BRADFORD, VT - ARC Mechanical Contractors Inc. has announced the recent NATE certification of seven field staff. In addition, ARC’s service and general managers added certifications to their credentials, while eight staff members successfully passed the NATE Installation Core exam, which is the first hurdle to achieving a NATE certification.

Those staff members having achieved NATE Certification include: Daniel Bagley, of Claremont, NH, who has achieved a Service and Installation certification in Hydronics – Gas Fired; Travis Chamberlain, of Claremont, NH, has achieved a Service and Installation certification in Hydronics – Gas Fired; Rich Cutone, of Groton, VT, has achieved a Service and Installation certification in Air-to-Air Heat Pumps, which includes Air Conditioning; Stephen Ingalls of Thetford, VT, has achieved a Service and Installation certification in Air-to-Air Heat Pumps, which includes Air Conditioning; Bradley Roy of Woodsville, NH, has achieved a Service and Installation certification in Air-to-Air Heat Pumps, which includes Air Conditioning (Roy also holds a gas license); Harry Savage of Bath, NH, has achieved a Service and Installation certification in Hydronics – Gas Fired; and Raymond Welch of Wentworth, NH, has achieved a Service and Installation certification in Hydronics – Gas Fired.

ARC’s service manager, Jody Perkins, a Plainfield, NH, resident has successfully achieved another NATE certification. Perkins, who already holds NATE certifications in Service and Installation of Hydronics – Gas and in Service and Installation - Light Commercial Refrigeration, has achieved his third NATE certification in the Service and Installation of Air-to-Air Heat Pumps, which also covers Air Conditioning. Perkins also holds a gas fitters license.
 
ARC’s general manager, Wayne Vanasse, a Corinth, VT, resident now holds four Service and Installation NATE certifications: one in of Air-to-Air Heat Pumps, which also covers Air Conditioning; one in Gas Furnaces, one in Hydronics – Gas Fired; and one in Refrigeration Commercial.
 
Among other duties, Vanasse manages ARC’s HVAC apprenticeship program with the states of Vermont and New Hampshire. ARC hires high school seniors from both Riverbend Technical Center (Bradford, VT) and the Hartford Area Career and Technology Center (White River Junction, VT) programs to provide them with actual HVAC and plumbing experience.  Vanasse is also a proctor for the NATE and CETP (Certified Employee Training Program) testing programs.

The following staff members have Passed NATE’s Installation Core Exam: Adam Cate, North Sutton, NH; Kip Gendron, Corinth, VT (also a licensed plumber and gas fitter); Robert Ingalls, Thetford, VT; Bruce Longley, North Pomfret, VT (a licensed plumber and gas fitter); Lee Parry, Cornish, NH (a licensed gas fitter); David Roy, White River Junction, VT a licensed plumber and gas fitter); Andy Tomlinson, Newbury, VT (a licensed gas fitter); and John Watkins, Whitefield, NH.
 
There is not a single NATE test -- there are 21 NATE tests. To earn NATE certification applicants must pass both a core and a specialty exam. The Core test covers the candidate’s general knowledge, construction knowledge and HVACR specific knowledge in the areas of safety/tools/soft skills, heat transfer/comfort, and electrical systems. Specialty exams cover the candidate’s knowledge of the installation, service maintenance and or repair of HVAC/R systems. The exams cover information that eight out of ten technicians have an 80 percent chance of encountering at least once in a 12-month period.