About Painting & Decorating

Working as a Painter and Decorator you will apply paint, varnish, wallpaper and other finishes to interior and exterior surfaces of buildings and other structures in a residential or commercial setting. 

You will prepare surfaces, remove old wallpaper and paint, repair cracks and holes, mix and thin paint, and measure, cut and apply wallpaper or fabric to walls.

The training

To become a trade certified Painter and Decorator, you generally complete an apprenticeship which results in a Certificate III in Painting and Decorating. The apprenticeship usually takes 48 months to complete.

The apprenticeship program features on the job training under the supervision of a qualified Painter and Decorator and off the job training at a registered training provider such as a WA TAFE college.

Skills you will learn

During the training program to become a Painter and Decorator, you will learn practical skills and underpinning knowledge. A training program will be created for you that will include such competencies as how to:

• Erect and dismantle restricted height scaffolding

• Work safely at heights

• Operate elevated work platforms up to 11 metres

• Calculate costs of construction work

• Work effectively and sustainably in the construction industry

• Plan and organise work

• Conduct workplace communication

• Carry out measurements and calculations

• Read and interpret plans and specifications

• Erect and maintain trestle and plank systems

• Handle and store painting and decorating materials

• Use painting and decorating tools and equipment

• Remove and replace doors and door and window components

• Prepare existing coated surface for painting

• Apply paint by brush and roller

• Apply texture coat paint finishes by brush, roller and spray

• Apply paint by spray

• Match specific paint colours

• Apply stains and clear timber finishes

• Remove and apply wallpaper

• Apply decorative paint finishes

• Apply protective paint coating systems

• Work safely with lead-painted surfaces in the painting industry

• Prepare uncoated surfaces for painting

• Work safely to encapsulate non-friable asbestos in the painting industry

• Apply WHS requirements, policies and procedures in the construction industry

• Apply intumescent coatings

• Apply advanced decorative paint finishes

• Apply trowelled texture coat finishes

---

Career Pathway Examples for Paint and Decorating

Please note that programs can vary to some degree and this list is an example only.