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My company paid for the cert, locally "ihaci" offers free nate recognized classes and review courses. I got a 10% pay raise to be certified, and now I will start training with so cal Edison under their energy optimization program. So yea for me the cert was a pretty big deal. Billy your right, what a buncha crooks!
Originally Posted by Aaronn I just recently became nate certified. From what I read nate was formed bye the manufacturer to decrease the amount of warranty components they were sending out. Instead of losing money they would educate the people installing their equipment and hopefully reduce warranties, and increase customer satisfaction. My question is why would you need to retest? If you take some classes you will not need to retest. As long as you earn 60 continuing education hours in EACH SPECIALTY you have, and before the expiration date, you don't have to retest. So, that means getting 60 for air conditioning and 60 for heating as a basic example. They say some credits overlap, but that's not easy to determine when you find training. Some credits are free, some at low cost and some at high cost and they come in one and two hour increments. That means from now until the 5 years are up, daily you are looking for credits. All that will cost you an unknown amount, not counting gas, lodging and time off unless your company pays for it. It gets worse at finding credits with specialties like oil and hydronics. You may not find what you need locally either. By attending the annual educational conference of RSES, you earn 16 CEH's. NCI classes and recertification classes offer 8 CEH's. Others may as well. You still have to prove the 60 credits and pay the fee to NATE per the number of specialties you have, because some classes will not be preapproved by NATE, meaning they don't have the 8 digit number and signin sheet submitted by the trainer. Send in the copies of certificates you get and hope they are acceptable and before the expiration date.
I think NATE gives the customer a little extra confidence in the technician, whether it is justified or not doesn't really matter. People in the industry can argue among themselves all day long if NATE has merit or not, but if a customer has a choice between 2 companies and all other things being equal the one company has NATE certified techs and the other doesn't that gives them an advantage, and IMO that is where the value in NATE is.
Originally Posted by Aaronn I just recently became nate certified. From what I read nate was formed bye the manufacturer to decrease the amount of warranty components they were sending out. Instead of losing money they would educate the people installing their equipment and hopefully reduce warranties, and increase customer satisfaction. My question is why would you need to retest? If you take some classes you will not need to retest. Actually I support NATE in what they are trying to do. I don't get enough classes to qualify for not retesting. The internet is my class but it don't qualify
Originally Posted by Aaronn My question is why would you need to retest? If you take some classes you will not need to retest. As long as there is still a buck floating around in your wallet someone is going to try to extract it. After a while it just gets sickening.
I just recently became nate certified. From what I read nate was formed bye the manufacturer to decrease the amount of warranty components they were sending out. Instead of losing money they would educate the people installing their equipment and hopefully reduce warranties, and increase customer satisfaction. My question is why would you need to retest? If you take some classes you will not need to retest.
Not A True Example haven't seen the nate police since mine lapsed (the company had a sh!t fit and paid for me to recertify) it's a scam- pushed by manufacturers, there is no policing of nate certified individuals that keep doing the same stupid stuff. ever had a customer inquire whether you were nate certified or not?
Originally Posted by passintyme We have the star certification here in Ohio which is the nate equivalent ... I held it for 10 years.. it didn't do anything for me.. now instead of an on line recertificationit is a proctored exam in Columbus.. I am letting it lapse .. no point in maintaining it.. I have a city card, state license in HVAC and backflows. Until there is a benifit for it ..... He gone... I've decided not to renew my nate certifications for the same reason. From a consumers point of view, documented credentials are important, but no one has ever asked me for any. Unless that happens I don't need it. My company is licensed as an HVAC contractor by the state, and I passed the EPA certification to legally handle refrigerants. This is all I need to go to someones home or business with the assumption that I'm a well trained, licensed and certified, Professional HVAC Technician. After i'm there, all I need is to gain the customers trust. I don't need anything else so why should I bother? I got better things to do with my time and money.
my bad I should have broken into three sections those who aren't mechanical, those with no confidence, and those that are over confident and become parts changers.
Atleast I am not alone in thinking that part of nate is useless. I went to school and it gave me a great BASE to start my career. I have seen plenty on ppl with an education and they just cant seem to put in practice. Some are just not mechanical and other half does not have confidence in thier decision making abilities. I do see the companies stand point of have "certified something or other" for advertising. I asked my boss if I get a raise for passing the test and he just looked at me. Lol Then said if I fail I pay for the test and the re-test.
We have the star certification here in Ohio which is the nate equivalent ... I held it for 10 years.. it didn't do anything for me.. now instead of an on line recertificationit is a proctored exam in Columbus.. I am letting it lapse .. no point in maintaining it.. I have a city card, state license in HVAC and backflows. Until there is a benifit for it ..... He gone...
For the most part I agree with johnqpublic. Some people are not mechanical. But if you are good at what you do then further education can only make you better. You need to have good reading and math skills. But they can be brushed up pretty quickly if you are serious about learning.
i never did the nate thing. I have a state warm air license. If that isnt good enuff to bad. After 20 years in this business im to old to care about school. I realize its a good thing but ive seen many bookworms that dont know a dam thing about HVAC and have all these patches down there arm. Looks good for the customer but doesn't mean a dam thing. There are no book tests or classes that can replace experience. Dont get me wrong, i have seen 20 year techs that dont know jack but they are usually the ones that jump from job to job after the boss figures out there worthless but again the patches dont tell you that either.
To NATE or not to NATE Our company is starting to get into the NATE mode again I was curious what you guys think about it. After going though the core it reminds me of school all over again.
To NATE or not to NATE
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