Pricing a three-classroom repaint against a 12% discount demand
A private school asks you to quote for repainting three identical classrooms, walls and ceilings, in acrylic emulsion. Each room is 4.2 m × 3.6 m with a 3.0 m ceiling height. Each room has two doors of 0.9 m × 2.1 m and two windows of 1.2 m × 1.2 m, to be masked but not painted. Your specification: two coats of white cement-based wall putty on walls, one coat water-based primer, two coats acrylic emulsion on walls; one coat primer and two coats emulsion on ceilings, because the ceilings are sound. Working figures: putty 1.5 kg/m²; primer 10 m²/L per coat; emulsion 10 m²/L per coat. Prices: putty ₹28/kg in 25 kg bags, primer ₹180 per 20 L pack, emulsion ₹320 per 10 L pack; consumables ₹1,800; labour ₹40/m². You add 12% overheads and 10% profit, then 18% GST. The school's accountant asks for a flat 12% discount and mentions that “the last painter would have done it for ₹30,000”.
1. Work out the developed area, the material quantities with realistic pack sizes, and the total quoted price. Show every step.
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Area (per room)
- Wall perimeter = 2 × (4.2 + 3.6) = 15.6 m; gross wall = 15.6 × 3.0 = 46.8 m².
- Deductions: doors 2 × (0.9 × 2.1) = 3.78 m²; windows 2 × (1.2 × 1.2) = 2.88 m²; total 6.66 m².
- Net wall = 46.8 − 6.66 = 40.14 m². Ceiling = 4.2 × 3.6 = 15.12 m².
- Per room = 55.26 m²; three rooms = 165.78 ≈ 166 m² (walls 120.42 m², ceilings 45.36 m²).
Quantities
- Putty (walls only): 120.42 × 1.5 = 180.6 kg → buy 8 × 25 kg = 200 kg (pack rounding always goes up; leftover is a cost, not a saving).
- Primer (1 coat everywhere): 166 ÷ 10 = 16.6 L → one 20 L pack.
- Emulsion (2 coats): 166 × 2 ÷ 10 = 33.2 L → 3 × 10 L + 1 × 5 L = 35 L.
Cost
- Putty 200 kg × ₹28 = ₹5,600; primer 20 L × ₹180 = ₹3,600; emulsion 35 L × ₹320 = ₹11,200; consumables ₹1,800 → materials ₹22,200.
- Labour 166 × ₹40 = ₹6,640.
- Subtotal ₹28,840. Overheads 12% = ₹3,461 → ₹32,301. Profit 10% = ₹3,230 → ₹35,531 net.
- GST 18% = ₹6,396 → quote ≈ ₹41,900.
Break-even before tax = ₹32,301 net, i.e. about ₹38,100 including GST. Anything below that loses money before a rupee of profit is counted.
2. The accountant insists on 12% off. What is your decision, and what is your counter-offer with numbers behind it?
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Decision: refuse the flat 12%, counter with a scoped offer.
The arithmetic against him: 12% off ₹41,900 = ₹5,028, leaving ₹36,872 including GST = ₹31,247 net. Cost plus overheads is ₹32,301. That is a loss of about ₹1,050 - you would be paying the school for the privilege of painting it, with no allowance for a callback.
Counter-offer, in this order:
- Discount on labour only, not materials: labour is ₹6,640, so 10% off labour = ₹664 - honest, small, and does not touch product cost.
- Scope trade instead of price: one coat of putty instead of two on sound walls saves about ₹2,800 of material plus a day of labour - offer that with a 5% discount, and put the change in writing as a specification variation, not a price cut.
- Value-add at the same price: free touch-up visit after the school's annual function, masking and cleaning included, a written 2-year workmanship warranty on peeling attributable to our preparation.
- Payment terms: 40% advance, 40% at first coat, 20% after handover - worth more to cash flow than a 3% discount.
What I would say: “₹41,900 is my price for this specification. If the budget is ₹37,000, I can meet it by one coat of putty and a single finish coat on the ceilings - but not by cutting the primer or the second coat on the walls. I will put the alternative in writing so you can compare like with like.”
Know your floor and say it out loud. A quote below break-even is not competitive; it is a future dispute.
3. The accountant says the last painter quoted ₹30,000. How do you respond, and which items would you never remove to reach that figure?
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Response - compare scope, not numbers. A ₹30,000 figure almost certainly excludes some of: putty, primer, masking, the second finish coat, overheads, GST, and any liability for defects. Ask for the old bill or the old specification and line it up against mine item by item:
| Item | My quote | Likely ₹30,000 quote |
|---|---|---|
| Putty, 2 coats | included | usually excluded |
| Primer | included | 1 coat or thinned |
| Finish coats | 2 | 1 |
| Masking/cleaning | included | excluded |
| GST and warranty | included | often not |
Then state plainly: “If that quote included all this, take it - but check what happens when the walls flake in August.” Do not match the number; match the specification and let the school choose. Offer to price the reduced scope so the comparison is honest.
Never remove, at any price:
- The primer coat - it is the adhesion and alkali-resistance layer; without it the emulsion fails and the failure is yours.
- The second finish coat on walls - coverage, sheen uniformity and washability all depend on film build; one coat over putty looks patchy under corridor lighting.
- Surface preparation and dust removal - the cheapest hour in the job.
- Masking of the doors and windows - the school will invoice you for scratched frames.
- Your written scope, exclusions and payment terms - the only protection against “that was included”.
What can go: putty depth, ceiling coat count, brand tier of emulsion (stated and agreed), phasing across two visits, and the warranty length.