Quick answer: Compare strata painting quotes on scope, not on the bottom line. A useful quote breaks the building into elements (facades, balconies, soffits, stairwells, carpark, doors, railings), states the access method, the preparation and repairs included, the product system and number of coats, the warranty, insurances and safe work documents, the program and the completion report. Under NSW strata law the owners corporation must repair and maintain common property, painting is paid from the capital works fund, and once a job is worth more than $30,000 the owners corporation needs at least two independent quotes, according to NSW Fair Trading. If two quotes are thousands of dollars apart, the cheaper one has almost always left something out. Build a scope matrix, line the quotes up against it, and only then talk about price.
What should a strata painting quote itemise?
A strata painting quote is a scope document first and a price second. Here is what your committee should expect from anyone quoting on strata and body corporate painting.
Scope by building element
- Facades: render, brick, concrete or cladding, listed elevation by elevation, with excluded walls named.
- Balconies: balustrade walls, soffits, and whether the inside face of each balcony is included. The most common gap between quotes.
- Soffits and eaves: often forgotten, first to show mould near the coast.
- Common stairwells and lobbies: walls, ceilings, handrails, frames, skirtings.
- Carpark: walls, columns, ceilings, bollards, line marking.
- Doors, frames and railings: fire doors, the common property side of entry doors, gates, metal balustrades.
Access method
Access can be a third of the cost of an external strata repaint, so the quote must say how the painter will reach the work: scaffold, elevated work platform (EWP), rope access, or ladders on a low walk-up. Each has a different price, program and impact on residents. A quote that does not mention access is guessing, or expecting a variation.
Preparation and repairs
This is where the money goes and where the cheap quote saves it. Look for pressure washing, efflorescence and mould treatment, scraping and sanding of failed paint, render crack repair, rust treatment and priming of metal, and a clear statement on concrete spalling. Spalling (concrete cancer) is a structural repair, not a painting item; an honest quote excludes it and refers it to a remedial contractor, or carries a provisional sum. The Dulux Weathershield technical data sheet requires surfaces to be free of loose or flaking paint, efflorescence to be treated, and preparation and painting to conform to AS 2311. If the prep is not itemised, the coating guarantee is already at risk.
Product system and coats
The quote should name the manufacturer, product, sheen and number of coats per surface, including primers. The same data sheet specifies three coats of Weathershield on bare masonry, a metal primer plus two topcoats on steel, and a metal primer on galvanised iron within 1 km of the sea. “Two coats of premium exterior acrylic” is not a specification.
Warranty, insurances, program and completion
Ask for the painter’s workmanship warranty in writing, separate from the manufacturer’s guarantee; the contractor licence number, which should be printed on the quote and is checkable on the NSW Fair Trading register; a public liability certificate of currency naming the insurer and the sum insured, plus workers compensation cover; and a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) for any work at height. The quote should also give a start date, duration, working hours, how residents will be notified about balcony access and parking, and what the completion report contains. We hand over completion photos of every element so the committee can sign off without walking the building.
Need a written strata painting quote you can put in front of your committee? Call Trent on 0425 116 817 or send the details through our contact form and we will inspect the building and itemise the scope element by element.
Maintenance repaint or full capital repaint: which one are you buying?
A maintenance repaint is a wash, spot prime and one or two topcoats over a sound existing system. It suits a building painted properly around ten years ago with no substrate failure, and it is usually a planned capital works fund item.
A full capital repaint starts with a substrate survey and includes render and crack repairs, rust treatment, new sealants, priming of bare areas and a complete three-coat system. It is the right choice when paint is peeling to the substrate, render is drummy or the building has never had a proper system. It costs more but resets the clock, and it is the only way to qualify for long-term manufacturer guarantees. Dulux guarantees Weathershield against blistering, flaking and peeling for 15 years under an approved DuSpec specification, and offers a 25-year warranty on non-residential commercial projects on the same terms.
The mistake is to buy a maintenance repaint for a building that needs a capital repaint. It looks fine for a year, then the new paint follows the old paint off the wall.
How do you compare strata painting quotes like for like?
Build a scope matrix before you read the prices. Down the left, list every element above plus access, prep, product system, coats, warranty, insurances, program and completion report. Across the top, put each painter. In each cell write “included”, “excluded” or “provisional sum”. The gaps will be obvious in ten minutes.
Watch for exclusions buried in the fine print (balcony insides, roof-level plant, the rear elevation) and provisional sums, which are fair for genuinely unknown items like spalling but a warning sign on things the painter could have measured.
| Quote item | What to look for | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Scope by element | Every elevation, balcony, soffit, stairwell, carpark and metal item listed, with exclusions stated | “Repaint external walls” with no element list |
| Access | Named method (scaffold, EWP, rope access), who supplies it, any footpath permits | No access line, or “access by others” |
| Preparation | Wash, mould and efflorescence treatment, scrape and sand, crack repair method, rust treatment | “Prepare as required” |
| Concrete spalling | Excluded and referred to a remedial contractor, or a provisional sum with a rate | Not mentioned on a 1960s to 70s concrete building |
| Product system | Manufacturer, product, sheen, primer, coats per substrate, matched to the data sheet | “Premium exterior paint, two coats” |
| Warranty | Written workmanship warranty plus the manufacturer’s guarantee and its conditions | “Guaranteed” with no document or term |
| Insurances and licence | Licence number, public liability certificate of currency, workers compensation, SWMS for heights | Certificates “available on request” and never supplied |
| Program and residents | Start date, duration, hours, notice period, balcony access arrangements | No program, or hours that breach the by-laws |
| Completion | Report with photos of each element, touch-up paint handed over | Final invoice with nothing attached |
Who pays for strata painting, and who has to approve it?
External painting is common property work. NSW Fair Trading states that the owners corporation must repair and maintain common property, including external walls, balconies and balcony doors, and that it plans and pays for those repairs. That is the duty in section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, and Fair Trading’s guide to the 2025 changes notes an owner now has six years to bring a claim if it is not met.
The money comes from the capital works fund. Fair Trading’s page on managing strata finances lists “painting or repainting common property” as a capital expense and requires every scheme to hold a 10-year capital works fund plan, starting from the first AGM and reviewed at least every five years, with changes approved at the AGM. From 1 April 2026 new and revised plans must use the standard form. If your repaint is not in the plan, add it at the next revision so levies are collected before the render fails.
On approval, Fair Trading states that you will need at least two independent quotes for items worth more than $30,000. Most external repaints on more than a handful of units will clear that figure, so plan for two properly itemised quotes from the start.
What should you ask your strata manager?
- Is external painting in our 10-year capital works fund plan, and in which year?
- Have both quotes been checked against the same scope, or just filed?
- Did each painter inspect the building in person, or quote from photos?
- Have the licence, insurance certificates and SWMS been received?
- Is there a known spalling or waterproofing issue to fix first?
What are the common mistakes?
Taking the cheapest quote with one coat. One topcoat over a weathered exterior will not reach the film build the manufacturer specifies, so the guarantee does not apply and the building is back on the agenda in three years. No access allowance. Ladder access on a three-storey block is either unsafe or about to become an EWP variation. Painting over spalling. Paint does not fix rusting reinforcement; the crack returns within months.
What this means in the Eastern Suburbs
Most of the strata stock we paint in Coogee and Bondi is either Art Deco walk-ups with rendered facades and curved balconies, or 1960s and 70s brick and concrete blocks in Kingsford, Maroubra and Randwick built for the UNSW and hospital rental market. They need different scopes.
The Deco render blocks crack. Hairline crazing can be filled and bridged with a flexible system; anything wider, or render that sounds hollow when tapped, is a repair item to price separately. The 60s and 70s concrete blocks have exposed balcony slabs and edge beams where salt reaches the reinforcement, so spalling is the question to ask before anyone opens a tin.
Then there is the coast. Anything within a kilometre of the water gets salt every day. The Dulux data sheet calls for a metal primer on galvanised iron near the sea, and every rail, gate and bracket on a beachfront block needs proper rust treatment, not a quick sand. A quote that treats a Maroubra beachfront block the same as one in Kensington has not looked at the building.
Frequently asked questions
How much does strata painting cost in Sydney?
It depends on building size, access method, the amount of repair work and the coating system, which is why we do not publish a per-unit figure. Two quotes for the same block can differ by a third on access and prep alone. Get an itemised quote after a site inspection and compare it against a second on the same scope.
Does the owners corporation need two quotes for painting?
According to NSW Fair Trading, an owners corporation needs at least two independent quotes for items worth more than $30,000. Most external repaints on blocks of more than a few units will exceed that. Even below the threshold, two itemised quotes are the only reliable way to check scope, coats and access.
Is strata painting paid from the capital works fund or the administrative fund?
NSW Fair Trading lists painting or repainting common property as a capital expense, so it comes from the capital works fund and should appear in the 10-year capital works fund plan. Small touch-ups after a repair may sit in the administrative fund, but a full repaint is a capital item.
How often should a strata building be repainted?
Manufacturers tie their long-term guarantees to correct preparation and a full system; Dulux guarantees Weathershield against peeling, flaking and blistering for 15 years under an approved specification. In practice, coastal blocks in the Eastern Suburbs should be inspected well before that, with a maintenance repaint scheduled before the coating fails rather than after.
Who is responsible for painting balconies in a strata scheme?
Balconies and balcony doors are listed by NSW Fair Trading as common property the owners corporation must repair and maintain, so balcony walls, soffits and balustrades are normally part of a strata repaint. Check your strata plan and by-laws, because some plans treat the inside face of a balcony differently.