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National Skill Standards for Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Technicians

What Are Skill Standards?

What must technicians know and do to be productive? What knowledge do they possess? What technical skills are required and where and when are they utilized? These are the questions that form the basis of this study. For this inquiry, skill standards are defined as the body of knowledge, the technical skills, and the workplace behaviors required of productive, successful technicians. The skill standards were divided into three separate but interdependent areas: Core Knowledge, Occupational Skills, and Workplace Behaviors. Occupational Skills were further subdivided into Core Skills and Occupation-Specific Skills.

Using Skill Standards

Students, technicians, educators, trainers, industry and management are the primary stakeholders in the heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration industry. How they use skill standards, however, will vary according to their individual needs.

Individuals

Skill standards help individuals develop a clear idea of what is expected of technicians. For students considering a career in the heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration field, the skill standards will assist in matching their personal knowledge, abilities, and interests to the knowledge and skills required of successful technicians.

Skill standards will help technicians identify the skills and knowledges required for continued success and assess their individual needs for additional training.

Training Providers

Skill standards establish a clear set of performance expectations that help both educators and trainers. They assist in the design, development, and delivery of student recruiting strategies, appropriate curriculum, and training consistent with industry needs.

In the future, training providers can expect skill standards to be the basis for development of national credentialing systems for technicians and programs.

Industry and Management

Skill standards provide a basis for management in making decisions on recruiting, hiring, training, assigning, compensating and promoting technicians.

Ordering Information

The Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Technician National Skill Standards publication is available in electronic and printed form.  The electronic format is an Adobe Acrobat® PDF file.

Member Price: $25.00
Non-Member Price: 45.00
(prices include shipping and handling)

VTECS Order Form and Information