HVAC Certified

[serviceguy]

what is HVAC certified? where do u get it? do u have to go to school for it, or can u take a test for it?

[NormChris]

I assume that as a service technician you are already EPA refrigerant certified so you must be asking about the voluntary techncian certifications offered to those who wish to prove their technical knowledge and ability as technicians.

There is a series of exams available through several organizations. RSES, NATE and HVAC Excellence each offer certification exams which after you pass one or more of them you have nationally recognized credentials that you have reached a level of knowledge and ability tested for.

NATE (North American Technician Excellence) is the most popular. NATE exams and certification is backed by many manufacturers including Carrier, Trane, Lennox, York, Copeland and many others.

Many manufacturers are requiring their distributors and dealers to employ NATE certified technicians. When they do the manufacturers provide incentives and extras to those contractors, dealers and distributors. For example, some will pay a higher rate for warranty work or offer equipment discounts.

Many contractors are looking for NATE certifications when they hire new people. Some cities and states are considering requiring their city and state maint people to be NATE certified and have even considered making certification as part of contractors licenses. The military already awards advancement points to NATE certified HVAC people. I could go on but that pretty much gives you the basics.

NATE has a series of exams in various specialties including:

Air Conditioning (installation)
Air Conditioning (service & troubleshooting)
Gas Heating
Heat Pumps
Air Distribution
Oil Heating

Here is the NATE site

http://www.natex.org


Norm

[grasshopper]

In some areas voluntary certifications do not mean much. In many cities around here inspectors and customers have not heard of or really care about NATE or RSES etc... they want to know about comp cards and licensing. Do you have a journeyman's card? Do you have a contractor's license? These are more important to them. Every area is different, you need to check yours. Anyone can take a NATE test who pays the fee. Here you must "qualify" to even sit for a license test for some cities. Often they will require something like a 2 yr degree and 5 verifiable yrs experiance as a journeyman, or 10 yrs and a master license holder to stand up for you in order to even take the master license test. You get the idea. Check out your area. Although I would normally expect anyone called "serviceguy" to know some of this. What kind of "serviceguy" are you right now? Do you know or do HVAC? Are you an appliance tech? Please give us more info.

[serviceguy]

i am a service technician in a very small community in South Carolina with an authorized Trane dealer...in this small area not much is known "to my knowledge" about the different type certifications out there...i got into the HVAC field due to my extensive computer and electrical background...i have never been to any school or seminar on HVAC specific, however I am a fast learner and have learned much more than i did know from just reading about what you guys have posted and studying alot on my own at the local bookstore and on the internet, lucky for me their are alot of people "such as Norm" that provide an extensive amount of knowledge for people like me to learn from...as far as electrical troubleshooting I have no problems...as far as the refrigerant side I have came a long way in a short time and feel sure I have a long way to go, luckily I have a boss that gave me a chance and he has told me more than once that i have more than fulfilled his expectations...I am trying to learn all i can so this is why i asked the question about the cert.'s...i would love to take my knowledge to the next step by attending some form of college courses in HVAC specific but with a wife-3 children-averaging 55-62 hours a week"we only have 2 service guys"-and the nearest college being an hour away I feel I'm doing the best that I can...so you asked for more info on me and there you have it...thx for the replys

[NormChris]

Originally posted by grasshopper
In some areas voluntary certifications do not mean much. In many cities around here inspectors and customers have not heard of or really care about NATE or RSES etc... they want to know about comp cards and licensing. Do you have a journeyman's card? Do you have a contractor's license? These are more important to them. Every area is different, you need to check yours. Anyone can take a NATE test who pays the fee. Here you must "qualify" to even sit for a license test for some cities. Often they will require something like a 2 yr degree and 5 verifiable yrs experiance as a journeyman, or 10 yrs and a master license holder to stand up for you in order to even take the master license test. You get the idea. Check out your area. Although I would normally expect anyone called "serviceguy" to know some of this. What kind of "serviceguy" are you right now? Do you know or do HVAC? Are you an appliance tech? Please give us more info.

Now that all the major manufacturers are behind NATE this is changing fast. It is not necessary for the consumer to know about NATE although that does help. The manufacturers are really pushing NATE certifications in order for the dealers and distributors to continue to do business with them. The real incentive for the contractors are those from the manufacturers.

[grasshopper]

Originally posted by NormChris

Originally posted by grasshopper
In some areas voluntary certifications do not mean much. In many cities around here inspectors and customers have not heard of or really care about NATE or RSES etc... they want to know about comp cards and licensing. Do you have a journeyman's card? Do you have a contractor's license? These are more important to them. Every area is different, you need to check yours. Anyone can take a NATE test who pays the fee. Here you must "qualify" to even sit for a license test for some cities. Often they will require something like a 2 yr degree and 5 verifiable yrs experiance as a journeyman, or 10 yrs and a master license holder to stand up for you in order to even take the master license test. You get the idea. Check out your area. Although I would normally expect anyone called "serviceguy" to know some of this. What kind of "serviceguy" are you right now? Do you know or do HVAC? Are you an appliance tech? Please give us more info.


Now that all the major manufacturers are behind NATE this is changing fast. It is not necessary for the consumer to know about NATE although that does help. The manufacturers are really pushing NATE certifications in order for the dealers and distributors to continue to do business with them. The real incentive for the contractors are those from the manufacturers.




I can see that and how it can be good in many areas. It just seems stupid here since they have comp cards and licensing already in place. I know that the manufacterurs have been "encouraging" this with the more rural and suburban non-union and unlicensed shops, but they have been really leaving the older licensed companies and union shops in the bigger cities alone about it. Maybe since they have already spent alot of money on the comp cards and licensing. I believe the manufacterurs just want to know that the people putting in the systems and working on them are trained and not hacks or idiots for warranty reasons.

[grasshopper]

Originally posted by serviceguy
i am a service technician in a very small community in South Carolina with an authorized Trane dealer...in this small area not much is known "to my knowledge" about the different type certifications out there...i got into the HVAC field due to my extensive computer and electrical background...i have never been to any school or seminar on HVAC specific, however I am a fast learner and have learned much more than i did know from just reading about what you guys have posted and studying alot on my own at the local bookstore and on the internet, lucky for me their are alot of people "such as Norm" that provide an extensive amount of knowledge for people like me to learn from...as far as electrical troubleshooting I have no problems...as far as the refrigerant side I have came a long way in a short time and feel sure I have a long way to go, luckily I have a boss that gave me a chance and he has told me more than once that i have more than fulfilled his expectations...I am trying to learn all i can so this is why i asked the question about the cert.'s...i would love to take my knowledge to the next step by attending some form of college courses in HVAC specific but with a wife-3 children-averaging 55-62 hours a week"we only have 2 service guys"-and the nearest college being an hour away I feel I'm doing the best that I can...so you asked for more info on me and there you have it...thx for the replys

I do not know how you can be a service tech without knowing refrigeration and being EPA certified/licensed. Do you have your EPA license? Do you work on the refrigerant side of the units? Do you know how to recover and charge refrigerant and pull vacuums, etc? Do you know how to braze weld and pipe fit? Working on things you do not understand can be dangerous. You sound like you have a good electrical background to move into this field but need some classes fast. Basic refrigeration for starters.

[NormChris]

Originally posted by grasshopper

Originally posted by NormChris

Originally posted by grasshopper
In some areas voluntary certifications do not mean much. In many cities around here inspectors and customers have not heard of or really care about NATE or RSES etc... they want to know about comp cards and licensing. Do you have a journeyman's card? Do you have a contractor's license? These are more important to them. Every area is different, you need to check yours. Anyone can take a NATE test who pays the fee. Here you must "qualify" to even sit for a license test for some cities. Often they will require something like a 2 yr degree and 5 verifiable yrs experiance as a journeyman, or 10 yrs and a master license holder to stand up for you in order to even take the master license test. You get the idea. Check out your area. Although I would normally expect anyone called "serviceguy" to know some of this. What kind of "serviceguy" are you right now? Do you know or do HVAC? Are you an appliance tech? Please give us more info.


Grasshopper, you are right. It has a great deal to do with warranties.


Now that all the major manufacturers are behind NATE this is changing fast. It is not necessary for the consumer to know about NATE although that does help. The manufacturers are really pushing NATE certifications in order for the dealers and distributors to continue to do business with them. The real incentive for the contractors are those from the manufacturers.




I can see that and how it can be good in many areas. It just seems stupid here since they have comp cards and licensing already in place. I know that the manufacterurs have been "encouraging" this with the more rural and suburban non-union and unlicensed shops, but they have been really leaving the older licensed companies and union shops in the bigger cities alone about it. Maybe since they have already spent alot of money on the comp cards and licensing. I believe the manufacterurs just want to know that the people putting in the systems and working on them are trained and not hacks or idiots for warranty reasons.

[grasshopper]

Norm are you having trouble sleeping too?

[serviceguy]

yes i am epa certified "universal"...yes i know how to correctly charge-pull vacuum-and recover...yes i know how to weld and fit pipe...yes i know and understand basic refrigeration...i never said i didnt know any of these things...none of these were my questions though, i was just unaware of the different type certifications out there so i asked...do not assume just because i asked a certification question that i don not know anything because i may surprise u on what i do know

[Edited by serviceguy on 09-13-2004 at 02:23 PM]

[grasshopper]

Originally posted by serviceguy
yes i am epa certified "universal"...yes i know how to correctly charge-pull vacuum-and recover...yes i know how to weld and fit pipe...yes i know and understand basic refrigeration...i never said i didnt know any of these things...none of these were my questions though, i was just unaware of the different type certifications out there so i asked...do not assume just because i asked a certification question that i don not know anything because i may surprise u on what i do know

[Edited by serviceguy on 09-13-2004 at 02:23 PM]

"...none of these were my questions though,"

You came on here and asked a very vague and general question. I did not assume anything. I asked, because like you said above.... you did not tell us anything about your EPA status or refer knowledge at all. We had no way of knowing which certification or license you were asking about. You indicated that you had an electrical background and then said nothing more, and so I asked if you had an EPA and AC/refrigerant knowledge to point you in that direction for a start if you did not. If you have no licensing structure in your area then the ICE and NATE tests are probably the way to go for you.


"...do not assume just because i asked a certification question that i don not know anything because i may surprise u on what i do know"

serviceguy- you are a self made tech to an extent and I can truely appreciate that. Your comming here shows a willingness and desire to learn more and grow. I never thought you didn't know anything. I just did not know how much you do know. I am sure you could surprise me.

Please take this free advice as a chance to improve your "online intellectual image" and gain the "appearance on intelligence" if nothing more. Represent yourself well if nothing else.

1)use I instead of i
2)use you instead of u
3)use sentence structure in your writing
4)begin sentences with a capital letter
5)end your sentences with punctuation
6)single space after a comma and double space after a period

Do you realize that in your entire post above you did not use one capital letter or complete even one sentence? You are most likely a very smart guy but writing like this gives a less then positive first impression. Is that the foot you really want to put forward?

[NormChris]

Gee Grasshopper, do you want to co-author my next book with me? :)

[serviceguy]

i type the way i type because during my 2 yr degree at the High Tech Insitute of Atlanta "in which my final average was 98%" http://www.hightechinstitute.edu/?referrer=overture&keys=high_tech_school
they taught us computer shorthand therefore this is what i use
ur comments/questions were very strong in an assumption that i knew very little
"I do not know how you can be a service tech without knowing refrigeration and being EPA certified/licensed. Do you have your EPA license? Do you work on the refrigerant side of the units? Do you know how to recover and charge refrigerant and pull vacuums, etc? Do you know how to braze weld and pipe fit? Working on things you do not understand can be dangerous. You sound like you have a good electrical background to move into this field but need some classes fast. Basic refrigeration for starters."

so therefore u got my reply