North American Technician Excellence
Simply put, NATE certification makes good business sense. Aside from certifying advanced training and proficiency to those in the HVACR industry, NATE-certification delivers a strong sense of pride, professionalism and trust in those who wear our patch.
NATE offers two pathways to earn NATE Certification, as well as multiple specialty and senior certifications. To earn NATE Certification, technicians will choose between the Certified HVAC Professional (CHP-5) pathway or the traditional Core and Specialty exam pathway.
Technicians that choose the traditional NATE certification pathway will take two exams – the NATE Core exam and a Specialty exam. NATE offers multiple Specialty exams for technicians to choose from, and will earn an Installation, Service, or Senior certification specialization depending on the exam the completed.
With the CHP-5 pathway, technicians earn their NATE certification through a series of five exams, each on a different subject domain: HVAC Fundamentals, Electrical and Controls, Comfort and Airflow, Installation, and Service.
The NATE Senior Level Efficiency Analyst exam is recommended for certified technicians with five or more years of HVACR experience. This exam requires a technician to hold two NATE service specialty certifications, one in heating and one in a cooling.
NATE also offers the Ready-to-Work Certificate and the HVAC Support Technician Certification for technicians with less than two years of experience. These exams are designed to support technicians that have recently entered the HVAC field.
All NATE exams are based on Knowledge Areas of Technician Expertise (KATEs), statistically proven job task analysis from experts in the HVACR industry. KATEs represent a wide variety of perspectives on subject matter pertinent to contractors, technicians, distributors, educators, manufacturers, and utilities. KATEs outline all information tested in each exam, and should be used as reference material. Review the KATE for each certification desired on the Exams Offered page.
There are no educational or work experience requirements, but NATE strongly recommends that you have some formal training provided by an employer, a technical school or other educational institution before taking NATE exams. NATE recommends the following amount of experience for each exam:
To become NATE-certified, you must take the appropriate exam(s) to fulfill your certification requirements. Please refer to the Knowledge Areas of Technician Expertise (KATEs), to determine the requirements.
Once you pass your required certification exams, you will receive your official NATE certification credentials, which include: