If you manage a multi-storey building in Brisbane, you’ve probably heard the term “rope access painting” thrown around. Maybe a strata manager mentioned it, or you got a quote that listed IRATA-certified abseilers and had no idea what that meant. Either way, a lot of property owners and building managers I talk to have the same questions. What actually is rope access? Is it safe? And is it cheaper than scaffolding?

Let me walk you through it properly.

What Is Rope Access Painting?

Put simply, rope access painting is where trained technicians descend the outside of a building using a rope system, rather than standing on scaffolding or an elevated work platform. Think industrial abseiling, but with thorough safety systems and a paintbrush in hand.

What makes our team at McAuliffe different is that our painters are both certified abseilers and fully qualified tradespeople. That’s not as common as you’d think. A lot of companies split the rope access and painting into two separate crews, which creates communication problems and divided accountability. Our guys do both. The same person who rigs up on the roof does the painting work, which keeps quality consistent from start to finish.

From a safety standpoint, rope access in Australia operates under the AS/NZS ISO 22846 standard for rope access systems. Our technicians hold current IRATA (Industrial Rope Access Trade Association) certifications, which is the gold standard in Australia. Both Safe Work Australia and the Working at Heights Association (WAHA) endorse IRATA as the most credible certification pathway for rope access work in this country.

Every rope access job also runs on a twin-rope system. One main working rope, one independent backup. That’s not optional and it’s not something we do as a bonus. It’s a requirement of the system. The backup line operates as fall arrest if anything were to happen to the primary rope.

In June 2022, Safe Work Australia published a dedicated guide on managing the risks of industrial rope access systems. It’s a good read if you’re a building manager wanting to understand what your obligations are when engaging rope access contractors. WorkSafe Queensland flagged it as relevant reading for anyone involved in commissioning this type of work in Queensland specifically.

Why Brisbane Buildings Are Perfect for Rope Access

Brisbane has a lot of multi-storey residential and commercial stock that’s now reaching the age where repainting is overdue. Buildings from the late 1990s and 2000s across the inner suburbs are showing the effects of years of Queensland UV, summer humidity, and subtropical storm cycles. And the city’s inner ring is dense, which creates a practical problem: a lot of these buildings simply don’t have room around their perimeter for full scaffolding.

Suburbs like Spring Hill, Fortitude Valley, Newstead, South Brisbane, and parts of the CBD are exactly the kind of environment where rope access shines. Tight lot boundaries, active pedestrian footpaths, neighbouring buildings right up against the boundary. Scaffolding in those locations means footpath permits, potential lane closures, and weeks of steel frames blocking signage and windows.

Rope access solves all of that. Our team sets up from the roof, works methodically down the face of the building, and doesn’t require any street-level footprint to speak of.

When Rope Access Is the Right Call

Not every job needs it. A single-storey commercial building or a standard house doesn’t require abseiling painters, and it’d be a waste of money. Rope access earns its keep on specific building types.

Multi-storey buildings, generally from about four storeys and up, are the obvious candidates. Once you’re at that height, scaffolding and boom lifts start getting expensive and the logistical headache grows quickly. Above five or six storeys, rope access is usually the most practical and cost-effective access method by a significant margin.

Buildings with constrained site access are another category where rope access almost always wins. If there’s no clear perimeter access around the building, full scaffolding can become either impossible or require expensive special permits.

Heritage and architecturally complex buildings also benefit. Scaffolding connections can cause damage to older facades, and fitting a scaffold system around ornate or irregular surfaces is its own challenge. Working from rope allows precise access to detailed sections of a building without bearing down on the structure itself.

And then there’s urgent insurance or storm damage work, which we’ve done quite a bit of across Brisbane and South East Queensland. Rope access teams can mobilise fast. There’s no scaffolding permit process to wait on, which matters when a building has sustained damage and needs exterior repairs done quickly.

Rope Access vs Scaffolding: An Honest Comparison

Scaffolding isn’t bad. I want to be clear about that because some rope access companies oversell their method as always superior. For certain jobs, particularly those with a lot of balcony or horizontal work on every level, or where large crews need to work simultaneously across multiple floors, scaffolding has real advantages. You can carry more equipment, move more freely, and the physical working environment is more comfortable for long stints.

But for a straight exterior repaint of a Brisbane apartment building or commercial tower? Rope access wins on cost, timeline, and disruption in most situations. Our own service page notes that rope access painting typically comes in 30-40% cheaper than scaffolding on comparable jobs. That saving comes mainly from eliminating scaffolding hire costs and the labour to erect and dismantle it.

From a disruption perspective, residents in a building being painted with rope access rarely notice much beyond seeing painters at their windows occasionally. Compare that to weeks of scaffolding covering the entire facade, blocking light, and making the building look like a construction site.

What Does Rope Access Painting Cost in Brisbane?

This is what everyone asks first, and the straight answer is that there’s no useful number I can give you without seeing the building. Height, surface area, facade complexity, paint condition, access point availability, the paint system being applied, all of it affects the price, and two buildings of the same storey count can come in very differently depending on their condition.

What I can tell you is that rope access consistently comes in cheaper than scaffolding on comparable jobs. That saving comes mainly from eliminating scaffolding hire and the labour to erect and dismantle it, which on a multi-storey Brisbane building is not a small number.

The other thing worth knowing is that prep work drives cost more than most people expect. If the existing paint is chalky, there’s render cracking, or sealants around windows have failed, those issues need to be properly addressed before any new paint goes on. Skipping prep might look like a saving on paper. In practice it just means the new paint fails early and you’re back to square one in five years instead of fifteen.

We scope everything out during the initial site assessment so the quote you get has no surprises in it. Call us on 1300 733 447 or request a free quote here and we’ll come out and give you a proper assessment.

How the Job Actually Runs

When you call us for a rope access painting job, the first step is a site assessment. One of our senior team comes out, inspects the building exterior, checks the condition of roof anchor points (we can test or install new anchor systems through our height safety services if needed), and gives you an honest read on the scope of works and what paint system we’d recommend.

From there we put together a fixed quote with a proper breakdown. Not a rough ballpark. You’ll know exactly which surfaces are being painted, what preparation is included, the paint products being used, and the timeline.

On site, we work top-down and section by section. We keep you or the building manager updated throughout and do a final walk-around together before we pack up. If anything needs touching up or isn’t right, it gets sorted before we leave. That’s just how we operate.

And we don’t use subcontractors. Every person on your job is a McAuliffe employee. That’s important because it means full accountability for the quality of every aspect of the work, not a patchwork of different crews where nobody fully owns the outcome.

Common Questions About Rope Access Painting in Brisbane

Are your rope access painters properly certified? Yes. Our technicians hold current IRATA certifications. IRATA is the certification body recognised by both Safe Work Australia and WAHA as the benchmark standard for rope access work in Australia.

Do residents need to be notified before work starts? Yes, and we help with this. We provide a works notice template that covers what’s happening, when, and any access considerations. For occupied residential buildings, we recommend at least two weeks’ notice to residents.

Can you work in wet weather? No, and we won’t. Wet conditions on ropes are a genuine safety issue, and wet surfaces also affect paint adhesion. We build weather contingency into our project timelines.

How long does a rope access repaint take? Depends on building size. A 10-storey building with a straightforward facade is typically 2-3 weeks. Larger or more complex jobs take longer. We’ll include a timeline in the quote.

Do you handle the preparation work or just painting? Everything. Pressure washing, crack repairs, sealant replacement, priming, painting. You don’t need to coordinate a separate trades crew for any of it.

Ready to Get a Quote?

If you’ve got a multi-storey building that needs an exterior repaint, give us a call on 1300 733 447 or request a free quote and we’ll come out and take a look. We cover all of Brisbane and South East Queensland, and there’s no cost or obligation to the initial assessment.

McAuliffe Painting has been doing rope access and commercial painting in Brisbane for over 30 years. We know the buildings, we know the climate, and we know what a proper paint job on a Brisbane high-rise actually takes.