Painting, flooring and installation

How to become a painter and decorator

Official title: Painter and decorator

Also called: Painter decorator, House painter, Paperhanger, Painter decorator operator, Painting contractor, Commercial painter, Industrial painter

Painters and decorators prepare surfaces and apply paint and wallpaper to walls, doors, windows and other building surfaces.

Main tasks

Paint walls, ceilings and other surfaces
Apply wallpaper to walls and other surfaces
Cut wallpaper and covering materials
Prepare walls and surfaces for work
Fill holes and cracks before painting
Sand surfaces until smooth
Protect nearby areas from paint damage
Read plans and decorating instructions

How to become one

You usually need to do an apprenticeship to become a painter and decorator and experience may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 2 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: to do an apprenticeship in painting, decorating and signwriting; a New Zealand Certificate in Painting and Decorating (Level 4); experience in similar work; a driver licence.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

Apprenticeship: Apprenticeship in painting, decorating, and signwriting. TEC links this job to study in building and construction. New Zealand apprenticeship (NZQA level 4). Qualifications: NZ Cert in Painting and Decorating. Usually 2.5 years. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $61,000 a year one year after study and $66,000 five years after; 90% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Median pay: $62,000 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
Upper: $94,000 a year
TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $29.81 an hour.
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Painting Trades Workers: 12,297 at the 2018 Census and 12,339 at the 2023 Census (+0.3%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 11,000 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Painting Trades Workers, 13% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Painting Trades Workers work (2023 Census): Auckland 29%, Canterbury 14.9%, and Wellington 12%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a painter and decorator?

How much does a painter and decorator earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $62,000 a year, before tax.

Has the number of people working as a painter and decorator grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a painter and decorator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026