NATE, A Coalition of Partners
NATE is a coalition of many partners:

• Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA);
• Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI);
• American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE);
• Building Performance Institute (BPI);
• Eastern Heating & Cooling Council (EHCC);
• Edison Electric Institute (EEI);
• Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI);
• Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association (GAMA);
• Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI);
• Hydronics Industry Alliance (HIA);
• National Energy Management Institute (NEMI, an organization representing Sheet Metal Contractors and Sheet Metal Workers);
• Plumbing-Heating-Cooling-Contractors--National Association (PHCC--NA);
• Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES);
• Service Roundtable;
• Skills USA;
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); and
• the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

And now NATE has been approved by the Department of Veteran's Affairs to provide certification tests to veterans and other eligible persons as indicated--and the tests can be reimbursed for veterans under the Montgomery GI Bill.

Veterans and Certification Tests
Having certification opens doors for you, allowing you to obtain a job or advance in your chosen profession. The US Army awards promotion points for servicemen earning NATE certification--and certification benefits don't end when you leave the service.

To become NATE certified, you must pass both a CORE and a SPECIALTY test. For more details, refer to the Certification section, or the Candidates, Training and Recertification section of the Forms & Data page. Certification last five years, and to renew certification, a candidate must recertify by one of three means

• testing (specialty tests only), or
• showing he/she has taken 60 hours of appropriate continuing education courses that directly apply to each certification the technician wishes to renew, or
• by a combination of training and testing, first submitting 30+ hours of continuing education and having that approved so he/she can take a special short version recertification test.

Veterans can receive up to $2000 per test but not more than the actual cost of the test. You can receive benefits to retake a test you failed. The number of tests u\you can take is unlimited, except that you can't receive benefits to retake a test you passed.

Eligible personnel include those who qualify for:

1. the Montgomery G.I. Bill or Chapter 30 (but not the Montgomery G.I. Bill for reservists);
2. those who qualify for VEAP (also called Chapter 32)
3. those who qualify for Dependents Educational Assistance (also called DEA or Chapter 35).

Veterans generally have 10 years after their discharge from active duty to use their benefits. If you want to know about other programs under which you might be eligible, check out those programs on www.gibill.va.gov. The map shown there shows you which office handles your benefits.

How Do I Apply For Veteran's Benefits?
To receive Veteran's Benefits, you have to apply using Form 22-1990. When you apply, you will need to furnish a copy of your discharge papers, DD 214.

You can get information by calling 1-888-GIBILL1 or going to the website www.gibill.va.gov and downloading Form 22-1990 from www.vba.va.gov/pubs/educationforms.htm.

Once you apply using 22-1990 and have been approved as eligible, you will be notified. Then you can sign up for benefits and apply for reimbursement once you have taken the NATE test.

There are four regional offices for veterans.

Eastern Region
VA Regional Office, PO Box 4616, Buffalo, NY 14240-4616
This office serves: CT, DE, DC, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT, VA, WV and foreign schools.

Central Region
VA Regional Office, PO Box 66830, St Louis, MO 63166-6830.
This office serves: CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, ND, SD, WI, and WY.

Western Region
VA Regional Office, PO Box 89888, Muskogee, OK 74402-888.
This office serves AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, NM, NV, OK, OR, TX, UT, WA, and Pacific Islands.

Southern Region
VA Regional Office, PO Box 100022, Decatur, GA 30031-7022.
This office serves AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, PR, SC, TN, and US Virgin Islands.

Send a copy of your test results to the VA office that handles your education benefits. Attach a note with the following information:

1. Your request for reimbursement
2. Your name and SSAN (Social Security Number)
3. The name of the test you took and the date you took it
4. the name and address of the organization issuing the certificate (NATE, 4100 N. Fairfax, Suite 210, Arlington, VA 22203 Tel 703 600-0359).
5. Cost of the actual test that you paid (NOTE: Registration fees, preparation guides, processing fees etc... will not be reimbursed.)
6. and the following statement: "I authorize release of my test information to VA."

NOTE: If you are a veteran on active duty, you need VA Form 22-1990 (available online at www.gibill.va.gov); if your are an eligible child or spouse, you need VA Form 22-5490. You can call 1-888-442-4551 to request the form. (For the hearing impaired, call 1-800-829-4833.) Send all the information to the regional office that processes your claim. The address is on the form.

One Test--Veteran's Resources
Now there is one test of excellence in the HVAC/R industry. And one place to get it--North American Technician Excellence, Inc.! NATE and the entire industry joined forces to support a single, unified, nationwide standard of HVAC/R technician excellence. The industry expertise is all brought together in the NATE exams for residential, light commercial and commercial HVAC/R installation and service. All partner association have input and are invited to sit on the technical committee.

Veteran's have unique skills they can bring to the civilian workplace, and few skills transfer as clearly as those in heating and air conditioning. Veterans can access UMET (Use your Military Experience and Training) at www.umet-vets.dol.gov to see what civilian occupations they relate to. Those who are interested in heating or air conditioning should know about North American Technician Excellence (NATE). NATE certification is recognized coast to coast as the badge of the knowledgeable technician. Many technicians can say they know HVAC/R--but NATE-certified technicians can prove it!

Testing Organizations and Proctors
To get involved with NATE testing, organizations need to fill out an application to become a testing organization, and then another to assign someone as a proctor. After both have been completed and submitted, NATE will approve them--and then the testing organization and proctor can order and schedule NATE certification tests.

Any NATE partner association or chapter of a partner association can become a testing organization (TO) to administer the NATE test. Military personnel can set up a tests session through DANTES which is found on every military base worldwide. You can download materials you need by clicking on the page menu--contractors can even download a brochure which they can customize to publicize the date of an upcoming NATE test. To customize the brochure, once you download it to a file, open the file and then click on File to get a drop-down menu, and edit to make changes or take it to your printer.

Association partners and their composite chapters that wish to participate need to fill out the TO application and fax (703-527-2316) or email it back to NATE (ldominguez@natex.org). Once the applications are approved (a process that usually takes less than 4 weeks), the TO can then schedule a test. Testing Organizations need to send in a test scheduling form so NATE knows and can provide tests. Usually it takes a minimum of two weeks for tests to be pulled, mailed an received; therefore, no test should be scheduled less than 14 days from the time NATE receives the scheduling forms. If a testing organization has a test occurring in less than ten working days (two weeks), they will be charged a special expediting fee plus a special overnight fee for overnight delivery.

When forms are received by NATE, the TO is given a unique TO ID number, and the test session forms are forwarded to the test administration facility who then identifies what tests are needed for the session and sends them to the TO.

The Proctor
All NATE tests need a proctor. Proctors work through a testing organization and administer the test. (See Proctors page)

Proctors need to complete an application, and after approval, fill out NATE paperwork so they can receive the testing material. A proctor is any individual who takes responsibility as the primary point of information for the testing organization. Proctors handle test oversight at the testing facility, are responsible for all test security, and are responsible for returning test tests with twenty-four hours of completion of the test session by a means of shipment which can be tracked.

NATE and NATE's test administrator, VGI, need a minimum of ten working days notice (not counting weekends, Saturday or Sunday) to process a test session request and have the tests sent to the proctor. If less than ten working days lead time is given, the TO is charged a special handling and overnight shipment fee. Proctor information can be downloaded from the menu on the right.

The NATE  exams are an industry approved test of knowledge meaningful to HVAC/R technicians who install or service heating or cooling systems. The exams are designed to test what 80% of technicians have an 80% chance of encountering at least once in a given year. It is not an easy certification test, but nothing worth earning is. All the bits of knowledge which can be used for any NATE exam are contained in the KATEs for that Specialty or Core. Study and review using the KATEs before taking an exam. Candidates who follow a course of study or take a refresher/review course do much better than those who do not.