(03) 9900 1010
No, with one narrow exception. In Victoria, a hardwired electric oven or cooktop must be connected by a licensed electrician, and any gas oven or cooktop must be connected by a licensed gasfitter. The exception is the small number of ovens built with a standard 10-amp plug: if a compliant power point already sits behind the cavity, plugging one in is no different from plugging in a fridge. Everything else, hardwiring, new circuits, isolation switches, anything with gas in it, is licensed work. Typical Melbourne cost for an electric connection: $150 to $400, with new circuits or switchboard work on top.
The confusion is fair enough, because sliding the appliance into the cavity genuinely is something anyone can do. It’s the connection behind it where the law, and the risk, live.
Why the line sits where it does
Ovens and cooktops are among the heaviest electrical loads in the house. Most wall ovens, and every induction and ceramic cooktop, are hardwired on dedicated circuits of 15 to 32 amps, several times an ordinary appliance, with an isolating switch required within reach. Get a connection wrong at those currents and the failure mode isn’t a tripped breaker; it’s heat, at the terminal block, inside the wall, over months. That’s why the work is licensed, why it closes with a Certificate of Electrical Safety, and why your insurer cares who did it.
Gas is stricter again, for reasons that need no explaining. Every gas appliance connection in Victoria is licensed gasfitting work, like-for-like cooktop swaps included, certified with compliance paperwork. Inside the O’Shea group, that side belongs to the licensed gasfitters at O’Shea Plumbing’s gas fitting team, which brings us to the question underneath the question.
Who installs an oven: electrician or plumber?
Electric oven or cooktop: electrician. Gas oven or cooktop: gasfitter, which in Victoria is a licensed class of plumbing. Dual fuel, the classic gas cooktop over electric oven, needs both trades. And the increasingly common kitchen move, swapping gas for induction, needs the gasfitter to disconnect and cap the line and the electrician to run the new circuit. Because O’Shea runs both trades in one family group, those combination jobs are one booking and one coordinated visit for us, not two companies with a scheduling gap while the kitchen sits dead in between. It’s the quiet advantage of the group, and kitchens are where it shows.
Induction deserves its own warning label, in a good way. It’s where Melbourne kitchens are heading, and induction cooktops commonly draw 32 amps, so a gas-to-induction swap frequently means a new dedicated circuit and sometimes a switchboard upgrade to host it. Settle that before buying the appliance. A photo of your switchboard is usually enough for us to tell you what the changeover involves, and it’s a much better conversation to have before the old cooktop is on the nature strip.
What it costs, and the details that save the day
As a Melbourne guide: connecting an electric oven or cooktop to an existing suitable circuit runs $150 to $400. A new dedicated circuit adds roughly $300 to $700 depending on the run. A switchboard upgrade, where needed, sits at $800 to $2,000. Gas connection and disconnection is quoted by the gasfitting side, and a properly capped and labelled line is part of any gas-to-induction change, never a taped-off cable or a valved-and-forgotten pipe left for the next owner to discover. All of it runs through our appliance installation team at a fixed price, and rangehoods, dishwashers and the rest of the kitchen can join the same visit; hardwired rangehoods follow the same electrician rule, and ducted beats recirculating wherever a duct path exists.
One delivery-day tip from long experience: confirm the connection type before the appliance ships. The single most common kitchen-day delay is a hardwired oven arriving where a plug-in was assumed, with no circuit ready behind the cavity and a household suddenly eating takeaway for a fortnight. Five minutes with the specification sheet prevents it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you install an oven yourself?
Can I replace my gas cooktop myself?
Do I need an electrician to fit an electric cooker?
Who installs an oven, an electrician or a plumber?
New oven in its box, or planning the jump to induction? Call O’Shea Electrical on (03) 9900 1010 or request a free quote. Both trades, one family business, one visit.
