"Can You Give That Another Coat?"

The Reality

The colour schedule changes after you've already painted three rooms. Extra prep work somehow becomes "part of the original quote." Another trade damages a wall you finished last week, and you're expected to repaint it for free. The architect upgrades the paint system after you priced the job, and nobody mentions it until you've already started. Every painter recognises at least one of these.

Where Subcontractors Lose Money

• check_circleAdditional coats instructed verbally, with no note of who asked or when
• check_circleSubstrate preparation beyond what was quoted, absorbed into the original price
• check_circleColour or specification changes made after work has already started
• check_circleRework caused by another trade's damage, with no photo record of the original finished work
• check_circleMaterial upgrades (a better paint system, a different finish) priced after the job was already quoted
• check_circleAccess delays caused by other trades, extending time on site

What The Contract Actually Requires

Many painting subcontracts treat a specification change as a variation requiring written instruction and agreed pricing before the changed work proceeds — but what actually counts as "in scope" versus "extra" varies contract to contract, so it's worth knowing your own. What's consistent: a photo of the finished work before another trade gets near it is worth far more after the fact than a memory of how it looked.

How Subbie HQ Helps

• check_circlePhotograph completed work before another trade can damage it — and the damage itself, if it happens
• check_circleLog a spec or colour change as an Update the moment it's given
• check_circleRecord extra coats and materials against the job via Day Works
• check_circleKeep the full trail of who asked for what, and when
• check_circleGet a spec change or extra coat approved with a secure link the client or PM can act on with no login — before it's just a verbal "yes, go ahead"

From Site Event → Evidence

Change instructed on site → logged as an Update → photo evidence attached → extra materials/coats recorded via Day Works → bundled into a Variation Package when it's time to claim.

Why This Matters

An extra coat here, a redo there — none of it looks like much in the moment. By the end of a job, it's the difference between the margin you quoted and the margin you actually made.