What a painting quote should contain

The parts that have to be there

A quote does two jobs. It tells a customer what they are buying, and it protects you when somebody remembers the conversation differently in six weeks. Most of what follows is there for the second reason.

• Your business name, contact details and tax number if you are registered
• The customer name and the site address — the site, not the billing address, if they differ
• A quote number and a date
• What is being painted, room by room, with the number of coats
• The preparation included, stated as work rather than as a word
• What is not included
• The total, with tax shown as its own line
• How long the price stands
• Payment terms, including any deposit

Say what preparation means

"Preparation included" is not a specification, it is a promise the customer will interpret generously. Write what you will actually do: fill nail holes and minor cracks, sand back flaking areas, spot prime bare patches, wash down where required.

The gap between what a painter means by preparation and what a homeowner imagines it means is the single most common source of an argument at handover.

The exclusions worth writing down

These are the ones that come up repeatedly. Each is cheap to write and expensive to have not written.

• Moving furniture and heavy items — say who does it
• Repairs to structural cracks or water damage found once surfaces are opened up
• Wallpaper removal
• Colour changes after the deposit is paid
• Anything requiring scaffolding or a lift not allowed for in the price
• Making good after other trades

A found problem you excluded is a variation. A found problem you did not exclude is your problem.

How much detail to show

A price per room with separate allowances for preparation and materials is the usual balance. It shows a customer where their money is going, which builds confidence, without itemising to the point where each line becomes negotiable.

Save the full surface-by-surface breakdown for your own records. It is how you check the job afterwards, and it is nobody else’s business.

Consumer law, briefly

In Australia and New Zealand your work carries statutory guarantees regardless of what a quote says — it must be done with due care and skill, and be fit for purpose. Nothing you write removes that, and a quote that pretends otherwise is worth less than one that does not try.

What a quote can usefully do is define scope, which is the part that is genuinely up for agreement.