Tei Explains It: Quality Assurance

It is very important for a builders, superintendents and agents to understand the significance of field quality assurance (QA).  The process on the outside may sound threatening, but it really is a very simple process.  Failure to comply with QA may result in losing your ability to register ratings and ultimately the revocation of your certification.

Question: Is field quality assurance mandatory?

Field quality assurance is not voluntary. It is mandatory requirement by RESNET Standards.

Question: Who must have quality assurance performed?

If you are an Energy Rater and do ratings, then you must have field quality assurance performed on at least one home a year if you perform 1 – 100 ratings.  If you perform ratings on 101 homes in a year, you must have 2 homes quality assured.  RESNET Standards require 1% of your annual total of ratings to have a field quality assurance visit.  Unfortunately, the Standard rounds up to an additional field QA at one not fifty and therefore 202 ratings will result in 3 field reviews.

Your files which come in for registration is also quality assured.  One in ten homes go through a quality assurance process which helps to instill confidence in every rater’s file.  So remember, when you create the file and it has any comments, mistakes or rejections, they reflect on your ability because you are the rater of record.  These are also reported to RESNET on an annual basis.

Question: Who should be informed of these visits?

Everyone! Please inform your builders, clients and your client’s agents that quality assurance is not a voluntary requirement. It is mandatory by RESNET Standards.  In this case, cooperation is essential.  Failure of your builder, client or your client’s agent to cooperate in quality assurance will result in the denial of rating registrations by that particular builder.  The Standard applies to all regardless of what Program, if any, they are participating in.  Also highly recommend upon soliciting a new client you make sure that they understand this process and that all their agents understand so there is less confusion on the field when quality assurance is performed.  You can go as far as having them sign that they acknowledge and understand the process and this may occur at any time with any of their homes.  We strive to make this as painless as possible by soliciting your cooperation so the process is smooth and does not create any undue hardship on the part of your client.  We are able to schedule in the evenings as well as the weekend if necessary.  Again, our aim is to get this done as painless as possible, with as little discomfort as possible.

So remember to make sure your client understands and agrees to quality assurance!

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