Research
Trade businesses in Western Australia, by the numbers
We checked what 7,106 WA trade businesses publish about themselves, and how much of it holds up against an independent source.
Measured 2026-09-22 · free to reuse with attribution
Of 7,106 trade businesses measured in Western Australia in 2026, 17.8% publish an ABN that can be confirmed against the national register. Of the 3,416 whose listed phone number was compared with the number on their own website, 59.7% match and 6.9% contradict it. 84.4% of the 3,938 websites fetched responded, and 81.4% of the 4,894 cross-source matches found two or more independent sources. The median WA trade business has 40 Google reviews, against 40 nationally. Trade licensing in Western Australia is administered by Building and Energy. Source: WhoToHire, 2026-09-22.
17.8%
publish a checkable ABN
of all 7,106. 9% below the national rate of 19.5%.
59.7%
phone number confirmed against their own site
of 3,416 compared. In line with the 59.8% national rate.
6.9%
phone number contradicting their own site
of 3,416 compared. In line with the 6.8% national rate.
84.4%
have a website that loads
of 3,938 fetched. In line with the 82.6% national rate.
40
Google reviews for the median business
The national median is 40. Review counts track how often people hire a trade, not how well they do it — a trade you call once a decade will always sit lower.
What stands out
Western Australia publishes checkable ABNs at 17.8%, 9% below the 19.5% national rate. Registration rules are set federally — an ABN is the same instrument everywhere — so a state gap is about what businesses choose to publish rather than about who is registered.
236 businesses in Western Australia — 6.9% of the 3,416 numbers we compared — list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website, in line with the national 6.8%. Worth checking before you call, because the same signature appears on both a listing nobody has updated in years and a lead-reselling service sitting between you and the person who does the work.
Licensing is where the state actually matters. Australia has no national trade register, so a licence is issued and enforced by Building and Energy and a licence from another state does not automatically carry over.
Checking a licence in Western Australia
Building and Energy maintains the public register covering builders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters. Searching it is free, takes about a minute, and is the only way to confirm a licence is current — a number printed on a van proves nothing on its own.
Building and EnergyStep by step: how to check an Australian tradie's licence
WA trades compared
Trades with at least 40 businesses in Western Australia. Smaller groups are held back rather than published as percentages that swing on a single record.
| Trade | Businesses | ABN | Phones checked | Phone confirmed | Phone mismatch | Sites checked | Site loads | Median reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanics | 2,126 | 23.8% | 582 | 57% | 9.3% | 679 | 82.5% | 60 |
| Builders | 991 | 14.3% | 611 | 63.3% | 6.1% | 698 | 85.5% | 13 |
| Electricians | 442 | 25.1% | 253 | 64% | 7.1% | 290 | 85.5% | 25 |
| Plumbers | 418 | 21.1% | 228 | 69.3% | 7.5% | 260 | 84.6% | 49 |
| Cleaners | 403 | 13.4% | 250 | 64.8% | 5.6% | 284 | 86.6% | 35 |
| Gardeners & Landscapers | 250 | 15.2% | 116 | 60.3% | 4.3% | 137 | 81% | 18 |
| Heating & Cooling | 231 | 19.9% | 138 | 57.2% | 5.8% | 159 | 84.9% | 47 |
| Photographers | 225 | 7.1% | 148 | 37.8% | 2.7% | 188 | 79.3% | 36 |
| Pet Groomers | 216 | 5.1% | 89 | 51.7% | 6.7% | 103 | 81.6% | 33 |
| Driving Schools | 202 | 15.3% | 98 | 62.2% | 7.1% | 105 | 91.4% | 69 |
| Pool Services | 190 | 8.9% | 110 | 52.7% | 1.8% | 128 | 85.2% | 39 |
| Car Washes | 158 | 7% | 79 | 31.6% | 11.4% | 85 | 91.8% | 132 |
| Fencing Contractors | 151 | 11.3% | 94 | 67% | 4.3% | 117 | 76.9% | 34 |
| Painters | 137 | 13.1% | 79 | 67.1% | 6.3% | 89 | 86.5% | 18 |
| Car Detailers | 133 | 15% | 48 | 52.1% | 8.3% | 57 | 84.2% | 48 |
| Solar Installers | 132 | 15.2% | 88 | 54.5% | 8% | 102 | 82.4% | 54 |
| Pest Controllers | 123 | 20.3% | 77 | 61% | 10.4% | 83 | 91.6% | 47 |
| Removalists | 118 | 9.3% | 78 | 60.3% | 9% | 88 | 86.4% | 54 |
| Roofers | 113 | 17.7% | 65 | 61.5% | 6.2% | 72 | 88.9% | 32 |
| Locksmiths | 104 | 16.3% | 48 | 56.3% | 6.3% | 56 | 83.9% | 65 |
| Garage Door Specialists | 98 | 19.4% | 55 | 67.3% | 12.7% | 61 | 88.5% | 55 |
| Tilers | 76 | 21.1% | 38 | 73.7% | 0% | 47 | 72.3% | 28 |
| Arborists | 69 | 14.5% | 44 | 68.2% | 9.1% | 50 | 84% | 37 |
Method, and what it can't tell you
7,106 trade businesses in Western Australia. Every one of them gets the same four checks: an ABN lookup against the national register, a comparison of the listed phone number against the number on the business's own website, an HTTP request to that website, and a match against open mapping data maintained separately from Google.
Not all four have run everywhere yet, so the figures above are shares of what has been checked: 3,416 phone comparisons, 3,938 website fetches and 4,894 cross-source matches out of 7,106 businesses. A check that has not run counts in neither half of a percentage.
This is a census of a directory, not of the trade. It covers businesses with enough of a public footprint to be found at all, which if anything biases these figures upward — a business too small to appear here is less likely to publish an ABN, not more.
ABN registration is the one figure taken over every business in the group rather than over a checked subset, because an absent ABN is not a failed lookup — read it as a floor. Review counts and averages are held; individual reviews are not, so nothing here can tell you whether a business's reviews arrived steadily or all at once.
Full method and national figures: the state of Australian trade business data.
Common questions
- How many trade businesses are there in Western Australia?
- This dataset holds 7,106 across 23 trades, measured on 2026-09-22. It is a census of the businesses in this directory rather than of every trade business in Western Australia, so treat it as a large sample with a known bias toward businesses that have a public footprint.
- How many WA trade businesses publish an ABN you can check?
- 17.8% — 1,265 of 7,106. Nationally the figure is 19.5%, so Western Australia sits 9% below it. An ABN is free to look up on the national register, which makes it the cheapest identity check available to a customer.
- Who regulates trade licensing in Western Australia?
- Building and Energy, covering builders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters. Licensing in Australia is a state matter with no national register, so a licence issued elsewhere does not automatically carry over. Check the licence with the regulator in the state where the work is being done.
- How many WA businesses list a phone number that doesn't match their website?
- 6.9% of the 3,416 we compared, or about 236 businesses. This counts only direct contradictions between a listed number and the number on the business's own site, not missing numbers and not businesses the comparison has not run for.
- Which trades in Western Australia are best documented?
- Electricians publish a checkable ABN most often at 25.1%, and pet groomers least often at 5.1%. Only trades with at least 40 businesses in the state are compared.
Using these numbers
Free to quote, chart or republish under CC BY 4.0, which asks only for attribution and a link. The full aggregate dataset is available as a free download. If you need a cut that isn't published, ask.
WhoToHire, “WA trade business data 2026”, 2026-09-22. https://whotohire.com.au/research/states/wa
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