claim.

Tasmania →Payment schedule due within 10 business days of your claim.

Australian Capital Territory →Payment schedule due within 10 business days of your claim.

Northern Territory →No payment schedule step: a dispute arises when a claim is rejected or unpaid, then 90 days to apply.

Painting subcontracts: common questions

Do painters have to keep doing touch-ups for free?

Only if the contract says so. A clause making touch-ups caused by other trades a variation is a reasonable departure, and photos of finished areas before others return make it enforceable in practice.

Do painting and decorating subcontractors have payment rights that override the contract?

Yes. Every state and territory has a Security of Payment Act that lets you make a payment claim and get to adjudication quickly, and several states cap how long payment terms can be. The state pages below set out each one.

Is the scanner free?

Yes. No account, no card. Upload the subcontract and the full report appears in about two minutes. General information, not legal advice.

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