Painting Contractors are responsible for providing painting, staining, and refinishing services for homes, commercial businesses, industrial facilities, and other such private and public property building structures. Painting contractors can also provide the products and services necessary to repair and refinish cabinetry, furniture, and much more. People entrust their painting, staining, and refinishing services to a professional painting contractor to improve the overall appeal, comfort, and value of their property.

Whenever an individual plans to advertise, solicit, sell, or secure contracts in a form for painting services that they offer with the idea of obtaining some type of payment for their services they are required by federal laws to obtain a painting contractor's license. This contractor's license is obtained by filing an application and paying a minimal fee through the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs in the state where the individual plans to perform their services. Each respective state has their own prerequisites that the applicant must meet in order to qualify for their license.

Some of the more common requirements that an applicant must prove is a formal type of education in the painting industry. This education can be obtained by attending courses at a college, university or technical educational facility. Almost every state throughout the country requires that the applicant have a specific amount of hours of experience working under a licensed painting contractor. This amount of experience can range from a few months to a few years in duration.

When applying for a painting contractor's license, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs will conduct background checks into the individual's reputability. This can include criminal screenings, credit checks, reference checks, and prior work history screenings. Again this is dependent on the state set regulations for this type of licensing practices.

When you plan on hiring a professional painting contractor to perform services around your home, commercial business, or other private or public property there are some things that you will want to research about the contractor beforehand. First, you will want to ensure that the painting contractor does possess the proper licensing or certification requirements set up in your state. You can do this by contacting your state's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. You can ask them about their specific requirements and inquire about the license or certification of the contractor. You may even consider asking for a copy of the painting contractor's business license to have as security should the contractor fail to perform the services for what they hire in a safe and complete manner.

Next you can ask the painting contractor for references of other clients they may have performed services for in your area previously. While not every individual wishes to have their information shared with others, the painting contractor should be able to provide you with some type of before and after photos of services they have completed. This will give you the opportunity to see for yourself whether the painting contractor is able to deliver the type of services you are seeking. It is very possible for the client and the painting contractor to have a completely different vision on how the painting services should look when finished. If this is the case you will want to consider another painting contractor to perform the services you are seeking.

With the painting contractor performing services in your home or public facility you will want to inquire about any other contractors that may be conducting the services you are entrusting to the contractor. If others will be working with the contractor or delivering services for the contractor you will want to know that they have been background and security checked for the safety of you, your family, your property, and others that may utilize the property during the time of the services. With the seriousness of this factor you will definitely want to ensure that the information you are provided concerning the other laborers is accurate.

There are many organizations and professional associations that provide painting contractors with the ability to obtain membership into their organization. These associations provide helpful resources to both the painting contractor and their clients. The client can contact these associations to find out the reputability of the contractor they are planning to hire by inquiring about any claims filed against the contractor or the business in which they operate. These associations also can give you detailed information about the length of time the contractor has been working in this field of service as well as the specific types of services they can conduct. Some of the more common associations that provide painting contractors with the ability to obtain membership into their organization include:

• Painting and Decorating Contractors of America
• Signatory Painting Contractors Organization
• National Alliance of Professional Painters
• Better Business Bureau

Never enter into a binding contract with a Painting Contractor until you have conducted thorough research into their reputability and references.

Ensure that the contractor has the ability to perform the level of expertise for the services you are seeking before you secure their services.

Ask for a written estimate for services and products before the start of a project. This will provide you with some level of grounding should the contractor fail to deliver the services on time, request more money for the project, or charge you fees that were not disclosed at the start of the project.

Make sure that before you allow the contractor to perform services in your home or business facilities that they disclose information pertaining to who will be conducting the services. If they intend on hiring sub-contractors to assist them then you deserve the right to know that the individuals that will be doing the work are safe to allow on your property.