How to Choose a Commercial Painting Contractor: Questions to Ask and Bids to Compare

To choose a commercial painting contractor, confirm four things before you look at price: an active Virginia contractor license of the right class, current liability and workers' compensation insurance, real experience with buildings like yours, and a written scope that names the prep, the products, the number of coats and the schedule. Then compare bids line by line, not total to total. The cheapest number is usually the one that left something out.

A commercial repaint touches tenants, residents, staff and customers, so the contractor you hire matters as much as the paint. This guide walks through what to check, what to ask, what a good bid includes and the red flags that should end the conversation.

In this article

• What should you look for in a commercial painting contractor?
• Does a painting contractor need a license in Virginia?
• What insurance should a commercial painter carry?
• What questions should you ask a commercial painting contractor?
• What should a commercial painting bid include?
• How do you compare commercial painting bids?
• What safety rules should your painter follow?
• Should you ask for a sample area before the job starts?
• What are the signs of a bad painting contractor?

What should you look for in a commercial painting contractor?

Commercial painting is a different business from house painting. The surfaces are bigger, the access is harder, the schedule is built around people who still need to use the building, and there is usually a board, an owner or a facilities team who has to sign off. Look for a contractor who can show all of the following:

• The right license and insurance, which you can verify yourself in a few minutes (more on both below).
• Experience with your type of building. An office, a condo high-rise, a school and a church each come with their own constraints. Ask for photos and references from similar jobs, ideally ones that are a few years old so you can see how the work held up.
• A real walkthrough before the price. A contractor who quotes a commercial job from a phone call or a few photos is guessing. Expect someone to walk the property, measure, note the condition of the surfaces and ask how the building is used.
• Their own crew lead on site. Ask who will be in charge every day and how you reach them. On larger jobs, a single point of contact saves a lot of phone tag.
• A written scope, not just a number. The bid should describe the work in enough detail that you could hand it to another contractor and get a comparable price.

Does a painting contractor need a license in Virginia?

Yes. In Virginia, anyone contracting for painting work over $1,000 needs a contractor license from the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), and the class of license has to match the size of the job. Under Virginia Code § 54.1-1100, the classes are set by contract value:

• Class C: a single contract over $1,000 but less than $30,000.
• Class B: a single contract of $30,000 or more, but less than $150,000.
• Class A: a single contract of $150,000 or more.

The classes also have annual volume limits, so a busy contractor needs a higher class even if each job is small. Painters carry a painting and wallcovering specialty on top of the class.

What this means for you: if your repaint is priced at $80,000, a contractor with only a Class C license is not allowed to sign that contract. Ask for the license number and check it on DPOR's License Lookup, which shows whether the license is active, what class it is and any disciplinary history. Loudoun County's guide to hiring a contractor recommends the same check. It takes about two minutes and filters out a surprising number of bidders.

What insurance should a commercial painter carry?

At a minimum, ask for proof of general liability insurance and workers' compensation insurance, sent to you directly by the contractor's insurance agent as a certificate of insurance.

• General liability covers damage to your property and injuries to third parties, such as overspray on cars in the lot or a tenant tripping over equipment. Many property managers and associations require a minimum coverage amount and ask to be named as an additional insured. Check your management agreement or governing documents for the exact requirement.
• Workers' compensation covers the crew if someone gets hurt on your property. The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission says a business with more than two employees regularly employed in Virginia is generally required to carry it, and that a contractor must count its subcontractors' employees along with its own. A painting company with a real crew should have it.
• Commercial auto and umbrella coverage are common for larger contractors and are worth asking about on bigger jobs.

Look at the policy dates on the certificate. A certificate that expires halfway through your project is worth a follow-up before the work starts.

What questions should you ask a commercial painting contractor?

These questions sort experienced commercial contractors from everyone else quickly:

• How many projects like ours have you done in the last two years, and can we talk to two of those clients?
• Who will be on site each day, and are they your employees or subcontractors?
• How would you sequence our building so it stays open? Which areas would you do after hours?
• What prep is included for each surface: washing, scraping, patching, caulking, priming?
• What products will you use, by name, and how many coats?
• How will you protect floors, furniture, landscaping, cars and anything else near the work?
• How will you keep exits, entrances and walkways open and safe?
• How do you handle changes, such as damaged drywall or rotted trim found once the work starts?
• What does your warranty cover, for how long, and is it in writing?
• What is the payment schedule, and when is the final payment due?

If your building is occupied, our guide to painting an occupied commercial building covers scheduling, odor control and tenant notices in more detail.

What should a commercial painting bid include?

A good commercial bid reads like a plan for the job. At a minimum it should list:

• Every area and surface included, such as walls, ceilings, doors, frames, trim, railings and exterior siding, with anything excluded stated plainly.
• The prep for each surface, including cleaning, repairs, caulking and spot priming.
• The products by brand and product line, the sheen and the number of coats. "Two coats of premium paint" is not a specification.
• The schedule, including start date, expected duration, working hours and any after-hours or weekend work.
• Protection and cleanup, including who moves furniture and how the space is left each day.
• Exclusions. The Painting Contractors Association even publishes a standard, PCA P23, that lists items typically not part of a painter's work unless the contract says so. Knowing what is not included is as important as knowing what is.
• Warranty, payment terms and how change orders are priced.

How do you compare commercial painting bids?

Get at least three bids, and give every contractor the same scope so you are comparing the same job. Then line them up:

• Same surfaces? One bid may include doors, frames and stairwells that another leaves out.
• Same prep? Prep is where low bids usually save money. A repaint over unwashed, uncaulked or flaking surfaces looks fine for a season and then fails.
• Same products and coats? A contractor-grade paint and a premium commercial line can differ a lot in durability and in price.
• Same schedule? After-hours and phased work costs more than daytime work in an empty building, so a lower bid may assume access you cannot give.
• Same warranty?

If one bid is far below the others, ask that contractor to walk you through what it includes. Often the gap is in prep, coats or exclusions. For typical price ranges, see our commercial painting cost guide for Northern Virginia.

What safety rules should your painter follow?

A contractor's safety record becomes your problem the moment someone gets hurt on your property. Three areas are worth asking about:

• Working at height. Federal OSHA rules require fall protection for construction workers on surfaces 6 feet or more above a lower level. Ask how the crew will reach high walls, stairwells and exteriors, whether they use lifts, scaffolds or ladders, and who on the crew is trained to set them up.
• Lead paint in older buildings. If your building was built before 1978 and is used by young children, such as a daycare or a school, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires firms that disturb painted surfaces to be certified and to follow lead-safe practices. In other older commercial buildings, OSHA's lead in construction standard still governs how workers sand and scrape. Ask how the contractor tests for lead and what they do when they find it.
• Keeping the building safe for everyone else. Exits clear at the end of every shift, wet-paint signs and barriers, and materials stored in one locked spot rather than in hallways.

If children use your building, our guide to low-VOC paint for daycares and schools covers the lead rules and product choices in more depth.

Should you ask for a sample area before the job starts?

On larger jobs, yes. The Painting Contractors Association's PCA P5 standard describes a benchmark sample: the contractor prepares and paints a small area exactly as the contract specifies, you approve it, and that area becomes the standard the rest of the job is judged against.

A sample settles color, sheen and finish quality before the whole building is painted, and it gives everyone a fair way to settle disagreements later. It is especially useful when a board, an owner and a property manager all need to agree.

What are the signs of a bad painting contractor?

Walk away, or at least slow down, if you see any of these:

• No license number, or a license that is inactive or the wrong class for the size of your job.
• Insurance certificates that never arrive, or arrive from the contractor instead of the agent.
• A price given without a walkthrough, or a one-line bid with no scope.
• No commercial references, or references only from small residential jobs.
• A large deposit demanded up front, or pressure to sign the same day.
• Vague answers about who will actually do the work.
• No plan for keeping your building open, safe and clean during the project.

Once the work starts, the warning signs change: crews that show up late or not at all, surfaces painted without being cleaned, drips and missed spots, and no one on site who can answer a question. That is why the daily point of contact matters.

Final Takeaway

The best commercial painting contractor for your building is licensed for the size of your job, properly insured, experienced with buildings like yours, and willing to put the scope, products, schedule and warranty in writing. Verify the license on DPOR, get the insurance certificate from the agent, compare bids on the same scope, and ask for a sample area on larger jobs.

My Painter & Exteriors paints offices, condo and HOA buildings, schools, churches and retail spaces across Northern Virginia and DC. See our commercial painting services, read what clients say on our reviews page, or request a free estimate and we will walk your property and give you a written scope you can compare line by line.