When the boiler in your Randallstown, Maryland home needs serviced, it’s important to hire a certified technician. Although there are numerous heater repair companies in the region, not all of them are capable of providing the superior workmanship that your home heating equipment deserves. Certified technicians receive their accreditation from The National Board of Boilers and Pressure Vessel Inspectors. More importantly, they work hard to prove their worth. With a rigorous, five-step application process, becoming a certified boiler technician doesn’t come easy. Read on to find out why it pays to hire the best professionals for the job.
Highly Specialized Skills
Most HVAC companies offer a vast range of heating services and spread their focus across all types of equipment. Their technicians are familiar with furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, and ductless mini-splits, but they don’t have advanced training on any specific equipment type. This means that when particularly complex repair issues arise, they’re often left scratching their heads.
Conversely, companies that have certified boiler technicians on their teams, and businesses that have received company-wide boiler certification, have a wealth of knowledge on boilers and extensive experience in installing, repairing, and maintaining these and other pressurized systems. It’s not just one of many things that they do. It’s something that they’ve proven themselves capable of doing expertly. They’re familiar with all of the needs and nuances of this increasingly less common heating equipment. They’re adept at fixing both brand-new boilers and boilers that are nearing the ends of their lifespans. Moreover, they’re fully compliant with all industry regulations and standards, and they’re up to date with the latest edition of the National Board Inspection Code (NBIC).
What Does It Take to Become a Certified Boiler Technician?
All licensed boiler technicians complete between 6,000 and 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and between 600 to 792 hours of in-class instruction. However, certified boiler technicians do even more. To qualify for certification from The National Board of Boilers and Pressure Vessel Inspectors (NBBI), applicants must:
- Continually maintain an inspection agreement with an authorized inspection agency
- Have a detailed, written quality system that aligns with the NBIC current edition
- Maintain a printed or electronic version of the NBIC
- Always have a copy of the code of instruction on-hand
- Submit to an on-site review of quality systems
By making these measures mandatory for certification, the NBBI ensures that both the quality of work performed and the outcomes provided by approved technicians are consistently stellar.
What Does It Mean to Have an Inspection Agreement?
The maintenance of an inspection agreement means that certified boilers will always perform your work up to code. Their workmanship, whether installing new boilers, repairing them, or maintaining them, is constantly subject to inspection — and not by dubious third parties. If you’ve had someone perform work on a major home appliance before, and had them fail to pull the necessary permits, then you know just how important certification is. You also understand how invaluable inspection agreements can be. Certified boiler technicians don’t skip steps. This means when you get ready to sell your home, your heating equipment will easily pass the lender’s home inspection.
Peace of Mind
When you hire companies to perform repairs in your home, you want complete peace of mind. Although looking for licensed and insured contractors is certainly doing your due diligence, the greatest level of assurance comes from certification. Certified technicians adhere to a higher standard of work. Moreover, they receive more training and have more training-related benefits as a result of their ongoing relationship with the NBBI. This connection ensures that they stay on the cutting-edge of pressurized home heating technologies and that they’re always poised to receive the latest and most in-depth instruction on new boiler systems, features, capabilities, and installation methods among other things.
Certified Technicians Pass Thorough Examinations
Those certified through the NBBI pass rigorous examinations. They’re recognized as having completed the prescribed amount of education and training for the industry, and they’ve documented adequate experience to perform all of the duties listed within the NBIC. In short, they represent the best of the best within their field.
The overarching goal of the NBBI is to create a higher standard of work within the field to promote increased safety for both property and life within the pressure equipment industry. When it comes to having your pressurized heating system fixed, it’s good to know that these are the same values that your technician has been trained to uphold as well.
Technical Expertise You Can Trust
Industry licensing provides a system for ensuring that hired professionals are capable of accomplishing what they’re paid to do. Licensed professionals within the HVAC industry have met the minimum standard for performing their work, and they’re trained in making sure that it’s on par with the expectations of regulatory authorities. Notwithstanding this fact, there are no additional measures in place for ensuring that their work is compliant all of the time. More importantly, there is no real motivation for licensed companies to put these additional measures in place themselves.
To obtain and maintain certification, boiler technicians must first go above and beyond normal training. They must prove this by examination, and then willfully submit to inspections by authorized inspectors that have been certified by the NBBI themselves. The continual review processes that certified professionals undergo are both more frequent and more stringent. Best of all, the values and goals that they adhere to are more people- and safety-oriented.
Certification in any industry is a hallmark of trustworthiness. It means that companies and the professionals who work for them genuinely enjoy what they do. Certified professionals work hard to achieve recognition in their field, and to maintain their elevated status. It’s also vital to note that certifications from the NBBI don’t last forever. The skills, training, and performance of certified boiler technicians are all regularly assessed, and certifications themselves must be regularly renewed.
Taking Good Care of the Boiler in Your Home
Boilers have long been known for their efficiency. Water offers a far more effective method of heat transfer than air, and when it comes to indoor air quality, boilers outperform nearly every other alternative. With fewer moving parts, boilers rarely need repairs, and many systems can last 30 years or longer. There’s good reason to keep your boiler around and even better reason to hire a certified technician to service it.
To keep your boiler working efficiently, be sure to:
- Check your boiler’s insulation at regular intervals
- Keep your boiler ventilated
- Maintain adequate water pressure
- Prevent cold patches by having the radiators bled
- Turn your boiler on at least once each month
It’s also a good idea to be on the lookout for signs of boiler stress. These include:
- Leaky pipes
- Banging or whistling sounds
- A pilot light that won’t stay lit
- Random shutdowns
As ever, the absolute best way to care for your boiler is by hiring a certified technician to perform annual maintenance service.
At HB Home Service Team, we’re proud to be certified by the NBBI. For more than 100 years, we’ve been serving residents of Randallstown, Maryland and the surrounding areas. We offer heating, cooling, and plumbing services. We also provide surge protection, carbon monoxide alarms, smoke detectors, and well pump service. If your boiler is ready for annual service, give us a call today.
