“5-year warranty” on a brochure is white noise unless it spells out what’s covered, what’s excluded, and who’s liable. The four warranty layers — statutory, workmanship, manufacturer and HBC — and how to confuse them is how the cowboy avoids the callback.
“5-year warranty” on a painter’s brochure is white noise unless it spells out what’s covered, what’s excluded, and who’s liable. There are actually four separate warranty layers behind a paint job — and quietly confusing them is how a cowboy avoids the callback.
Layer 01
Statutory consumer law
Reasonable workmanship for a reasonable period under Australian Consumer Law. Doesn’t need a brochure — it always exists, whatever the painter says.
Layer 02
Painter’s workmanship warranty
The operator’s own promise, typically 3–7 years. Should name what’s covered — peeling, blistering, lifting, fade — and what’s excluded, like physical damage or water ingress from elsewhere.
Layer 03
Paint manufacturer warranty
Dulux, Wattyl or Taubmans warranties run 5–25 years depending on the product. The painter is not the manufacturer — read the PDF from the brand directly.
Layer 04
HBC / DBI (above thresholds)
Statutory building insurance only applies above each state’s dollar threshold. Painting often sits below — confirm whether it applies to a job your size.
The common move is to wave the paint manufacturer’s long warranty — “Dulux back it for 15 years” — while staying vague about the painter’s own workmanship cover. But the manufacturer warranty covers the paint, not the application. If the topcoat lifts because the prep or primer was wrong, that’s a workmanship problem, and only the painter’s warranty answers for it. Get both, in writing, with the exclusions named.
The paint warranty and the workmanship warranty are not the same thing. The cowboy is counting on you not knowing that.
Ask this, exactly
“Could you list the workmanship warranty, the paint manufacturer warranty, and exactly what’s covered or excluded — in writing?”
A working painter can separate the two without flinching and put it in writing. If the answer blurs them together, that’s the answer.
Brushline gives you a 7-year workmanship warranty against peeling, blistering, lifting and fade, plus the Dulux product warranty, plus your statutory rights — all stated on the quote, with the exclusions named. Three layers, no blur.