Technician for heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology
Technician for heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology is a profession. The international job title is State Certified Engineer HVAC ("Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning").
Technicians for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technology plan, calculate and design supply systems in the areas of heating, plumbing, ventilation and air conditioning. They can also be used in customer service and sales.
education
In order to be allowed to use the protected job title of state-certified technician for heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology , one must have completed a corresponding further education course at a technical school and passed the state examination.
entry requirements
In order to be able to take part in the further education course, one must have successfully completed vocational training as a technical draftsman specializing in sanitary, heating and air conditioning technology and have one year of professional experience, which does not count towards the time of the vocational training. Trained ventilation and heating engineers , gas, water and sanitary fitters or system mechanics for sanitary, heating and air conditioning technology who have a journeyman's qualification and also have one year of professional experience (journeyman's year) are also entitled to access . As an alternative to the apprenticeship qualification, proof of at least seven years of professional activity as a helper in one of the professions mentioned can be sufficient as access authorization.
Duration and funding
The course comprises a total of at least 2,400 teaching hours and can be completed full-time (four semesters), part-time (seven to eight semesters) or as a distance learning course with flexible time management. Most technical schools are vocational colleges or technical colleges, but there are also private organizations that offer this continuing education course. The actual course is usually free of charge at state schools, but the full-time form does not have an income. The Advancement Training Promotion Act supports the budding technician by assuming the costs or by means of a low-interest loan.
Training content
In addition to the subject-related training content, many interdisciplinary teaching contents are also conveyed, which are important in order to be able to keep up with engineers on a professional level, in addition to purely technical skills.
Subject-related subjects include a .:
- Heating technology
- Air conditioning
- Heating load and cooling load calculation
- Energy Technology
- Automation technology
- Building physics
- Building law
- Project planning and control
- CAD (e.g. AutoCAD )
Furthermore, the following is taught in the interdisciplinary area:
- Development process
- Construction technology
- English
- communication
- Sociology / Politics
Project work
A project work must be created as part of the course. This can either be a scientific work on the level of a diploma thesis or a complete planning of the building services for a given building, for which all necessary calculations must be made. In contrast to diploma theses at universities and technical colleges, these project work can be done in partner or team work. The topic and evaluation of the project work are listed on the diploma.
State examination
The continuing education course ends with a state examination, which is made up of three examinations that must cover various areas of focus from the specialist training. Several departments can be combined in one thesis, e.g. B. Air conditioning with control technology. To pass the state examination, the overall grade point average from all three state examinations must be 4.0 or better, whereby only one performance may be assessed as “poor”. The preliminary grades from the previous semesters are no longer counted or included in the examination result. They are only decisive for admission to the examination. The state examination is assessed as an individual achievement.
Working life
After completing their training, state-certified technicians for heating, ventilation and air conditioning can be employed in a wide variety of ways. You can find them in executing companies as specialists and executives, as well as in industry and in consulting engineering offices as planners and site managers. Here they carry out technical calculations, create implementation and inspection plans and supervise the work on the construction site. They can also be used in the sale of technical products that require explanation, as their theoretical expertise combined with their practical experience enables them to explain the technical details well, but also to recognize and convey the advantages and disadvantages of their own product in practice. Although the qualification of a state-certified technician is somewhere between master and engineer, technicians in this field are usually equivalent to a Dipl.-Ing. (FH) viewed and classified. This is due to the fact that, due to their training, engineers have more in-depth specialist knowledge than technicians, but only need and use this to a small extent in practice. Technicians can often compensate for their “knowledge gaps” with their practical experience and after several years of professional practice (as a technician, author's note), they can work just as a qualified engineer can. There is also the fact that there is currently a blatant shortage of skilled workers in the field of supply technology, so that many positions that are actually intended for an engineer are filled with a technician.
Corporate governance
Since the technician's qualification is higher than the master craftsman , state-certified technicians generally have the option of being registered in the trade register and of running a corresponding specialist company. It can happen, however, that gas and water suppliers do not recognize the qualification, as a corresponding qualification in the sanitary area is required for work on gas and drinking water pipes. A "heating technician" then has to pass a corresponding examination of the relevant skills at the supplier in order to gain recognition as a specialist (and thus the authorization to work on these systems).
Training opportunities
A technician in this area can, for example, train to become an energy consultant , certified technical business economist or building expert.
It is also possible for a technician to qualify as a European engineer (EUR ING) after at least 15 years of engineering activity (special case regulation). This private title is awarded by FEANI in Brussels and is a registered trademark in all FEANI countries. The contact point for German technicians is the DVT in Berlin.