RACA Journal March 2026 RACA_Mar_2026 | Page 7

HVAC & R TRADE TEST

HVAC & R QUALIFICATIONS ENTER NEW ERA AS QCTO TRADE TEST PILOT REACHES FINAL VALIDATION STAGE

By Eamonn Ryan

South Africa’ s HVAC & R industry is preparing for one of the most significant shifts in artisan qualification in six decades, as the National Artisan Moderation Body( NAMB) finalises a new trade test under the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations( QCTO). business year-long development and piloting process – recently

A conducted at Air Conditioning and Refrigiration Academy( ACRA) – has refined the practical assessment instruments that will form the backbone of the new occupational qualification for refrigeration mechanics( EISA / trade test). According to NAMB acting deputy director Gerrie van Staden, the initiative marks the culmination of changes that began with the establishment of the QCTO in 2010, when South Africa migrated from traditional, schedule-based trade training to a fully curriculum-based system aligned with the National Qualifications Framework( NQF).

Before 2010, trades evolved through periodic updates to industry training schedules. The QCTO’ s formation changed this substantially: each trade now follows a formally registered curriculum with a unique SAQA ID recorded on the NQF.

This shift brought two major improvements:

• Traceability – A candidate’ s training can now be directly referenced against a registered curriculum

• Standardisation – The curriculum and assessment specification define the exit-level outcomes that all national assessments must measure

“ Once a trade is registered, NAMB has the statutory responsibility to develop the assessment instruments for that qualification,” explains Van Staden. HVAC & R is one of the listed trades requiring new QCTO-aligned trade test instruments.

The development process has been extensive and highly collaborative. NAMB convened a Technical Work Group( TWG) of industry subject matter experts( SMEs), who – using the curriculum, qualification documents and assessment specifications – designed the assessment tasks, instructions, mark sheets and practical test layouts.

Unlike standard theoretical examinations, a trade test must work in real-world conditions.“ It’ s a practical exam, so we need actual equipment, tools and real commercial refrigeration setups,” notes Van Staden.

The TWG spent a year constructing these instruments, meeting monthly since August 2023. Once the documentation reached a complete draft, the pilot phase began.

INSIDE THE PILOT The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Academy( ACRA) was selected as the pilot site, its members on the TWG invested heavily in preparing fully functional trade test while ACRA as part of the TWG offered facilities and developed

National Artisan Moderation Body( NAMB) acting deputy director Gerrie van Staden, visiting the trade test facility at ACRA.

commercial test rigs. This included purchasing equipment and constructing walk-in cold room and freezer systems using industry-grade components.

During the five-day pilot, third-year refrigeration apprentices executed all practical tasks while Subject Matter Experts used the mark sheets to evaluate whether the instruments aligned with the intended outcomes.

The first three days were fully practical. By mid-week, the teams shifted into‘ boardroom mode’, analysing every discrepancy between test instructions and real-world execution – often rewriting documents in real time. Drawings were corrected, ambiguous instructions rewritten, tasks adjusted, mark allocations recalibrated and assessment criteria tightened.

“ We found many shortfalls, which is expected. The pilot is essentially the moderation stage – confirming that what we designed on paper can be delivered nationally as a fair, standardised, quality assessment,” says Van Staden.

All images by © RACA Journal

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