North American Technician Excellence (NATE) is a non-profit certification organization for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning industry. Established in 1997, NATE certification recognizes professional HVACR technicians. Developed by a committee of industry experts nationwide, NATE certification tests represent real-world working knowledge of Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVACR) systems on topics pertinent to contractors, educators, manufacturers and utilities alike.
There are three levels of NATE credentialing:
READY TO WORK Certificate: For entry-level technicians with no work experience, this is a Certificate, not a certification, and is used by employers to determine new to the industry worker knowledge and skills.
HVAC SUPPORT TECHNICIAN Certificate: This is a Certificate, not a certification, for early career technicians in the HVAC industry. The exam is designed for technicians who have 6 months to 1 year of experience.
NATE Certified: NATE certification requires two or more years of experience and passing both the CORE competency and a SPECIALTY exam. Technicians can earn installation, service, or senior certification in one of several specialty fields.
How to Maintain Your Certification
Once certified, maintaining NATE certification requires ongoing relevant industry training of at least sixteen Continuing Education Hours (CEHs) every 2 years.
|
Renewal Criteria: Technicians recertify in two ways:
OR 2) By re-taking the examination. |
Recertification Fee Payment is made directly to NATE. If submitting continuing education hours (CEHs) to recertify, a payment of $25 for the first specialty, plus $5 for each different specialty is required. For example:
|
|
NATE Specialty Certification Categories:
|
NATE approved NTT Courses for CEHs:
|