Choosing a painting company

You may have heard of the Dulux Accredited Painters program on the radio or on TV, or you may have even seen the iconic logo on vehicles of Accredited painters.

You may have heard of the program, but what exactly does it mean to be Dulux Accredited? And most importantly, what does it mean for you as a consumer?

Each Dulux Accredited painter has been hand selected by Dulux and invited to join the program based on their reputation for delivering exceptional workmanship and customer service, maintaining a high standard of professionalism, and for being a reliable organisation.

Upon being invited to the program based on their industry reputation, painters are then required to meet a range of strict selection criteria including providing Dulux with the contact information of former clients who will then be checked as references. Should the painter not meet the selection criteria or not receive excellent references, Dulux will revoke their invitation to join the program.

Along with their endorsement from Australia’s most iconic paint brand, each Dulux Accredited painter is required to:

• Provide their own workmanship warranty of at least five years for residential projects,
• Be fully licensed,
• Hold at least $5m of public liability insurance,
• Be actively monitored by Ebix Trades Monitor to ensure they remain fully licensed and insured, and
• Comply with and uphold Dulux’s Charter of Values, which incorporates working with integrity, ensuring client satisfaction, delivering excellent workmanship, working in a sustainable manner, and adhering to health and safety legislation.

Whilst other non-Accredited painters may offer warranties and be insured, they are not held accountable to honour their warranties, and nor do they have to maintain their insurance (outside of the realms of their licence conditions). The knowledge that not only is a Dulux Accredited painter an excellent craftsman, but also that they are held accountable and are monitored regularly, provides peace of mind for you as a client.

There’s no additional cost for you to use an Accredited painter, although it is to be expected that being a painter of this calibre, their pricing would be equivalent to the quality of work you should expect to receive.

As a member of the Dulux Accredited program, we are proud to be endorsed by a company whose products we trust and utilise each day.

It’s normal for consumers to consider the warranty offered when purchasing a new car, mobile phone or whitegoods, but as yet, warranties don’t seem to be valued as highly when it comes to property maintenance, particularly painting.

Painting provides more than just a coat of paint in your desired colours – it protects your property. Paint forms a barrier between the elements and the bare substrates of your home, it protects from marks and water, and reflects light and heat (just think about the protection the paint on a tiled roof provides!). Given this, isn’t it reasonable to expect that your painting work is warranted to ensure that your property is adequately protected?

The first thing to note is that there are two distinct types of warranties when it comes to painting – the manufacturer’s warranty for the paint itself, and the painting company’s warranty for the application of said products.

The most important thing to note about warranties offered by paint manufacturers is that should a successful claim be made, it is only the paint itself that is replaced or refunded. There is no provision for the cost to have the product removed and reapplied, and nor is there any provision for replacement of paint if the failure is due to incorrect application in the first place. It is for this reason that it is important to consider the warranty being offered by the painting company.

A painting company’s warranty should protect you against issues caused by substandard workmanship. Whilst it is unreasonable to expect that a painter should warrant their work against external forces such as heat damage from a built in BBQ, it is reasonable to expect that a painter provides you with a warranty against flaking, peeling and blistering where the workmanship was the cause.

• Make sure they offer one! A company who does not offer a warranty may very be well be capable, but where’s the motivation for them to provide you with a premium job if they do not have to be concerned about any failures in the future?
• A warranty should always be given to you in writing. If a painting company refuses this, the chances of them honouring it later on are very slim.
• Read the details of what’s covered and what’s not. We’d be cautious of a painter willing to cover any and all damage to their work – as we mentioned, there are some things outside of the painters control for which a warranty would not be reasonably expected. If a painter is covering these items and more, we’d be dubious as to whether they’d honour a warranty claim.
• Ensure that the warranty being offered is a workmanship warranty, and is not a re-sell of the manufacturer’s warranty.
• Consider the length of the warranty offered. Paint may not appear defective immediately, and in fact can take around 2-3 years to begin to fail. Given this, it’s advisable to seek warranties of 3+ years to ensure that the painter is covering their work beyond the average failure period.

Refined Painting Projects is proud to provide our clients with a written 8 year workmanship warranty as a part of every quotation. Please contact us with any questions or should you wish to receive further information.