Why refrigeration is its own trade

Refrigeration gets bundled in with air conditioning constantly, and for good reason — the licensing overlaps and plenty of technicians do both. But the work diverges quickly. Supermarket refrigeration, cold and freezer storage, process cooling for food and beverage production, and industrial ammonia plant each demand experience that doesn't transfer automatically from HVAC work, and the pool of technicians who genuinely have it is small. That scarcity is the whole reason this page exists separately from our HVAC and air conditioning recruitment.

What we verify

Refrigerant handling is licensed, and it's the first thing we check. In Australia that means a current ARCtick licence covering the right class of work for the role. In New Zealand the requirements sit under a different scheme entirely, alongside Electrical Workers Registration Board registration where the role carries electrical work — a distinction that matters if you're hiring across the Tasman, or if a technician is planning to move between the two countries. Beyond the paperwork, we screen for the specifics: plant types, refrigerant classes, system sizes, and the split between install, service and breakdown work.

What employers are dealing with

Refrigeration roles sit open longer than almost anything else we recruit for, and the usual reason is not sourcing — it's that the offer isn't competitive for a trade this scarce. Experienced commercial refrigeration technicians know exactly what they're worth, and they are rarely on the market for long when they do move. If a role isn't going to fill at the rate you've set, we'll tell you that at the scoping call rather than three weeks into a search.

Opportunities for technicians

If you hold commercial or industrial refrigeration experience, you are in the strongest negotiating position of any trade we work with — and the roles worth moving for aren't always the ones being advertised. Whether you're after better money, a saner on-call roster, or a path toward leading hand or service management, tell us what you actually want and we'll be straight with you about what's out there.