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).

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

Association partners’ greatest strength is in their ability to offer their members training, and training has been shown to be the “heart” of knowledge. Technicians with little or no training score very poorly compared to those who have had even a three hour refresher course, perhaps as much as 8 points higher.

Moreover, the NATE test acts as validation for training the association provides by giving independent third-party results (in the form of their members passing) that the training was well-targeted to the job.

Testing Organizations and Proctors
Any NATE partner association or chapter of a partner association can become a testing organization (TO) to administer the NATE test. You can download materials (Information/Forms/Data) -- you can even download a brochure which you 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 take it to your printer or edit to make changes.

Association partners and their composite chapters that wish to participate need to fill out the TO application and fax or email it back to NATE (ldominguez@natex.org). Once the applications are approved (a process that usually takes less than 2 weeks), the TO can then schedule a test. Testing Organizations need to send NATE 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
Every NATE test needs a proctor, and the proctors only give the test through  testing organizations. Proctors need to apply, and 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  HVAC/R 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 once yearly. 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.

"You Can't Match the Patch."

A well-trained technician is a good technician--few argue with that statement, because technician performance backs it up.

A concerned contractor asked, "What if I train them and they go to work for someone else?"

A trainer replied, "What if you don't, and they stay?"