Which Australian trades are best and worst documented

Short answer

Across 23 trades, the amount of verifiable evidence a business publishes varies more than twofold. Electricians are the most likely to publish a confirmable ABN at 25.1%; car washes the least at 5.7%.

The same five checks, run against every trade. The differences between trades are much larger than the differences between states, which is the more interesting result.

TradenABNPhone ✓Phone ✗Site loadsCorroboratedMedian reviews
Mechanics19,89824.2%60.8%7.3%79.9%80.2%57
Builders9,04918.2%61.5%6.2%85.2%90.3%14
Electricians3,99625.1%66%6.8%81%78.4%29
Cleaners3,84312.7%59.4%6.5%81.7%73.4%36
Plumbers3,55325.1%63.5%9.3%84.5%67.9%42
Photographers2,4636.7%36.5%2.6%79.4%86.1%30
Gardeners & Landscapers2,25915.8%63.9%4.7%84.4%83.4%19
Pet Groomers2,17110.6%55.6%5%76.9%89.1%37
Heating & Cooling2,13822.7%60.9%7.6%83.7%77.5%39
Car Washes1,5735.7%37%7.7%83.7%66.9%129
Driving Schools1,54117.2%66.6%4.2%83.8%64.7%77
Solar Installers1,51618.3%46.1%8.5%84.4%81.1%52
Pool Services1,44417.9%54.2%8%82.5%83.6%37
Pest Controllers1,39617.8%61.3%10.5%81.9%71.6%51
Roofers1,36924.2%65%6.3%83.5%79.8%26
Painters1,27717%65.4%7.3%83.2%82.3%23
Car Detailers1,25114.3%56%9.3%80.5%70.9%48
Removalists1,2349.9%66.1%5.7%82.7%71.5%81
Fencing Contractors1,00716.7%65.1%7%82.6%88.5%20
Locksmiths1,00321.5%61.3%7.1%86.9%68.5%68
Arborists91819.2%73%6.2%83.3%75.9%38
Tilers62122.1%63.4%5.9%84.9%82.8%24
Garage Door Specialists58420.9%64.9%10.7%90.2%76.7%49

What stands out

  • Electricians publish a confirmable ABN 4.4× more often than car washes.
  • Garage Door Specialists have the highest rate of phone numbers contradicting their own website, at 10.7%.
  • Corroboration does not depend on what a business chooses to publish — it depends on independent mapping data — which is why it is the one check with a rate that says something about the business rather than about its marketing. 79.8% of the 45,403 it covers are corroborated, and that is a floor: the matcher runs on its own schedule and the newest businesses in the directory reach it last.

That last point is worth drawing out. The checks that depend on a business publishing something about itself have poor and uneven coverage — a business that never puts its ABN online cannot be checked for one. The check that depends on independent sources does not have that problem, which is an argument for weighting it heavily, and it is weighted heavily.

Common questions

Which Australian trade publishes the most verifiable information?
On ABN publication, Electricians lead at 25.1%. Corroboration by independent sources runs at 79.8% across the 45,403 businesses it covers, and it is the more useful figure because it does not depend on what a business chooses to publish about itself.

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