RVIA maintains an education program to certify technicians in RV maintenance by industry standards. When a repair facility has a certified technician, they can advertise that fact in the yellow pages or on signage. The RVIA and RVPA don't always agree on everything, but we have a mutual interest in maintaining high standards of service. The RVIA testing consists of written and practical sections testing knowledge in 11 general areas like LP gas, generators and DC electric power, and measures competence at 63 tasks. Total scoring, in addition to experience in the industry, determines whether a technician is Certified or Master Certified.
Certification lasts five years.
To qualify for re-certification, technicians must have remained in the industry and completed continuing education hours. If a technician left the industry for more than one year or did not complete continuing education requirements, they must re-take the test. Based on service record history, customers would then know if a garage is reputable. We don't have it all put together yet, but we're pretty excited by the concept. The yellow pages are not always handy on the road.