How to repaint offices across multiple sites under one contract

Several office sites can be repainted under one contract without any of them closing. The way to do it is to run the work as one programme rather than a string of separate jobs: one specification and one standard of finish, a price broken down site by site, the paperwork done once, a pre-start at every site, and the painting done outside business hours so staff keep working.

That is how we repainted eleven offices across metropolitan Melbourne for a disability services provider. It is one of our documented case studies, so the brief and outcome below come from the project record. The photographs were taken at one of the eleven, the provider's Frankston office, in July 2025.

The brief: eleven occupied offices, one contract

Each of the eleven sites was an occupied workplace. The client wanted all of them repainted under a single contract, with fixed budget accountability and the same standard everywhere. The scope was an interior repaint across all eleven, delivered as one coordinated programme.

Why multi-site work is different

A single office repaint is mostly a question of when the floor can be released. Across many sites, more has to line up:

• Every site has its own constraints. Different buildings, access arrangements, hours, managers and visitors.
• Budgets are often answerable site by site. Facilities teams commonly report cost per site, not one lump sum.
• The standard has to hold. Eleven sites painted to eleven different standards look like the work of eleven different contractors.
• The programme has to hold. A delay at one site should not push out all the others.

Pricing each site separately

The quotation was itemised, breaking down labour, materials and scheduling for each site. That gives the client a number to hold every site to, makes it obvious where the money goes, and means a change at one site can be priced without reopening the rest.

Paperwork once, a pre-start at every site

Safe Work Method Statements, insurance certificates and compliance documentation were prepared in advance, before the programme started. Each site then had its own pre-start meeting to confirm requirements, safety expectations and anything particular to that building.

The paperwork is shared across the programme; the pre-start is not, because no two offices have the same entrances, alarms, quiet rooms or visitors.

After hours, so staff keep working

Much of the work was completed outside standard business hours, so staff could keep working uninterrupted and disruption was confined to after-hours periods. The Frankston photographs were taken with nobody at the desks: monitors left where they were, drop sheets down the corridors, and the crew working over and around the workstations.

Cutting in above the workstations at Frankston, with the desks left in place.

Leaving desks in place is usually faster and less disruptive than clearing a floor. Loose items are cleared from desks, equipment is covered or moved back from the walls, and drop sheets go down wherever the crew is working.

Rolling the walls along the glass offices at Frankston, drop sheets down the corridor.

Odour gets the same treatment as dust. Low-VOC systems are our standard in occupied workplaces, and after-hours work gives a painted area time to ventilate before staff come back in.

Keeping every site safe and secure

Barriers, signage and protective coverings were kept in place across every site, all work was completed in line with OHS standards, and each worksite was kept secure for staff and visitors throughout. For a disability services provider that matters, and the crews working in its offices are covered by NDIS Worker Screening Checks as well as Working with Children and police checks.

One standard across eleven sites

The client wanted a consistent standard of finish across every location, and that is what was delivered, with all eleven sites finished on time and within budget. Consistency across sites comes from deciding things once — one specification, one set of colours and finishes, one way of preparing and handing over — and applying it to every building in the programme.

Working the far wall of the open-plan floor at Frankston.

How a multi-site repaint runs, step by step

1. Walk every site before pricing. Each building is assessed, not assumed to match the last.
2. One specification. Colours, systems and the finish standard agreed once for the whole programme.
3. An itemised quote. Labour, materials and scheduling broken down per site.
4. Paperwork in advance. Safe Work Method Statements, insurance certificates and compliance documents for the programme.
5. Sequence the sites. An order and a programme that holds, with after-hours windows agreed per site.
6. A pre-start at each site. Requirements, safety expectations and site-specific issues confirmed before work begins there.
7. Paint, protect, hand back. Each site finished, cleaned and signed off as it is completed.

What to ask before a painter quotes your sites

Ask	What a good answer sounds like
Will you price each site separately?	Yes — labour, materials and scheduling itemised per site.
Can staff keep working?	Yes, with the work done after hours or in zones.
Who prepares the safety paperwork?	The painter, before the programme starts, with a pre-start at every site.
How will the finish stay consistent across sites?	One specification and one handover standard for every building.
Are your crews screened?	Working with Children, police and, for NDIS providers, NDIS Worker Screening Checks.
What prequalification and warranty do you hold?	Contractor safety prequalification, insurance certificates and a written workmanship warranty.

For the record, Commercial Painters holds Cm3 contractor OHS prequalification and Master Painters Australia membership, and as a Dulux Accredited Painter backs its work with a five-year workmanship warranty. Multi-site work is a large part of what we do: as of September 2026, 84 of our clients are multi-site, and we look after more than 1,350 sites in all.

About this job

Commercial Painters is a commercial painting contractor based at 1 Turbo Drive, Bayswater North, working across Melbourne. The full record for this job is the NDIS offices case study, workplace repaints are covered on our office painting page, and the full range of commercial painting services is set out separately. If you are comparing commercial painters in Melbourne for a portfolio of sites, the questions above are a good place to start.