Who to hire for a ceiling fan to install

What to do before anyone arrives

1. 1Measure the ceiling height and check blade clearance. There are minimum clearances from the floor and from walls, and a low ceiling changes which fans are suitable — a hugger-style fan exists for this reason.
2. 2Decide whether you want a light in it, and whether you want a wall control or remote. Retrofitting a wall control later means opening the wall.
3. 3Check what is above the ceiling at that point if you can.
4. 4If it is replacing a light, check whether the existing wiring gives separate switching for fan and light.

What to ask when you book

• What are you fixing it to, and do you need to add a brace?
• Can the existing switch wiring give me separate fan and light control, or is that extra?
• Is it balanced and tested before you leave?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

• Whether an existing light point can be reused or new cable has to be run.
• Whether a brace has to be installed between joists.
• Wall control versus remote.
• Ceiling access from above.

Is this licensed work?

Licensed electrical work, including the wall control and any change to the existing light circuit.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

• 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

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for a ceiling fan to install

A licensed electrician. The part worth asking about is the fixing: a fan has to be attached to a ceiling joist or a purpose-made brace, not to plasterboard, and a fan that wobbles is usually telling you it was fixed to the wrong thing.

Why does my ceiling fan wobble?

Most often a fixing that has loosened or was never into structure, and sometimes a blade set that is out of balance. The first is a safety issue and the second is an annoyance, and an electrician can tell them apart in a few minutes. A fan that has developed a wobble it did not have when installed is the first case until proven otherwise.

Who to hire for

• Who to hire for downlights to installA licensed electrician. Beyond the wiring, the two things worth getting right are clearance from insulation — …
• Who to hire for an air conditioner that stopped coolingA heating and cooling technician holding a refrigerant handling licence. Anyone who handles refrigerant in Aus…
• Who to hire when half the house has no powerA licensed electrician. Power out in part of the house with the neighbours unaffected means one circuit has tr…
• Who to call for a burning smell from a power pointA licensed electrician, today, and in the meantime turn that circuit off at the switchboard. A burnt smell at …