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NATE Offers First-Ever Refrigeration Certifications
New Tests Meet Growing Demand
(January 1, 2008, Arlington, VA) — North American Technician Excellence (NATE)
has widened its testing and certification portfolio by offering new certifications in
commercial and light commercial refrigeration for the service segment. The installation
segment for refrigeration certification testing is expected to follow soon.
For those technicians seeking NATE certification in light commercial refrigeration,
the test will cover information related to fractional HP to 7.5 HP; while those needing
commercial certification will be tested on information related to 7.5 HP to 80 HP.
Pat Murphy, NATE’s Vice President of Certification, says the process of creating
a NATE certification protocol for commercial and light commercial refrigeration was three
years in the making. “Collaborating with the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute’s
(ARI) Commercial Refrigeration Manufacturer’s Division (CRMD), we created a test that
should be challenging to technicians and provide a comprehensive audit of their skills
and knowledge of refrigeration.”
Murphy says the new tests were developed using a process that follows the
Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. “It’s the testing industry’s gold
standard for test development, which helps ensure we’re creating tests that are impartial
and exact.”
ARI’s Manager of Education, Warren Lupson, serves as co-chair of NATE’s
technical committee, which worked on creating the new refrigeration tests. “We know
NATE-certified technicians have fewer call-backs and reduce warranty claims, which are
likely a reflection of their technical expertise,” says Lupson. “So, with this in mind, we
decided to raise the bar on these new exams to ensure today’s refrigeration technicians
have this proven level of knowledge that they need to succeed.”
NATE anticipates its new refrigeration certifications will help create a new level of
refrigeration proficiency in the industry, while it also recognizes much of the knowledge
already present among refrigeration technicians.
Rex Boynton, President of NATE, says, “We’re extremely pleased to broaden the
testing capabilities of NATE to meet the needs of the entire HVAC/R professional
community. We view these new refrigeration certifications as another way NATE brings
additional value to the industry by helping more technicians realize their true potential.”
To learn more about NATE’s new commercial and light commercial refrigeration
testing and certification, go to www.natex.org.
NATE, headquartered in Arlington, Va., was founded in 1997 and is the only
technician certification organization governed, owned, operated, developed and
supported by the HVAC/R industry.
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