A Strata Manager's Guide to Budgeting for Common Property Painting in Rockdale
Painting is usually one of the largest single line items a strata scheme will approve in any given cycle, and it's also one of the easiest to get wrong on paper. Underquote it and you're back in front of owners asking for a special levy. Leave it out of the capital works fund plan entirely, and you're scrambling when the building starts showing its age. For strata managers overseeing buildings across Rockdale, getting the budgeting right up front saves a lot of awkward AGM conversations later.
Start With the Capital Works Fund Plan, Not the Quote
Under NSW strata law, every scheme is required to maintain a 10-year capital works fund plan, and painting cycles should already be sitting inside it. The mistake we see most often is schemes treating a repaint as a surprise expense rather than something the fund plan should have flagged years in advance. If your building's plan doesn't clearly separate render, render coating, balustrades, common corridors, and roofline painting as distinct line items, it's worth having it reviewed before you go to quote through a dedicated
strata painting assessment, because vague fund plans lead directly to vague, unreliable budgets.
Get Multiple Scoped Quotes, Not Just Multiple Prices
A common budgeting trap is comparing quotes that aren't actually scoped the same way. One painter's price might include full surface preparation, rust treatment on balustrades, and two coats, while another has quietly assumed a single coat over existing paint. For an owners corporation, the cheapest number on paper is often the most expensive outcome a year later. Ask each painter for a written breakdown of preparation work, number of coats, and what surfaces are included, so the committee is comparing like for like rather than just a bottom-line figure.
Factor in Access and Scaffolding Early
For multi-storey buildings, access costs can rival the painting itself, and this is where budgets blow out most often. Scaffolding, swing stages, or elevated work platforms all carry their own hire periods, council permits in some cases, and safety requirements, and these costs don't scale down for a smaller paint job the way labour and materials do. This applies just as much to
exterior painting and
roof painting on common property as it does to facade work. Building access into the budget as its own line item, rather than folding it into a single painting figure, gives the committee a clearer picture of where the money is actually going.
Stage the Work to Smooth Out the Levy Impact
Not every building needs a full repaint in a single financial year. Staging work, such as painting street-facing facades and entries in one cycle and internal corridors or rear elevations in the next, can spread the cost across two budget periods and reduce the size of any special levy. This approach works best when it's planned into the capital works fund from the start, rather than decided reactively once quotes come back higher than expected.
Build in a Contingency for What the Quote Can't See
Painters can only quote based on what's visible during a site inspection, and older buildings frequently reveal additional issues once scaffolding goes up, such as spalling concrete, rusted reinforcement, or rotten timber fascias hidden behind existing paint. A contingency of 10 to 15 percent on top of the base quote is standard practice for this reason, and including it in the original budget proposal avoids having to go back to owners mid-project for additional funds. Our
before the paint goes on preparation checklist covers many of the same hidden-defect issues that come up on common property.
Bring in a Painter Before the Budget Is Locked
The most reliable strata painting budgets are built with input from a painting contractor before the figure goes to committee, not after. A short paid consultation or scoping visit ahead of the AGM can flag access issues, likely hidden defects, and realistic timeframes, giving the strata manager a defensible number to present rather than a rough estimate pulled from the last building's job.
Preparing a painting budget for an upcoming AGM? Explore our
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contact us for a scoped quote your committee can rely on.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a strata scheme budget for a full repaint of common property?
Most schemes budget for a full external repaint every 7 to 10 years, though this varies with building exposure, paint quality used previously, and local climate factors. The capital works fund plan should specify a schedule based on an assessor's recommendation rather than a fixed industry rule of thumb.
Does painting common property need approval from a general meeting, or can the committee approve it directly?
This depends on the cost relative to the scheme's by-laws and the NSW strata legislation thresholds for committee spending authority. Larger painting projects typically require approval by ordinary or special resolution at a general meeting, so it's worth confirming the applicable threshold with the scheme's by-laws before assuming committee sign-off is sufficient.
What's the best way to present a painting budget to owners without alarming them at the AGM?
Presenting the figure alongside the relevant capital works fund line item, the scoped quote breakdown, and a clear staging plan (if applicable) helps owners see the number as a planned, necessary expense rather than a sudden cost. Framing it against the cost of delaying maintenance, such as accelerated deterioration, often helps the resolution pass more smoothly.
Can a strata scheme use the capital works fund to cover a painting project, or does it need a special levy?
If the project was properly forecast in the 10-year capital works fund plan and sufficient funds have been accumulated, it can typically be paid from that fund without a special levy. A special levy is usually only needed when the fund falls short, often because the plan wasn't updated to reflect current painting costs.
