Written by Chris Earley Founder, Perth Eco Clean
Chris Earley founded Perth Eco Clean in 2018 to give Perth homes and businesses a genuinely eco-friendly alternative to conventional cleaning. He holds multiple industry certifications including BSCAA and RapidClean accreditations across office cleaning, carpet cleaning, chemical handling, and infectious cleaning in commercial settings.
Key Takeaways
- Photograph the graffiti and report it before removal, because the report contributes to the wider enforcement picture even when you are organising the clean yourself.
- Check who is actually responsible for the wall before you spend anything. A commercial lease, a strata by-law, or a council boundary can all change the answer.
- Fast removal is the single most effective thing you can do to reduce the chance of being tagged again.
You open up on a Monday morning and there it is across the shopfront, the roller door, or the side wall by the bin store. It is frustrating, it looks bad to customers walking past, and it lands on your desk on a day that was already full. The good news is that the response is fairly straightforward once you know the order to do things in. This guide covers what to do in the first few hours after your property is tagged, who is likely to be responsible for the cost, and how to reduce the odds of it happening again. For the surface-specific detail on how the paint actually comes off, see our guide on graffiti removal in Perth.
Why Speed Matters More Than Anything Else
There are three separate reasons to move quickly, and they compound.
- The first is practical. Aerosol paint keeps curing after it goes on, and Perth sun accelerates that. A tag treated within a day or two comes off far more cleanly than one that has sat through a week of summer, particularly on porous surfaces like face brick and limestone.
- The second is preventative. The WA Government’s Goodbye Graffiti program is clear on this point: rapid removal is the most effective deterrent available, because graffiti that is not up long enough to be seen offers very little reward to the person who put it there. A wall that is cleaned within days is a far less appealing target than one where the tag stays up for a month.
- The third is commercial. A tagged frontage reads as a property nobody is looking after, and customers, tenants, and prospective buyers all notice. For strata complexes and multi-tenanted buildings, it is also the kind of thing that generates complaints long before anyone raises it formally.
The First Steps After You Find Graffiti
Photograph It Before You Touch It
Take clear photos in good light, including a wider shot showing where on the building it sits. If there is more than one tag, photograph each one separately. These images support any insurance claim, any report you make, and any conversation with a landlord, strata manager, or council about who pays.
Report It
Report the incident through the Goodbye Graffiti website. Anyone can report graffiti, including on private property, and reports feed into the picture WA Police use to identify repeat offenders and target enforcement. It is worth doing even when you have already arranged removal yourself.
If you have information about who did it, Crime Stoppers WA on 1800 333 000 handles offender reports and you can remain anonymous. If you witness tagging in progress, or the graffiti is racially or religiously offensive or threatening, that is a police matter on 131 444.
Check Who Is Responsible for the Wall
This is the step most often skipped, and it is the one that costs money. If you lease the premises, your lease will usually set out who is responsible for making good damage to the building fabric, and it is frequently the tenant. If you are in a strata complex, the question is whether the affected wall is common property or part of your lot, which changes who authorises and funds the work.
If the tagged surface is a boundary wall, verge structure, or something facing a laneway, part of it may sit outside your title altogether. Some local governments also remove graffiti from private property within their boundary, though this varies considerably between councils, so it is worth a quick check of your council’s website before you engage anyone.
Arrange Removal, Not a Cover-Up
Painting over a tag is the fastest option and it is what most people reach for first. It is also how buildings end up with a patchwork of mismatched rectangles that look nearly as bad as the graffiti did, and the original paint can bleed back through the new coat over time. Proper removal keeps the surface consistent, which matters most on a customer-facing frontage.
Record It for the Next Time
Keep a simple log: date, location on the building, photos, what it cost to remove. If your property is targeted more than once, that record is what turns a series of annoyances into a case you can take to a landlord, a strata council, or your insurer. It also helps identify patterns, such as one particular wall or one particular night of the week.
Reducing the Chance of Being Targeted Again
Certain features make a property an easier target. Working through this list will not eliminate the risk, but it removes the easy opportunities.
- Lighting. Dark side walls, rear laneways, and unlit bin stores are the most commonly hit areas on commercial sites. Sensor lighting changes the calculation.
- Sightlines. Overgrown landscaping and screening that hides a wall from the street or from neighbouring properties works in the tagger’s favour, not yours.
- Removal speed. Consistently fast removal is the strongest single deterrent, and it is entirely within your control.
- Surface and finish. Smooth, sealed, non-porous surfaces are much quicker and cheaper to clean than raw brick, render, or limestone. Worth factoring in at renovation time.
- Access points. Roller doors, service corridors, and rear fences that back onto public paths or transport corridors carry higher exposure.
- Cameras. Even where footage does not lead anywhere, visible cameras shift a property down the list of easy options.
When to Call Professional Graffiti Removal in Perth
For a commercial or strata property, professional removal is usually the right call rather than the fallback. Consider it where you are dealing with:
- A customer-facing frontage where a mismatched paint patch is not acceptable
- Limestone, face brick, render, or heritage brickwork that will be damaged by the wrong product
- Signage, glazing, or powder-coated surfaces that can be dulled or stripped
- Anything above ground level or requiring access equipment
- A site that is being tagged repeatedly and needs a standing arrangement rather than one-off call-outs
- Strata common property, where the work needs to be documented and invoiced properly for the owners corporation
Perth Eco Clean’s Graffiti Removal Approach
- Eco-friendly products. Non-toxic, biodegradable, plant-based solutions with no harsh solvent fumes drifting through a tenanted building, a shopfront, or a neighbouring café.
- Surface-appropriate method. Brick, render, limestone, concrete, glass, and Colorbond each need a different combination of product, dwell time, and rinse pressure.
- Certified and cleared team. BSCAA and RapidClean certifications including chemical handling, fully insured and police-cleared, which matters on shared and public-facing sites.
- Transparent pricing. A clear quote before we start and a proper invoice afterwards, which is what strata and business accounts need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I still report graffiti if I am arranging removal myself?
Yes. Reports feed into how enforcement is targeted, and a single tag on your wall is often part of a wider pattern across the area.
Who is responsible for removing graffiti from a leased shopfront?
It depends on the lease. Many commercial leases place responsibility for making good building damage on the tenant, but check the terms before assuming either way.
Will my local council remove graffiti from private property?
Some do within their boundary and some do not. It varies between local governments, so check your council’s website or give them a call before arranging anything.
Can removal be done before we open for the day?
Often, yes. Early starts are usually the least disruptive option for retail and hospitality sites, and it is worth raising when you book so it can be scheduled properly.
Perth Eco Clean can help with Graffiti Cleaning
Being tagged is a nuisance, but the response is manageable: photograph it, report it, confirm who is responsible, and get it removed properly rather than painted over. Do that consistently and quickly, and you become a considerably less attractive target than the building down the road that leaves it up for a month.
Perth Eco Clean provides eco-friendly graffiti cleaning for businesses, strata complexes, and commercial properties across the Perth Metro area. Call 0459 544 876 or get in touch for a quote.