Painting contract template
Build your contract
Fill this in and print it, or save it as a PDF. Nothing is uploaded — it all stays in your browser.
Between
Customer name
Scope of work
Describe exactly what is included — and what is not.
Price and payment
Total: $0.00
Deposit (50%): $0.00 before work begins
Balance: $0.00 on completion
Terms
Payment
A deposit is due before work begins. The balance is due on completion. Invoices unpaid after 14 days may carry a late fee of 1.5% per month.
Changes to the work
Anything outside the scope above is a change order, priced and agreed in writing before that work starts. Verbal changes are not binding on either of us.
Access
The client agrees to provide access to the property, water and power where needed, on the agreed dates. If we cannot access the site on a scheduled day, a return visit may be charged.
Weather and delays
Work may be rescheduled for weather or conditions that make it unsafe or would affect quality. We will give as much notice as we can. Neither party is liable for delays outside their control.
Existing condition
We are not responsible for pre-existing damage or for defects revealed by the work. Where we find something unexpected, we will stop and tell you before continuing.
Insurance
The contractor carries liability insurance and will provide a certificate on request.
Cancellation
Either party may cancel in writing before work begins. Deposits cover materials already ordered and scheduling held for you, and may be non-refundable to that extent.
This is a starting point written for small home service work, not legal advice. Contract law varies by state, and some states require specific notices, licence numbers or cancellation language on residential contracts. Have a local attorney read it once before you use it for everything.
Prep is the contract
Nearly every painting dispute is about prep, because it is the part that costs the most and shows the least. Once the topcoat is on, nobody can tell whether you spent a day sanding or twenty minutes.
So describe actions, never adjectives:
Pressure wash all exterior surfaces. Scrape all loose and flaking paint. Sand feathered edges smooth. Fill nail holes and caulk gaps at trim junctions. Spot-prime all bare wood. Excludes full stripping to bare substrate, repair of rotten timber, and lead paint remediation.
“Full prep” means whatever the customer wants it to mean, on the day they decide they are unhappy.
Name the paint
Brand, product line and sheen, per surface. Sherwin-Williams Duration in satin is a different contract from “quality exterior paint”, and the difference is several hundred dollars of material the customer is either buying or not.
It also protects you. When a customer three years later says the paint failed, the contract says exactly what went on the wall.
Coats, and what happens with colour changes
State the coat count. Then state separately that significant colour changes — dark to light especially — may need an additional coat, priced at $X. That one sentence prevents the most predictable overrun in the trade.
Exclusions worth writing down
Rotten timber replacement. Lead paint. Window glazing. Moving heavy furniture. Wallpaper removal. Anything above two storeys without the equipment allowed for.
Each is a job someone will assume you included.
Payment and weather
Deposit covering the paint, balance on completion. For exterior work, include the weather clause — you will move days, and a clause turns that from a broken promise into an expected part of the arrangement.
When you are sending several a week
QuoteIQ at $29.99/mo includes e-signatures from the Beginner plan, so the contract comes back signed without printing. Jobber at $49/mo produces a better-looking document and lets the customer approve it on their phone. Housecall Pro Max includes a proposal tool that presents prep levels as priced options, which is the most reliable way to stop competing against someone quoting one coat over dirt.
Questions operators actually ask
What should a painting contract include?
Every surface being painted, the prep level, the number of coats, the exact paint product and sheen, what is excluded, the price and payment schedule, and terms for changes and weather. Prep level and coat count are where painting contracts get argued, because both are invisible once the job is finished.
How do I specify prep so it is enforceable?
Describe the actions, not an adjective. 'Wash, scrape loose paint, sand feathered edges, fill nail holes, caulk gaps, spot-prime bare wood' is enforceable. 'Full prep' is not, because your definition and the customer's will differ exactly when it matters.
Should I name the paint product?
Yes — brand, line and sheen. It stops a customer comparing your price against a competitor quoting builder-grade, and it protects you when someone claims you used something cheaper. It also makes touch-ups possible in three years.
How many coats should the contract say?
State the number explicitly, and state what happens with colour changes. Going from dark to light needs more coverage, and 'two coats' over a red wall in white is a promise you cannot keep. Price colour changes as their own line.
What deposit is reasonable for painting?
Enough to cover the paint. For most residential repaints that is 20% to 30%. Exterior work in a short season may warrant more, because you are holding a weather-dependent slot they could cancel.