Throughout 2011, North American Technician Excellence (NATE) is taking the necessary steps towards becoming an ANSI-accredited organization. ANSI, which stands for the American National Standards Institute, has served as the coordinator of the U.S. private sector, voluntary standardization system for more than 90 years.
ANSI provides a neutral forum for the development of policies on standards issues and serves as a watchdog for standards development and conformity assessment. The ANSI Federation also accredits qualified organizations, whose standards development process meets all of ANSI’s requirements, to develop American National Standards. Through these efforts, ANSI aims to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, while helping to assure the safety and health of consumers and the protection of the environment.
Achieving ANSI accreditation is a lengthy process that requires and extensive amount of time spent reviewing all practices and processes currently in place. ANSI’s first independent audit of NATE, which was held in April 2011, provided information and insight that is already strengthening the NATE process today. Based on this initial audit, NATE is implementing changes to ensure that all testing organizations throughout the country are following NATE protocol and upholding the integrity of certification, which ultimately protects technicians and results in a consistent, quality testing experience.
“There are countless reasons why NATE is already the leading certification body for the HVAC/R industry, and achieving ANSI accreditation will further solidify this position,” stated Peter Schwartz, NATE President and CEO. “ANSI accreditation is designed to increase the integrity, confidence and mobility of certified professionals, which will add an even greater value and esteem to NATE certification. This process will ultimately verify that NATE meets the highest professional standards of examination development, ensuring unrivaled program excellence in the HVAC/R certification arena.”
As NATE continues down the path towards achieving this prestigious accreditation, additional changes and improvements are expected to be implemented to further strengthen the organization’s practices.