Decorating & Finishes
77 sources in the library on decorating & finishes, 3 on this page cited in a published note. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 2 of 2.
- supplier figure RN-BMID8A cited
Screwfix
Screwfix product page for a 2.5 litre tin of Zinsser Perma-White anti-mould interior paint, giving its price and the maker's mould-resistance guarantee.
Cited in Best Paint for Kitchens & Bathrooms.
- supplier figure RN-WEOOLC cited
Toolstation
A merchant product page for a mainstream UK wallpaper roll. It states the standard 10 m by 52 cm roll size and 5.2 m2 coverage.
Cited in Wallpaper Types & Hanging Basics, Wallpaper vs Paint + How Much Wallpaper to Buy.
- supplier figure RN-DOLGOM cited
Toolstation
A retailer product page for 1000 grade lining paper. It says the grade suits plaster in good condition and that heavier grades suit more damaged walls; the same range is sold in 1200, 1400 and 2000 grade.
Cited in Wallpaper Types & Hanging Basics.
- very strong RN-BPHKK9
Cadw, Welsh Government
WALES, and it imposes a documentary requirement England does not. A heritage impact statement MUST be submitted with every Welsh listed building consent application alongside detailed plans. Consent is administered by local planning authorities and may be needed for relatively minor work such as replacing an external door, painting or repainting the exterior or interior, or even cleaning. Replacement of traditional windows with UPVC will not normally be acceptable. Routine or like-for-like repairs do not normally need consent, but the criteria are exacting, and demolition always needs consent. Where the authority is minded to grant consent Cadw is normally notified and assesses whether the authority had proper regard to preservation, rather than the merits. The framework is Managing Change to Listed Buildings in Wales, which supplements Planning Policy Wales and Technical Advice Note 24: The Historic Environment, alongside Cadw's Conservation Principles.
- very strong RN-SOFU9T
Department for Business and Trade
The UK regulator a note should name when it says a product has been recalled or is unsafe, rather than pointing at a retailer. Part of the Department for Business and Trade, its stated purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm so consumers and businesses can buy and sell with confidence. It is the body behind the product recalls and alerts database, and the enforcement authority behind consumer product safety rules covering items a renovation buys, including corded internal blinds, electrical accessories and lighting.
- very strong RN-DWSXF9
Health and Safety Executive
The HSE leaflet a decorating or period-property note should cite on lead paint. Names the highest-risk activities as blast removal and burning of old lead paint, stripping old lead paint from doors and windows, hot cutting in demolition and dismantling, some painting of buildings, and soldering. Corrects a common misconception: lead is not absorbed through the skin, except as lead alkyls and lead naphthenate, so the routes of entry are breathing in lead dust, fume or vapour and swallowing lead by eating, drinking, smoking or nail-biting without washing hands and face first. Absorbed lead circulates in the blood and is stored mainly in the bones, where it can remain for years without symptoms. Early effects are headaches, tiredness, irritability, constipation, nausea, stomach pains, anaemia and weight loss; continued uncontrolled exposure can cause kidney damage, nerve and brain damage and infertility. Flags that an unborn child is at particular risk, especially in the early weeks before a pregnancy is known. Where exposure is significant as defined in law, the employer must supply protective clothing, launder it, measure airborne lead, supply respiratory protective equipment if the occupational exposure limit cannot be met, and arrange blood-lead medical surveillance.
- very strong RN-XZVPDF
Historic Environment Scotland
The most useful of the HES INFORM guides for a retrofit note, because it addresses the failure mode that insulation guides skip. Published 31 August 2020 by Historic Environment Scotland, INFORM Guide, 2.82 MB PDF, audiences Planners and Owners and Conservation and Heritage enthusiasts. Scope stated on the page: the causes and risks of condensation in traditional buildings, how to identify the source of condensation and how to reduce it, with a PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE RISK OF INCREASED CONDENSATION AFTER THERMAL IMPROVEMENTS. That last point is the citable one: a public body stating that insulating a traditional building can increase condensation risk, which contradicts the common claim that insulation simply cures damp.
- very strong RN-3KFYDM
Historic Environment Scotland
SCOTLAND, and it contradicts England directly on one point: conservation area consent still exists in Scotland for the demolition of unlisted buildings, whereas England abolished it in 2013 and folded relevant demolition into planning permission. As at March 2026 Scotland had more than 46,500 listed building records and more than 600 conservation areas. Listed building consent must be applied for from the planning authority before any change that may affect the character of the property, and is almost certainly needed for an extension, structural alterations, partial or total demolition, internal alterations affecting character, and changing windows and doors; cleaning stonework, changing external paint colour and new signage may also need permission. The owner is responsible for repair and maintenance. Planning authorities may hold a character appraisal explaining a conservation area's designation. HES and the Scottish Government Building Standards Division jointly publish the Guide to Conversion of Traditional Buildings to reconcile building standards with conservation.
- very strong RN-1X77D2
HM Revenue and Customs
Defines the boundary of the scheme, which decides whether a given trade's invoice should carry a CIS deduction. Work covered is most construction work to a permanent or temporary building or structure and civil engineering such as roads and bridges, and expressly includes preparing the site such as laying foundations and access works, demolition and dismantling, building work, alterations, repairs and decorating, installing systems for heating, lighting, power, water and ventilation, and cleaning the inside of buildings after construction work. The listed exceptions are architecture and surveying, scaffolding hire with no labour, carpet fitting, making materials used in construction including plant and machinery, delivering materials, and work on construction sites that is clearly not construction such as running a canteen. Confirms contractors must register but subcontractors need not, though unregistered subcontractors suffer deductions at a higher rate, and that the same rules apply to a business based outside the UK doing construction work in the UK.
- very strong RN-NUR86A
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
SI 2002/2676, the regulations that apply the moment a decorator disturbs old lead paint in a pre-1992 home, covering assessment of the risk, prevention or control of exposure, air monitoring, medical surveillance and blood-lead testing, information and training, and the duty to keep records. A note that mentions sanding or stripping paint in a Victorian or interwar house should cite these rather than treating lead paint as a historical curiosity, and should pair them with HSE leaflet INDG305 for the blood-lead action and suspension levels.
- very strong RN-LEICUD
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
SI 2012/1715, the law that sets the maximum VOC content of decorative paints sold in the UK and the reason a tin carries a VOC category letter and a g/l limit. It revoked and remade with amendments the Volatile Organic Compounds in Paints, Varnishes and Vehicle Refinishing Products Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2773) and implements Directive 2004/42/EC on the limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds from organic solvents in certain paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products. Use the contents page to reach the enforcement, labelling and offence provisions; the numerical VOC limits themselves sit in Schedule 2.
- very strong RN-Y8BXXY
UK Health Security Agency and Centre for Climate and Health Security
UKHSA guidance published 7 August 2025, applying to England, on the allergens and irritants in indoor air, useful for any note that claims a renovation improves or harms air quality. States that indoor bioaerosols can contribute up to 34 per cent of indoor air pollution, and that people in Western countries spend the majority of their time indoors. Identifies the protein-based allergens as mould spores, which thrive in damp poorly ventilated spaces such as bathrooms and arise from leaks, condensation, poor heating or inadequate ventilation; house dust mites, which thrive in warm humid environments in bedding, carpets and upholstered furniture; and pet dander from skin flakes, urine and saliva. Separately names non-protein respiratory irritants: volatile organic compounds emitted by paints, cleaning agents and air fresheners, and particulate matter from cooking, smoking and open solid-fuel fireplaces. Warns that energy efficiency and adaptation measures can have unintended consequences for indoor environmental quality, and that poorly installed mechanical ventilation can worsen air quality.
- strong RN-30GXXW
BSI
The workmanship standard a decorator is judged against on site, published 31 October 1989 and still listed as current. BS 8000-12 gives recommendations on basic site workmanship for the tasks frequently carried out in decorative wallcoverings and painting, covering storage and handling of materials, surface preparation and surface defects, adhesives, joints between lengths of wallcovering, painting and cleaning. It directs the reader to BS 3046, BS 5493 and BS 6150 for other aspects, so it should be cited alongside BS 6150, the code of practice for painting of buildings. Committee B/209, ICS 91.200, ISBN 0 580 17793 9.
- strong RN-TUAUMN
BSI
The classification system that lets a masonry paint be compared on measured properties rather than on brand claims, published 17 June 2004 and current but under review. BS EN 1062-1 classifies coating materials and coating systems for exterior masonry and concrete by their physical properties, giving the designation codes for gloss, dry film thickness, grain size, water vapour transmission rate, liquid water permeability and crack bridging that a technical data sheet for an exterior wall paint quotes. Committee STI/28, ICS 87.040 and 91.080.40, identical to EN 1062-1:2004.
- strong RN-H9TQ6I
BSI
The safety test behind a wallpaper's chemical emissions claims, published 15 February 1998. BS EN 12149 sets the methods for determining migration of heavy metals and certain other elements from wallcoverings in roll form, residual vinyl chloride monomer in vinyl wallcoverings, and formaldehyde release. It is the standard a note should point to when explaining what a low-emission or child-safe wallpaper claim actually rests on, rather than relying on a retailer's marketing description.
- strong RN-ATYI6K
BSI
BS EN 13279-1:2008, published 30 June 2009, committee B/544, under review; it supersedes BS EN 13279-1:2005. The BSI overview states it is the first part of the BS EN 13279 series and specifies the characteristics and performance of powder products based on gypsum binder for building purposes, including premixed gypsum building plasters for plastering walls and ceilings inside buildings where they are applied as a finishing material that can be decorated, formulated with additives, admixtures, aggregates and other binders, for both manual and mechanical application. It also applies to gypsum binders for direct site use and for further processing into gypsum blocks, plasterboards, fibre-reinforced boards, fibrous plasterwork and ceiling elements, and to gypsum mortar for internal non load-bearing partitions not exposed to water. It states that building lime as calcium hydroxide may be used as an additional binder, and draws the boundary clearly: where gypsum binder is the principal active binding component the plaster is covered here, and where building lime is the principal binder the plaster falls under EN 998-1. It expressly notes that calcium sulfate used as the binder for floor screeds is not covered by this standard.
- strong RN-IR446Y
BSI
BS EN 13300:2022, published 31 July 2025, committee STI/28, current; it supersedes BS EN 13300:2001. Clause 1 specifies the general system for classifying paints and varnishes for interior walls and ceilings, for decorating new and old, coated and uncoated surfaces. Clause 4 sets the classification headings a specification or product label uses: classification by end use, by chemical type of binder, by gloss, by largest grain size (granularity), by wet scrub resistance, by hiding power for white and light-coloured opaque paints, and by cleanability. This is the standard behind the wet scrub resistance classification that separates a wipeable kitchen or bathroom emulsion from a standard matt, and behind the gloss categories that underlie the matt, eggshell, satin and gloss labels on a tin.
- strong RN-8QIL1K
BSI
The harmonised product standard for solid timber cladding, which is what a UKCA or CE marked cladding board is declared against. Published 30 Jun 2020, Current, with Designated status for UKCA marking. Its scope defines and specifies the relevant characteristics and the appropriate test methods for solid wood products used as panelling and cladding, including siding, for wall and ceiling panelling for internal use and wall and ceiling cladding for external uses. Because it is the harmonised standard, a cladding board sold without a declaration of performance against it, including thermally modified boards sold as Thermowood, is not being marketed on the same basis as one that is.
- strong RN-PZLMVK
BSI
BS EN 15102:2019, published 30 June 2019, committee CW/35, current; it supersedes BS EN 15102:2007+A1:2011, which is withdrawn. Clause 1 applies to wallcoverings in roll form supplied for hanging onto internal walls, partitions or ceilings by means of an adhesive, whose primary purpose is decorative, while noting that some roll wallcoverings may confer minor sound absorption and thermal resistance. It names the companion European Standards that give the additional product definitions and requirements for each type: EN 233 finished wallpapers, wall vinyls and plastics wallcoverings, EN 234 wallcoverings for subsequent decoration, EN 266 textile wallcoverings, EN 13085 cork rolls, and a further standard for heavy duty wallcoverings. Cite it for what the wallpaper types in a buying guide actually are.
- strong RN-BL0KXM
BSI
The test standard behind the child safety devices that must be supplied with a corded blind, published 28 February 2014, current and designated. BS EN 16433 specifies test methods verifying protection from strangulation and applies to all internal blinds covered by EN 13120, insect screens covered by EN 13561 and blinds in sealed glazed units, whether operated manually, with compensating springs or by electric motor. It sets test procedures for tensioning systems, breakaway systems, accumulation systems, tangling and inner cords, with dimensions, masses and forces held to a maximum tolerance of 1 per cent, and tests are run with the longest and most numerous cords the product allows.
- strong RN-O8A6IY
BSI
The companion standard that sets requirements for the safety devices themselves, published 28 February 2014, current and designated. BS EN 16434 covers devices used for protection from strangulation in internal blinds to EN 13120 and insect screens to EN 13561, whether fitted at manufacture or retrofitted, and names the device types: tensioning devices, breakaway devices, accumulation devices, non-tangling devices and inner cord stops. That list is the practical answer for a note explaining what a homeowner should already have on an existing corded blind, and it can also be applied to safety devices for draperies, for which no product standard existed at publication. Committee B/538/3, ICS 91.060.50.
- strong RN-BRK65Y
BSI
The specification behind the washability and light fastness symbols printed on a wallpaper roll label, published 30 November 2016 and current. BS EN 233 sets the permitted grades of washability and colour fastness to light for finished wallcoverings so a consumer or specifier can choose an appropriate paper for a hallway, kitchen or bathroom. It applies to finished wallpapers, wall vinyls and plastics wallcoverings supplied in rolls for hanging on indoor walls and ceilings with adhesive covering the whole interface, and expressly excludes rigid materials, coverings not wholly attached by adhesive, wallcoverings for subsequent decoration such as lining paper, textile wallcoverings, and non-decorative linings including those with thermal or acoustic properties.
- strong RN-N6ZC3R
BSI
BS EN 520:2004+A1:2009, published 22 November 2004 with Amendment 1 in 2009, committee B/544, under review. Clause 1 specifies the characteristics and performance of gypsum plasterboards for building construction, including boards intended for secondary manufacturing operations and boards designed to receive either direct surface decoration or gypsum plaster. The product performance characteristics it covers are reaction to fire, water vapour permeability, flexural strength (breaking load), impact resistance and thermal resistance. It separates out the characteristics that belong to the assembled system rather than the board alone, and are measured on assemblies simulating end use conditions: shear strength, fire resistance, impact resistance, direct airborne sound insulation and acoustic absorption. It also covers additional technical characteristics important for the use and acceptance of the product by the construction industry, the reference tests for them, and evaluation of conformity. This is the standard that defines the plasterboard type letters a merchant lists, so cite it for fire-resistant, moisture-resistant and higher-density board claims.
- strong RN-2YUIH4
BSI
The classification and selection standard for wood coatings, published 30 June 2013, which underpins the distinction a note has to draw between a primer, an undercoat, a stain and a finish on timber. BS EN 927-1 classifies coating materials and coating systems for exterior wood by end use and by film properties, and sets the selection criteria that decide whether a system is suitable for stable, semi-stable or non-stable joinery, which is the technical basis for saying a window or door needs a different paint system from an internal skirting.
- strong RN-2ENLUD
BSI
The measurement behind matt, eggshell, satin and gloss, and the reason those names are not interchangeable between brands. Published 31 October 2014 and current, BS EN ISO 2813 specifies a method for determining the gloss of coatings using three geometries, 20, 60 and 85 degrees, suitable for non-textured coatings on plane opaque substrates. It is the test that BS EN 13300 sheen classes for interior wall and ceiling paints rest on, so a note explaining paint finishes should say the sheen is a measured specular reflection at a stated angle rather than a marketing term. Committee STI/10, ICS 87.040, identical to EN ISO 2813:2014 and ISO 2813:2014.
- strong RN-5X0L82
BSI
BS EN ISO 3758:2023, published 30 April 2024 and current, prepared by committee TCI/82 and identical to EN ISO 3758 and ISO 3758. It is the standard behind the care symbols printed on textile labels, covering washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and professional dry cleaning, and BSI recommends this version for organisations operating in or with the UK
- strong RN-E6EZEI
BSI (British Standards Institution)
The standard the conservation trade works to, and the one a listed-building or period-property note should name. BS 7913 is paywalled, so only the BSI catalogue page is public; it confirms the current edition is BS 7913:2013, published 31 December 2013, status Current, ISBN 978 0 580 75778 5, prepared by BSI committee B/560 and classified under ICS 91.040.99. The catalogue page states this is the SECOND edition, updated to align with current best practice, and that the standard describes best practice in the management and treatment of historic buildings, applying to historic buildings both WITH and WITHOUT statutory protection, which is the point most renovation articles miss when they treat conservation guidance as relevant only to listed buildings. Its named audience includes owners, users, occupiers and managers of historic buildings, architects, engineers, surveyors, building managers, conservators, planners and local authority building control officers. The listed descriptors show its coverage: conservation, legislation, maintenance, fire safety in buildings, costs, hazard prevention, inspection, repair, building maintenance, design, renovation, building specifications, contracts and records.
- strong RN-6SUN79
BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: CURRENT. BS EN 12878:2014 was published 30 April 2014 and supersedes BS EN 12878:2005. It specifies the requirements and test methods for pigments used to colour building materials based on cement, or on cement and lime, covering single pigments, pigment blends, pigment and extender blends in powder or granular form, and aqueous preparations, and it tests for durability, corrosion resistance (that the pigment does not attack the reinforcement or the matrix), heat stability, weather resistance and light fastness. This is the standard a note should cite when telling a reader that coloured mortar, coloured render or coloured concrete must use a pigment fit for a cementitious matrix rather than a general purpose colourant, and it is the reference for why cheap pigments fade or cause efflorescence. Catalogue page confirms number, title, date, status and scope; the test detail is paywalled.
- good RN-CK4M6V
Finishes and Interiors Sector
The trade body uniting the finishes and interiors supply chain, whose stated aim is to raise standards and improve quality, safety and sustainability in the 13 billion pound finishes, fit-out and interiors sector. Membership covers contractors, manufacturers and suppliers, all vetted against strict quality and safety criteria. Its Knowledge Hub holds Technical Resources, Building Safety Act guidance, health and safety resources, sustainability resources, a Digital Construction toolkit, the Acoustic Verification Scheme, Support for Specifiers and a British Standards section. Other main sections are the Member Directory, Project Library, Skills Hub, Membership Hub and SpecFinish. Use it as the trade authority for drylining, partition and suspended ceiling workmanship, and its Acoustic Verification Scheme when a note claims a partition achieves a stated sound reduction.
- good RN-843FLQ
Painting and Decorating Association
The identity and standing of the trade body a note should name when it advises checking a decorator's membership. The PDA is a non-profit association and describes itself as the only UK-wide trade body dedicated to the painting and decorating sector. It was formed in July 2002 by the merger of the British Decorators Association, originally founded in 1894, and the Painting and Decorating Federation, founded in 1942. It is governed by a management board of elected members under the organisation's constitution and rules, and is a trade association member of Build UK, the Trade Association Forum and the Construction Industry Joint Council, which is the body that sets national wage rates for the trade.
- good RN-96HLGR
Painting and Decorating Association
The UK's only nationwide non-profit trade association for the painting and decorating industry. Members are vetted for quality workmanship, must be fully insured and follow a strict code of practice, and are listed in a nationwide consumer directory. National contractor members, defined as companies exceeding 2 million pounds turnover, are represented at Build UK, CIJC and UNIEP. The association is CITB-recognised, publishes The Decorator magazine, runs the Premier Trophy Awards and apprentice competitions, and promotes the Paint Green environmental initiative. It provides members with legal support and a mediation and conciliation service, which is the route a homeowner can use in a dispute with a member decorator.
- supplier figure RN-L7ZDAH
Barrisol
the manufacturer's own conditions of installation for Barrisol stretch ceilings: that they may only be installed in sealed, clean, dust free and dry buildings, that cartons exposed to cold must rest 24 hours in the warm before opening, that only authorised factory trained installers should install or dismantle them, and that embedded spotlights must not exceed 50W, need an insulating ring above 50 degrees C, and are incompatible above 60 degrees C at the metallic rose
- supplier figure RN-1Y5GR1
Dulux Trade (AkzoNobel)
Dulux Trade datasheet 410A, issued 01/22, for Supermatt, a high opacity matt emulsion intended for plaster that is still drying out. Practical coverage: 'A guide to the coverage which can be achieved under normal conditions is up to 18m2 per litre.' Thinning is the useful part for a mist coat note: sealing new or bare surfaces, add up to 1 part clean water to 3 parts paint; normal use, not to be exceeded, up to 1 part clean water to 4 parts paint; airless spray, up to 1 part water to 5 parts paint. The normal finishing process is 2 coats after the thinned sealing coat. Recoat 2 to 4 hours. Do not apply below 8C, which it attributes to BS 6150. It also tells you to buy sufficient tinted paint for each job at one time from the same source, which is the real answer to batch colour variation.
- supplier figure RN-PPKMRO
Dulux Trade Paint Expert
Manufacturer product page for Dulux Trade Diamond Eggshell, a water-based mid-sheen for interior wood and metal. Coverage is stated as up to 16 m2 per litre. Normal finishing process is 2 full coats, with additional coats for a significant colour change. Full preparation information is in Dulux Trade Datasheet 408. Useful as the upper bound for a water-based eggshell in a paint quantity calculation: a note quoting more than 16 m2 per litre for eggshell is quoting more than the manufacturer claims.
- supplier figure RN-CG74AS
Dulux Trade Paint Expert
Manufacturer product page for Dulux Trade Diamond Satinwood. Coverage is stated as up to 12 m2 per litre, notably lower than the emulsions. Normal finishing process is 2 full coats of Diamond Satinwood, with a primer coat where there is a dramatic colour change. Preparation guidance is in Dulux Trade Datasheet 1006. This is the figure that caps any satinwood estimate: 12 to 15 m2 per litre, as several decorating guides claim, exceeds what the manufacturer states.
- supplier figure RN-443CMH
Dulux Trade Paint Expert
Manufacturer product page for Dulux Trade Quick Dry Gloss, a water-based gloss for interior wood and metal. Coverage is stated as up to 12 m2 per litre. The recommended system is 1 or 2 coats of Dulux Trade Quick Dry Undercoat followed by 1 or 2 coats of Quick Dry Gloss, and three coats for a significant colour change. Preparation guidance referenced as Dulux Trade Datasheet 550. The 12 m2 per litre ceiling contradicts the widely repeated 13 to 16 m2 per litre figure for water-based gloss.
- supplier figure RN-FIYETG
Osmo UK
Manufacturer product data for hardwax oil applied to timber worktops and floors. States coverage of 30 m2 per litre with one coat, and two coats for a new application; one coat is usually enough when recoating a clean, dry, already-oiled surface. Useful as the corrective for renovation guides that quote hardwax oil coverage at 8 to 12 m2 per litre, which is roughly a third of the real figure. Cross-checks against Fiddes Hard Wax Oil at approximately 20 to 24 m2 per litre per coat depending on substrate density, giving a defensible general range of 20 to 30 m2 per litre per coat.