Painting contract template — coats, prep and what 'finished' means
Painting contracts are argued over the definition of done. Here is how to define coats, preparation and acceptance before the first drop cloth goes down.
This is a checklist of what a painting contract has to settle — not a ready-to-sign legal document, and not legal advice. Most states regulate home improvement contracts: required disclosures, cancellation windows, deposit limits and licence display all vary, and some trades carry extra rules. Adapt this, then have a lawyer in your state review it before you put it in front of a customer.
Download as a spreadsheet to work through, or print it to sit alongside your own agreement.
What a painting contract has to settle
A painting contract has to define finished, because the customer's definition and the painter's will differ. Number of coats, the surfaces included, and the preparation standard all belong in the scope in writing — 'two coats' means nothing if the contract does not also say over what preparation. Lead-safe practices are a legal requirement on pre-1978 housing and are not optional or negotiable. Acceptance should have a method and a deadline, or the last ten percent of the money sits behind an open-ended punch list.
Clauses it needs
- Parties, licence number, and the areas and surfaces in scope
- Number of coats per surface, and the product, sheen and colour
- Preparation standard: patching, sanding, caulking, priming — defined, not implied
- Surfaces explicitly excluded, including anything not being touched
- Lead-safe work practices where the property predates 1978
- Protection of floors, fixtures and landscaping, and who moves furniture
- Acceptance: how the work is inspected, by when, and what counts as a defect
- Touch-up period and any holdback, with its release condition
- Payment schedule: material deposit, progress by area, final on acceptance
- Weather terms for exterior work, including temperature and humidity limits
What painting contracts actually get argued over
- Two coats contracted, one coat visible, and no record of what went where
- Prep quality judged after the fact against a standard never written down
- Customer-supplied paint running short, with no clause on who covers the rest
- Final payment held against a punch list that keeps growing
The estimate this contract is built on
A contract can only be as clear as the scope it references. BidWand drafts the itemised estimate — labour, materials, exclusions and assumptions — that the scope and exclusions clauses point at.
Draft the painting estimate this contract references
This generates the estimate, not the contract — describe the job and you get the itemised scope to attach. No email needed to see the first one.
What you get — see the format first
A complete estimate you can send to the customer, built from the rate you enter:
| Description | Qty | Unit | Unit price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor — itemized by task | hrs | hour | your rate | — |
| Materials — with your markup applied | qty | ea / sq ft | cost + markup | — |
| Permits, disposal, access | — | — | — | — |
Plus a plain-English scope summary, assumptions (what had to be guessed), exclusions (what you are not doing — the section that prevents most change-order arguments), and a validity period. Printable, or send the link.
Every figure comes from the rate and markup you supply. We never fill in a market price for you.
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How to estimate
How to write a contractor estimate · Estimate vs quote vs bid — and which one you should send · What to include in a contractor estimate · How to price a job as a contractor · Should you charge for estimates? · How to follow up on an estimate · How to handle change orders · Estimate vs invoice: what's the difference? · How to raise your prices as a contractor