Short answer
Check the licence first — pest controllers must be licensed in every state. Then check that the business is who it says it is: of the 1,396 Australian pest controllers in this directory, only 17.8% publish an ABN you can confirm, and 10.5% list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website.
Pest Controllers handle termite inspections and treatment, general pest treatment and prevention. This is what to check before you let one into your house, and what the evidence says about the category as a whole.
Pest Controllers must be licensed
Applying pesticide commercially requires a pest management licence in every state and territory. Termite work in particular is where the money and the risk both sit, and a termite inspection is a different service from a treatment.
There is no national licence register in Australia — each state and territory runs its own. The regulator for your state is listed at the bottom of this guide, and checking a number takes about a minute.
What 1,396 Australian pest controllers actually publish
We check every business in this directory the same way, and publish the result whether it flatters the trade or not. For pest controllers:
| What we checked | Pest Controllers | All trades |
|---|---|---|
| Publish an ABN we could confirm | 17.8% | 19.5% |
| Listed phone matches their own website | 61.3% | 59.8% |
| Listed phone contradicts their own website | 10.5% | 6.8% |
| Website responded when we checked | 81.9% | 82.6% |
| Corroborated by two or more sources | 71.6% | 79.8% |
| Median number of Google reviews | 51 | 40 |
What goes wrong with pest controllers
- A termite inspection that is really a sales visit
- Treatment without a written report of what was found and where
- Warranties that lapse if you do not pay for annual re-inspection
What to ask before the work starts
- What is your pest management licence number?
- Will I get a written inspection report with photographs?
- What exactly does the warranty cover, and what voids it?
A pest control company who answers all three of those without hesitating is telling you something useful. One who is vague about a licence number is telling you something too.
The median matters more than the average
The median pest control company in this directory has 51 Google reviews. That is the number to hold in your head when you see a perfect five-star rating: five stars from four reviews and 4.6 from three hundred are not comparable, and the second is almost always the safer hire.
It is also why the ranking here weights review volume more heavily than review score. A business cannot buy its position, and a handful of glowing reviews does not move it far.
Where the pest controllers are
Sydney (122), Brisbane (98), Melbourne (71), Perth (56), Gold Coast (50), Adelaide (43). A shortlist for your own area is more useful than a national ranking — the best pest control company in the country is no help if they are four states away.
Where to check a licence, by state
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state where the work is happening.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Common questions
- Do pest controllers need a licence in Australia?
- Yes. Applying pesticide commercially requires a pest management licence in every state and territory. Termite work in particular is where the money and the risk both sit, and a termite inspection is a different service from a treatment.
- How do I check a pest control company's licence?
- There is no national register. Each state and territory has its own regulator — NSW Fair Trading, the Building and Plumbing Commission and Energy Safe Victoria in Victoria, QBCC in Queensland, Building and Energy in WA, Consumer and Business Services in SA, CBOS in Tasmania, Access Canberra in the ACT, and the NT Government. Search the licence number the business gives you on the regulator for the state the work is happening in.
- What percentage of Australian pest controllers have a verifiable ABN?
- 17.8% of the 1,396 pest controllers in this directory publish an ABN we could confirm against the national register, against 19.5% across all trades.
- How many reviews should a pest control company have?
- The median pest control company here has 51. Treat a five-star rating from a handful of reviews with more caution than a slightly lower rating from hundreds.
Compare pest controllers near you
1,396 pest controllers, ranked on the evidence described above rather than on advertising.
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