Interior vs Exterior Commercial Repainting: What's Involved, How Long It Takes and How to Plan It
Once you've decided your premises needs repainting, a new set of questions starts. What actually happens on site? How is an interior job different from an exterior one? How long will it take, and what needs approving before work begins?
If you're still working out whether it's time to repaint, start with our guide on how often a commercial building should be repainted. This guide picks up from there. It walks through the commercial repainting process for offices, retail, warehouses, schools and healthcare sites across Australia.
Interior vs exterior commercial repainting: the key differences
Interior repainting | Exterior repainting | |
Main job of the coating | Presentation, cleanability, hygiene | Protection from UV, rain, heat and movement |
Typical surfaces | Plasterboard, ceilings, doors, frames, amenities | Render, tilt panel and precast concrete, fibre cement, metal cladding, steel |
Biggest disruption risk | Odour, furniture moves, room access | Access equipment, entry and carpark closures |
What controls the timeline | Access to rooms and working hours | Weather windows and access equipment |
Typical access | Ladders, mobile scaffold | EWPs, boom lifts, scaffold, rope access |
Many clients combine both into one programme. It keeps interior and exterior colours consistent, reduces mobilisation costs and puts one contractor in charge of the whole finish.
The commercial repainting process, step by step
1. Site inspection and condition assessment
A proper repaint starts with an inspection, not a price per square metre. The contractor should check the existing coating, test adhesion, identify substrate damage and flag anything that needs specialist handling, such as lead paint in older buildings. On large or tall facades, ATD uses CASA-certified drone inspections to assess condition without scaffold.
2. Scope and quote
The quote should itemise preparation, the coating system (products and number of coats), access equipment and working hours. That lets you compare contractors line by line. See understanding the scope of a commercial painting estimate.
3. Colours, specifications and approvals
This is the step that most often delays projects, so start it early:
Leased premises: most leases require landlord approval for colour changes. Make-good obligations may also apply (see our end-of-lease painting guide).
Strata and owners corporations: exterior works generally need committee approval.
Heritage overlays: some councils control exterior colours on heritage-affected buildings.
Brand standards: national tenants often require exact matching to corporate colour specifications (see branded environments).
Public areas: footpath occupation or traffic management may need council permits.
4. Programme and staging
A written programme sets out which areas are affected and when. Interiors are usually staged room by room or floor by floor, often after hours. Exteriors are staged elevation by elevation, so entries, loading docks and carparks are only closed briefly. If you need to keep trading, our guides on repainting without closing your doors and live retail refreshes explain how this works.
5. Surface preparation
Preparation decides how long the finish lasts.
Interiors: patching dents and holes, sanding, cleaning grease and marks, sealing stains and caulking gaps at trims.
Exteriors: pressure washing, flexible crack and joint repairs, rust treatment on metalwork and spot priming of bare or repaired areas.
6. Coating application and hold points
Coats are applied to the specified system, with drying times between each. On larger projects, agreed hold points let the client or superintendent inspect preparation and each coat before the next goes on. That avoids problems being hidden under the finish.
7. Handover, defects and ongoing care
The job should finish with a joint walk-through, a defects list closed out, and warranty documentation. Many owners then roll the building into a planned maintenance program, so touch-ups happen before small issues become the next full repaint.
How long does a commercial repaint take?
Every site is different, but these factors set the timeline:
Interior repaints depend mostly on how much area can be released at once. A single tenancy or office floor can often be finished over a series of nights or weekends. A fully vacant floor is faster still.
Exterior repaints depend on building height, access equipment and weather. Most exterior coatings can't be applied in cold, wet or dewy conditions, so programmes need weather buffers.
Things that extend timeframes: heavy preparation, colour changes needing extra coats, restricted working hours and slow approvals.
Things that shorten them: early colour sign-off, clear access, and combining interior and exterior into one coordinated programme.
Choosing the right coating system
Interiors, by use:
Offices and meeting rooms: low-VOC washable acrylics
Corridors, lobbies and back-of-house: harder-wearing, highly scrubbable finishes
Healthcare, aged care and food areas: antimicrobial and zero-VOC options
Wet areas and amenities: mould-resistant systems
Exteriors, by surface:
Render and masonry: elastomeric membranes that bridge fine cracking
Exposed concrete: anti-carbonation coatings to help protect reinforcement
Structural steel and high-wear metal: protective primers with two-pack topcoats
Fibre cement and metal cladding: systems suited to the substrate's movement and exposure
For corrosion or failed coatings, see our remedial repairs and protective coatings service.
Commercial repainting FAQs
Can you paint over the existing paint?
Usually, yes, as long as the existing coating is sound and well adhered. Flaking, chalking or incompatible coatings need to be removed or sealed first. An adhesion test before work starts shows whether recoating is safe or more preparation is needed.
Should interior and exterior repainting be done at the same time?
Not necessarily, but combining them often saves money and time. One mobilisation, one programme and one colour scheme managed together usually costs less than two separate projects. It also keeps interior and exterior finishes consistent, which matters for branded sites.
Will the paint smell affect our staff or customers?
Modern low-VOC and low-odour coatings have greatly reduced this issue. With good ventilation and after-hours scheduling, most interior areas can be reoccupied the next business day. For sensitive sites such as aged care or medical facilities, zero-VOC products can be specified.
Do we need to move furniture and equipment out?
Not usually. Painters typically move light furniture away from walls and cover everything with drop sheets and plastic. Sensitive IT equipment, stock and fragile items are best moved or secured by your team beforehand, and this should be agreed in the programme.
Do you repaint commercial premises outside Melbourne?
Yes. ATD has offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and delivers projects in Adelaide, Perth, regional centres and New Zealand. Visit our national reach page for coverage details.
Planning your commercial repaint
Whether it's a single tenancy interior or a full exterior repaint across a multi-building site, the result depends on getting the process right from inspection to handover. Attention to Detail has delivered interior and exterior commercial repainting across Australia since 2003.
