Acca Supports Exams on Industry Competency
Contractor Magazine - 10/03/2000

ARLINGTON, VA. -- Air Conditioning Contractors of America has joined Refrigeration Service Engineering Society; Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association; Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors--National Association; North american Heating, Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning Wholesalers; and the Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute in supporting the Industry Competency Exam program.

The ICE exams are offered at vocational-technical training schools across the nation as a measurement of industry-agreed standards of basic competency. More than 20,000 students and technicians have demonstrated their entry-level knowledge by passing the tests.

"Students who take ICE find it is a good benchmark of their capabilities," said Leslie Sandler, ARI director/education and training. "Each student receives an individual, confidential score report showing strengths and weaknesses. It also is an indication to an employer of a person's entry-level capability. Each training program receives an aggregate summary score report of how the entire group did as a whole. Schools can use these results to examine curriculum strengths and weaknesses. Passing the exam gives a student added confidence and builds self-esteem."

ICE consists of three separate exams: Residential Air Conditioning and Heating, Light Commercial Air Conditioning and Heating and Commercial Refrigeration. Each consists of 100 multiple-choice questions written by experts from the industry. Students may take one or all of the examinations.

Annually, representatives from various HVACR associations statistically validate all test questions and develop new ones to ensure the appropriate technical information is included.

ACCA has 68 state and local chapters across the country and a network of more than 9,000 contractors nationwide.

More than 300 schools across the country use ICE as their program competency examination. Since ICE measures entry-level competency, it serves as a pretest to the North American Technician Excellence examination, which is likewise endorsed by the same associations.

For more information or to subscribe please visit http://www.contractormag.com.

HVACWEBTECH