The following is a News & Insights report from the RV Industry Association (RVIA).
As the core of the RV Technical Institute (RVTI) program, the RV technician career path guides RV tech development and provides training and certification needed for career advancement. After the release of Level 3 earlier this year, the demand for training to achieve Level 3 certification has been significant. To address this need, the RV Technical Institute developed a three-day training that allows Level 2 technicians to receive all the necessary training to become Level 3-certified in a specialty. Last week, the first of the trainings took place at the Institute’s headquarters in Elkhart and focused on the Appliance Specialty.
By the end of the training, 20 of the attendees had completed the 24 hours required to achieve their Level 3 Appliance Specialty certification. In addition, four of the attendees completed the continuing education hours needed to recertify their existing Level 4 certification.
Classes included training from RV suppliers Dometic, Lippert and Airxcel, who are also three of the Institute’s Authorized Learning Partners. They provided a total of 26 hours of training.
“With the excitement and demand around Level 3 certification, we knew we wanted to do something that made it easier for tech to achieve certification in a specific specialty,” says Justin Rickett, RVTI’s Authorized Learning Partner Manager and the host of the event. “In total, we had 24 attendees, taking the next step along the RV technician career path. As the RV Technical Institute continues elevating its training curriculum across the industry, the increased number of technicians – including those who are Level 3 certified – will result in more consumers getting back on the road in their RVs and making new memories in the great outdoors. We would also like to thank our Authorized Learning Partners for their support in this endeavor – they did fantastic work helping train attendees throughout the week.”
Following the success of the initial training session, RVTI said it will be hosting trainings for each of the Level 3 specialties in 2024. Each course will focus on one of the five specialty areas. Attendees who obtain certifications in all five sessions throughout the year will achieve Level 4 Master Technician certification.
For technicians that have completed the Level 1 and Level 2 trainings, Level 3 offers supplier training on specific types of components. The trainings lead to increased skillsets where technicians can perform advanced diagnostics, troubleshooting and repairs on those systems and components. There are five types of Level 3 specialist areas: electrical, chassis, electronics, slide-outs and appliances.
RVTI regularly adds new, approved Level 3 courses to its curriculum, it said. Interested suppliers can become accredited training providers by downloading and submitting an application for review and approval by the Curriculum Committee. Interested RV technicians can learn more about Level 3 and how to take an approved course.
