NATE's 25th anniversary: a moment of celebration for stakeholders around the world!
By Michael Keating*
Continuous improvement and excellent customer service remain hallmarks of the leading certification program in the HVAC/R industry.
As North American Technician Excellence (NATE) celebrates its silver anniversary, its former president, Rex Boynton, who served at NATE from 1997 to 2010, says NATE's startup was spurred in part by concerned OEMs. "Equipment manufacturers were starting to see an increase in their warranty expenses. And part of what they concluded was that the systems that were returned to them under warranty didn't have any problems. They were not being installed properly and may not have been properly maintained. That has a direct impact on the bottom line of all these companies."
Boynton adds that a fateful meeting led to the creation of the premier certification program in the HVAC/R industry. "There was an informal meeting between the training directors of a couple of manufacturers and a training video producer who was well connected to the HVAC/R industry. The three of them were literally playing on a cocktail napkin, as the story goes, and found they had no way to validate their training programs."
So the trio, early on, sought to create an independent third-party organization, NATE, that would ultimately help manufacturers validate their training. "They were going to do that, of course, going through a vigorous process of developing knowledge standards, things that technicians, service and installation workers should know or needed to know to properly install and service those systems," Boynton explains. The belief was that this training validation would help correct some of the installation and service issues OEMs were experiencing.
NATE as a certification powerhouse came together because manufacturers, contractors, wholesalers, educators and others in the industry believed that technicians (and, by extension, the contractors who employ them) are really the face of the HVAC/R industry, says John M. Lanier, NATE's chief operating officer since 2013.
"Technicians are in everyone's homes and businesses all the time, so we wanted to make sure that this very important face of the industry seemed highly competent and confident, and that it would demonstrate the level of professionalism that consumers would expect," adds Lanier. Since its inception in 1997, NATE has certified more than 350,000 technicians.
Lanier explains that NATE started with a super solid foundation. "His leadership had a very strong focus on certification and the integrity of the exam development and delivery process, and that hasn't changed at all. What's changed a little bit is that we listen to the industry and hear how technicians want to learn and how they want to take exams. We also listen to contractors and better understand the challenges they face in finding time for their technicians to get training, whether it's initial training, continuing education, or the time it takes to take an exam."
NATE Technical Committee
The NATE Technical Committee is a part of NATE's strong foundation, says Bob Feathers, a longtime member of the Technical Committee. He also serves as a lead operator, HVAC Specialties TAC (Training-Accreditation-Consulting) and works as an independent contractor trainer. He explains that the committee has played a pivotal role in the development and growth of NATE.
One example: The Technical Committee has made many improvements to NATE's Technical Expertise Knowledge Areas (KATE). "The committee has worked to keep certification testing up-to-date with the new technology. The members of the Technical Committee contributed those ideas and then we were able to change or add old questions based on the new technology," explains Feathers.
Everyone has learned a lot on the Technical Committee, according to Feathers. He explains, "In the early years, if we worked, for example, on heat pumps as part of a certification test, and you were employed by a furnace manufacturer, you could learn something from a committee member whose specialty was heat pumps. Everyone had the opportunity to learn something that someone else knew at the Technical Committee meetings."
Another member of the NATE Technical Committee, Joel Owen, has been there since the beginning. "I have had the fortunate opportunity to have been associated with NATE from the days of the concept to this point of celebrating 25 years. What a trip!" Owen, who is Alabama Power's HVAC Training Center Manager, says that in creating NATE, a process was developed that would show HVAC/R customers, manufacturers, distributors and employers that the technician had the knowledge base to perform the service.
Owen adds that the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) and its ASE testing and certification program for automotive professionals served as a model for NATE's certification initiative for HVAC/R technicians. "The desire was for it to provide greater confidence in the technician's ability. I saw it as an opportunity to identify and promote excellence in these people," Owen explains.
Jamie Kitchen, Account Manager, Danfoss, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, has long contributed to NATE's success. "I have mainly been involved with the NATE Technical Committee, as I joined in 2007 when the original Technical Expertise Knowledge Areas (KATE) were being further updated and developed."
Kitchen says one of the biggest changes he's seen since engaging with NATE has been the increase in the amount of resources going into improving test questions. Work has been done to make the questions more applicable to the actual tasks that technicians will need to be able to complete.
The path NATE is on today is the right path with multi-level certifications, believes Christopher Mohalley, a member of the NATE Technical Committee and a 29-year veteran of the HVAC/R industry. Mohalley also serves as training manager at Regal Rexnord Climate Solutions.
"We continuously improve and update our certifications to keep up with evolving technology. Industry regulations related to efficiency and health will also shape the future of NATE," says Mohalley.
NATE's Relentless Efforts to Improve
Continuous improvement and excellent customer service are really what the NATE organization has been all about since its founding 25 years ago, Lanier says. "We listen to our key stakeholders and respond to what they need." He explains that in a strategic planning session several years ago, the NATE management team was trying to understand who the main customer was, because answers were everywhere.
"Were our customers the manufacturers who produce the equipment that links with us producing the certification exam that supports the installation and service of that equipment? Was it the wholesaler-distributor who many, many times gives our exams? Was it the technician who did the exam?
Lanier says the NATE team ultimately decided that NATE has two key customers: "They are the technician and the contractor, and we at NATE are trying to be as relevant and accessible to both groups as we can." Lanier highlights the key relationship between the two: "Those technicians want to learn and improve, and contractors have a vested interest in providing training, education and certification resources to those technicians."
The NATE COO also highlights the beneficial revisions NATE instituted in its recertification model. "Those changes made it easier for technicians to track and maintain their continuing education hours." Many modifications were made to NATE programs over the years that were based on input from contractors, technicians, manufacturers, the Technical Committee, training specialists, and other stakeholders.
Lanier says the NATE team is working to constantly evolve and improve their exams. One example it offers is the Certified HVAC Professional (CHP-5) certification pathway that is designed to combine a technician's training and certification efforts with their on-the-job learning.
The CHP-5 route demonstrates how training is evolving in the HVAC/R industry, says Doug Donovan, executive director of Interplay Learning, a NATE training partner. "NATE's introduction of the CHP-5 route to certification reflects a shift that is present in the industry due to a new generation of professionals who want greater simplicity in the way they train and become certified. At Interplay Learning, we are seeing a rapid increase in demand for ways to certify the real-world skills of HVAC/R professionals, and the CHP-5 certification pathway provides an excellent framework for doing exactly this." Donovan adds that CHP-5 promises the flexibility to evolve with the needs of a new generation of students and the needs of a changing HVAC/R career landscape.
NATE is partnering with Interplay Learning to create NATE Training Academy, a comprehensive online training program associated with the five new certified HVAC professional exams. NATE is excited about this expansion of training material, says John Lanier, NATE's chief operating officer.
Comprehensive online courses allow technicians to prepare for NATE certification at their own pace and from the comfort of their home. Gurminder Sidhu, Senior Director of Business Operations at NATE, explained the plans to launch the Training Academy. "The Training Academy will initially have courses paired with the five domain areas for a technician to prepare for the CHP-5 exams. The first course, HVAC/R Fundamentals, launches in January 2022, and all CHP-5 courses will be available in May 2022. In phase 2, we will combine training with our new low GWP refrigerant test."
Another major and recent improvement of NATE since inception 25 years ago: The introduction of Live Online Proctoring has made taking NATE exams more convenient and accessible for certification candidates everywhere.
Improving accessibility on the myNATE website was a major achievement for NATE over the past 25 years, according to Anthony Spagnoli, NATE's director of testing and education. He says, "The partnership with Scantron Assessments (formerly Castle Worldwide) to provide a better experience on the myNATE website was a major improvement."
The NATE series of study guides has also been updated. Guides help technicians learn the trade and prepare for NATE certification exams. "We worked very closely with our partners to develop study guides that were comprehensive, included lots of graphics, easy to understand, and easy to use and learn. The guides have been very well received by the industry. They fly off the shelves. We can't keep enough in inventory," Lanier explains. (Visit NATE's online store, https://store.natex.org, for ordering information.)
NATE strives to improve and update its programs
NATE wants to remain relevant, current and accessible to its stakeholders for the next 25 years. "It's about being accessible to the industry, to the contractors we serve and to the technicians. It's about ensuring that technicians, through the training and exams we provide, are trained and up-to-date in technology," concludes Lanier.
* Michael Keating is a contributor to NATE magazine.
