Painting
Commercial Painting Cost Calculator
Prices commercial painting, where working around the occupier shapes everything.
Result
A planning estimate, not a quote. Access, the age of the equipment, what is found once it is opened up and local labour rates all move the real figure, sometimes a long way.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Hours times crew times rate, plus materials and the call-out, at a rate reflecting out-of-hours working. Commercial work has the same application as residential and different constraints: it usually happens at night or at weekends so the premises can trade, the building may impose requirements on access and insurance, and the specification is often written rather than discussed, with named products and film thicknesses that have to be met.
What moves the number
- Out-of-hours working, which is usually required and carries a premium.
- Specified products and film builds, which are not substitutable.
- Building access requirements, including insurance certificates.
- Low odour or low emission requirements in occupied premises.
Where this one goes wrong
A written specification is a contractual document, not a suggestion: named products, surface preparation standards and dry film thickness are what the work is accepted against, and substituting an equivalent product without approval can mean redoing it at your cost. Read it before pricing. In occupied premises, odour and emissions matter practically as well as contractually, since a coating that smells for two days closes an office, and low odour products exist for exactly that reason. Lead requirements apply to commercial repainting of older buildings as they do to housing where the use brings them into scope.
Before you quote
- Read and price the written specification rather than a generic scope.
- Confirm building access and insurance requirements ahead of the date.
- Use low odour products where the premises stay occupied.
Where the rules come from
Questions
About this calculator
Why is commercial painting done at night?
So the premises can trade, and because many buildings restrict work to outside normal hours. That carries a rate premium for the crew but it is usually cheaper than closing the business, which is the comparison that matters to the client.
Can I substitute an equivalent product on a specified job?
Not without approval. A written specification names products, preparation standards and film thickness, and the work is accepted against it. Substituting without agreement can mean redoing the work at your own cost, which makes reading the specification before pricing essential.
Does paint odour matter in an occupied building?
Practically, a great deal. A coating that smells for two days can close an office or make a retail space unusable, which costs the client far more than the painting. Low odour and low emission products exist for exactly this, and specifying them is part of doing commercial work properly.
The formula
total = hours x people x rate + parts + call-out, then sales tax
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How to use this calculator
- Hours on site (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 32 h.
- People needed. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $68.
- Parts and materials ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $520.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $95.
- Sales tax (%). Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to estimated total, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Hours on site | 32 h |
| People needed | 1 |
| Labour rate charged | $68 |
| Parts and materials | $520 |
| Call-out or diagnostic fee | $95 |
| Sales tax | 0% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated total main result | $2,791 |
| Labour | $2,176 |
| Before tax | $2,791 |
| Sales tax | $0 |
About $2,791: $2,176 of labour, $520 of parts and a $95 call-out.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour rate charged, this is what happens to estimated total. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour rate charged ($) | Estimated total |
|---|---|
| $34 | $1,703 |
| $51 | $2,247 |
| $68 example above | $2,791 |
| $102 | $3,879 |
| $136 | $4,967 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Hours on site (h)
- Measured in h, between 0 and 400, starting at 32 h.
- People needed
- A number, between 0 and 40, starting at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($)
- A money amount, starting at $68.
- Parts and materials ($)
- A money amount, starting at $520.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($)
- A money amount, starting at $95.
- Sales tax (%)
- Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Estimated total | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour | A money figure. |
| Before tax | A money figure. |
| Sales tax | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.