Short answer
Check the licence first — appliance repairers need a licence for some work and not other work. Then check that the business is who it says it is: of the 507 Australian appliance repairers in this directory, only 18.3% publish an ABN you can confirm, and 4.6% list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website.
Appliance Repairers handle washing machines, dryers, fridges, dishwashers, ovens, cooktops and rangehoods repaired in your home. This is what to check before you let one into your house, and what the evidence says about the category as a whole.
Appliance Repairers are licensed for some work and not others
Repairing an appliance is unlicensed in itself, but the work inside it often is not: anything on the electrical wiring side needs an electrical licence, refrigerant in a fridge needs an ARC licence, and a gas cooktop or oven needs a licensed gasfitter. A repairer should be able to say which of those applies to your job and show the licence for it.
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 507 Australian appliance repairers actually publish
We check every business in this directory the same way, and publish the result whether it flatters the trade or not. For appliance repairers:
| What we checked | Appliance Repairers | All trades |
|---|---|---|
| Publish an ABN we could confirm | 18.3% | 21.5% |
| Listed phone matches their own website | 69.9% | 59.2% |
| Listed phone contradicts their own website | 4.6% | 7.7% |
| Website responded when we checked | 87.4% | 81% |
| Corroborated by two or more sources | 61.3% | 81.1% |
| Median number of Google reviews | 69 | 39 |
What goes wrong with appliance repairers
- Electrical, gas or refrigerant work done by someone without the licence that part of the job needs
- A call-out fee that is charged even when the repair is not worth doing
- Non-genuine parts fitted and described as genuine
What to ask before the work starts
- Does this repair involve electrical, gas or refrigerant work, and what licence do you hold for it?
- What is the call-out fee, and does it count towards the repair?
- What warranty comes with the part and the labour?
A appliance repairer 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 appliance repairer in this directory has 69 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 appliance repairers are
Melbourne (33), Brisbane (22). A shortlist for your own area is more useful than a national ranking — the best appliance repairer 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 appliance repairers need a licence in Australia?
- Sometimes. Repairing an appliance is unlicensed in itself, but the work inside it often is not: anything on the electrical wiring side needs an electrical licence, refrigerant in a fridge needs an ARC licence, and a gas cooktop or oven needs a licensed gasfitter. A repairer should be able to say which of those applies to your job and show the licence for it.
- How do I check an appliance repairer'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 appliance repairers have a verifiable ABN?
- 18.3% of the 507 appliance repairers in this directory publish an ABN we could confirm against the national register, against 21.5% across all trades.
- How many reviews should an appliance repairer have?
- The median appliance repairer here has 69. Treat a five-star rating from a handful of reviews with more caution than a slightly lower rating from hundreds.
Compare appliance repairers near you
507 appliance repairers, ranked on the evidence described above rather than on advertising.
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