The real cost is rarely the paint
On an occupied commercial building, the coating is a minor line. The expensive items are access, downtime, and doing the same work twice because the sequence was wrong.
We have priced warehouses where the scaffolding and out-of-hours allowance exceeded the material cost several times over. Which means the planning, not the paint, is where a programme is won or lost.
Sequence, and why it saves the most money
- 1Roof and water related work first. Coating internal walls or ceilings below a roof that still leaks is money spent twice, and it is the single most common commercial mistake.
- 2High level and access dependent work next, while the scaffolding or access equipment is already standing. Every separate return visit is a fresh access cost.
- 3Substrate repairs, rust treatment and steelwork after that.
- 4Wall decoration and line marking last, because it is the fastest to complete and the easiest to schedule around trade.
Working around an occupied building
| Constraint | How we work with it |
|---|---|
| Retail trading hours | Night and early morning shifts on customer facing areas, low odour water based systems, full make good before opening. |
| Warehouse operations | Zone by zone with agreed exclusion areas, aisle by aisle sequencing, work planned around stock movement. |
| Offices and tenanted floors | Floor by floor and out of hours, with low odour products and each area handed back usable each morning. |
| Food handling and clinical areas | Product selection to suit, strict containment, wash down and sign off before handover. |
| Schools and institutions | Term breaks and holidays, with a programme committed to in writing well ahead. |
None of that is unusual, but all of it has to be priced honestly. An out of hours programme costs more per square metre than a daytime one, and any quote that ignores the constraint has simply not planned for it.
What the tender document should require
- Measured areas by elevation, zone and level.
- A condition report, including roofs, gutters, parapets and steelwork.
- Preparation specified per substrate, with primer named.
- Coats and litres per zone, so material delivery can be checked.
- Access strategy and who provides it.
- Programme with shift patterns, plus the disruption plan.
- Health and safety file, work at height plan, public liability cover and COIDA letter of good standing.
- Guarantee wording, with what voids it, and a retention held to completion of the punch list.
What we bring to a commercial programme
A survey and written condition report, a scope you can tender on fairly, one fixed price for the whole programme, a shift pattern that protects your trading, and weekly photographic progress. Where a roof or a damp problem will undermine the decoration, that is dealt with first or it is written down as a risk you have accepted knowingly.
Common questions
No pressure
If you would like a second opinion on your own property, we will come and look.
The inspection is free, you get the findings in writing with photographs, and you are under no obligation to do anything with them.