Professional Decorators

Most professional decorators should be members of the PDA - the Painters and Decorators Association. The PDA is an organisation dedicated to preserving quality and reliability in decorators, allowing the public to be confident when employing a decorator. In order to be a member of the PDA, a member must be:

Qualified

Usually a decorator will be qualified via an NVQ or a City and Guilds qualification. A City and Guilds qualification is generally seen as a benchmark qualification, though it is worth bearing in mind that some of the best decorators may have experience, rather than qualifications.

Insured

Members of the PDA will have public liability insurance. Typically, as a sole trader, the insurance will be up to the value of £1,000,000, and will cover possessions and property in the event of an accident. Some painters and decorators may have cover up to £2,000,000 or more depending on the size of a job and the location. If a decorator has several employees, they will be covered by employers’ liability insurance.

High Quality

The decorators will consistently produce work of quality, so that potential customers can be reassured of the quality of work to be done on their property.

Conversant with Technology

Painters and decorators will be aware of the latest technology developments which affect their job, and will embrace those which improve efficiency and simplicity.

Work to a code of Practice

The PDA has a code of practice which all its members must work to, in order to ensure a high quality job, consistency in their work.

The PDA was formed in 2002, following a merger of the two previous organisations - the British Decorators Association, and the Painting and Decorating Federation. Both organisations had a long history, the BDA having being formed in 1894!

Today, the PDA has almost 2500 members across the UK, so finding a member in your area shouldn’t be difficult.

In addition to the PDA, there are thousands of experienced painters and decorators in the UK. Word of mouth is a good alternative to find a suitable decorator for a job, and there are also many handymen who will also carry out the simpler tasks such as basic painting or wallpapering, though for big or complex jobs an experienced decorator would be better.

Commercial Decorators

Commercial Decorators usually decorate the interior and exterior of larger buildings. The actual decoration tends to be much less complex, for example the exterior will be just one or two colours, and the inside will be bare, painted walls with suspended ceilings. Commercial decorators should also have public liability insurance and employers’ liability insurance, as most commercial decorators will work as teams.

Most commercial decorators can also decorate more complex buildings, such as pubs and schools, which will typically require more interior and exterior work than the average industrial unit.