Check a Painting Estimate Before You Sign

1. A written contract once the price passes $2,000

ORS 701.305(1)

A contractor may not perform work to construct, improve or repair a residential structure for a property owner without a written contract if the aggregate contract price exceeds $2,000. If a contract started under $2,000 and grows past it, the contractor has five days from when they knew or reasonably should have known to deliver a written one.

What to look for: Nearly every exterior repaint and most whole-interior jobs in the cost guide clear $2,000, so a verbal price or a one-line emailed figure is below what the statute contemplates for the job.

Limit: The statute also says failing to have a written contract does not void the contract. A missing contract is a licensing problem for the contractor, not a way out of the deal.

2. What the contract must contain

OAR 812-012-0110(1)

Where ORS 701.305 requires a written contract, the contract or an addendum must contain the contractor’s name, address, phone number and CCB license number as shown on board records; acknowledgement of a written warranty offer where ORS 701.320 requires one; a conspicuous explanation of the owner’s rights, including the ability to file a complaint with the board and any mediation or arbitration provision; the customer’s name and address; the address where the work is done; a description of the work; and price and payment terms.

What to look for: The CCB license number is the item most worth checking first: it must match board records. On a painting job, "description of the work" is where the surfaces, prep, product and coats belong.

3. Three notices, delivered no later than signing

OAR 812-012-0130; ORS 87.093(2)

A contractor required to have a written contract must deliver the Consumer Protection Notice, the Notice of Procedure, and the Information Notice to Owner About Construction Liens on or before the date the contract is entered into, and keep proof of delivery.

What to look for: These are CCB-issued forms. They may be contained in the contract itself, but they should be identifiable as the forms.

4. No lien notice, no lien

ORS 87.093(2), (4), (6)

Where the aggregate price exceeds $2,000, the original contractor must deliver the Information Notice to Owner About Construction Liens when a residential construction or improvement contract is signed. A contractor who fails to deliver it may not claim a construction lien on the property under that contract.

What to look for: Keep a dated copy of what you were handed. This is the notice with the largest practical consequence on the list.

Limit: It removes the original contractor’s own lien right under that contract. Subcontractors and suppliers have separate lien rights with their own notice rules.

5. Cancellation until midnight the next business day

ORS 701.310

An owner who enters into an initial written contract for work on a residential structure they own may cancel it by delivering written notice before 12 midnight at the end of the next business day. The notice can be in any written form, including email.

What to look for: Agreeing to an immediate start is one of the things that removes the right, so it is worth knowing before a crew shows up the next morning.

Limit: It does not apply if both parties agreed work would begin before the cancellation period ended, after the contractor has substantially begun the work, or to a modification made after the period has run.

6. The right to complain to the CCB cannot be contracted away

ORS 701.315

A contract for work on a residential structure may not contain a provision limiting a person’s right to file a complaint with the Construction Contractors Board. The same section permits a contract to require mediation or arbitration of disputes.

What to look for: An arbitration clause is a normal, lawful term. A clause waiving board complaints is not enforceable under this section.

7. Deposits over half the price carry a specific consequence

ORS 701.312

Where a contractor accepts a deposit of more than 50 percent of the total price for a home improvement and then fails to perform diligently and to the contract specifications, or fails to perform and does not return the deposit within 10 days of a reasonable demand, the CCB may place the contractor on probation.

What to look for: The statute does not cap deposits. It attaches a board consequence to large ones that go wrong, which is narrower than a limit.

1. The NOTICE TO CUSTOMER disclosure, before work starts

RCW 18.27.114(1)-(3)

A contractor agreeing to repair, alter or construct four or fewer residential units must give the customer the statutory NOTICE TO CUSTOMER disclosure before starting work once the bid or contract price totals $1,000 or more. It states the registration number and the bond or deposit, and that the bond may not be enough to cover a claim. The contractor must keep the signed copy for at least three years, and must tell the customer if its registration expires or is suspended or revoked before the work is finished.

What to look for: The form itself warns that the bond is not for your exclusive use and covers all of that contractor’s work. RCW 18.27.040 sets the bond at $30,000 for a general contractor and $15,000 for a specialty contractor, shared across every claimant.

2. No disclosure, no lien claim

RCW 18.27.114(4)

A contractor subject to the disclosure requirement may not bring or maintain a lien claim based on the contract without proving the customer received the disclosure statement.

What to look for: As in Oregon, a dated copy of what you were handed is what makes this provision usable.

3. Oregon’s written-contract and cancellation rules do not apply here

No RCW 18.27 equivalent of ORS 701.305 or ORS 701.310

Washington’s contractor registration chapter imposes the disclosure above. It has no equivalent of Oregon’s $2,000 written-contract mandate, its prescribed contract terms, or its next-business-day cancellation right.

What to look for: A Portland homeowner and a Vancouver homeowner buying the same paint job do not hold the same protections. Ask for a written scope in Washington because it is worth having.

Limit: This describes RCW chapter 18.27 only. Other Washington law, and the contract itself, can create rights this chapter does not.