Arlington, Va. - North American Technician Excellence announced criteria changes to the Consumer Contractor Connection (C3), a contractor referral service, which will be launched in January 2009.

“We are raising the technician excellence bar with the C3 referral service to provide consumers and homeowners with a resource to help them find contractors in their area,” said Rex Boynton, president of NATE.

The Website will feature the value of NATE certification and how consumers can find NATE contractors.

All contractors who participate in the 25% category will need to have 50% of their technicians NATE-certified.

Additional information is available at www.natex.org.