{"id":3094,"date":"2019-12-23T06:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T11:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/?post_type=features&p=3094"},"modified":"2021-12-23T18:35:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T23:35:13","slug":"are-you-certified","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/features\/are-you-certified\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you certified?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even as computerized and cloud-based as our lives have become, paper still means something in the world of work. Certifications, credentials, diplomas, licenses \u2014 earned only after classwork, hard study and passing detailed exams \u2014 can make a major difference for contractors. Much more than mere pieces of paper, these documents signify that the individual holding them is a professional practitioner of that discipline. It\u2019s shorthand for \u201cI\u2019m not only experienced, I\u2019m qualified.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in the early 1980s, the Irrigation Association, Fairfax, Virginia, created the IA certification program to document the professionalism of the people who design, install, service, evaluate and manage irrigation systems for a living. The aim was to raise the level of expertise for irrigation professionals, according to Ronald Sneed, PhD, PE, CID, CIC, CAIS, CLIA, one of the original designers of the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the very beginning, we had a goal of having better-educated irrigation professionals,\u201d Sneed said in his written acceptance speech remarks for the Certification Board\u2019s 2018 Commitment to Certification Excellence Award. \u201cIt was always more about education than about certification.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goal was to increase the professionalism in the industry and eventually have those who had become certified teach the classes to others, says Don Franklin, CID, CLIA, ASLA, specification manager at Hunter Industries, San Marcos, California. Franklin also had a hand in building the certification program. Another major goal was to raise the \u201ccomfort level\u201d among employers and clients. He compared it to a physician, who has a diploma and board certification testifying to their skill and knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIA certification is similar, in that it shows that someone has gone through a class, passed a test and is now competent in a specified area. The person doing the hiring can have confidence in the certified person\u2019s abilities,\u201d says Franklin.<\/p>\n

The program was developed from the ground up, from study materials to certification guidelines and course exams. Some agricultural engineers who already had professional registrations pushed back, according to Sneed. But over the years, some agricultural engineers and licensed professional engineers later served on the IA Certification Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the strongest voices against the certification program was, I think, an associate dean of a college of agriculture and life science,\u201d according to Sneed. \u201cHe later became an IA-certified individual.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first landscape certification offered by the IA was certified irrigation designer-landscape\/turf, with specialty exams in residential, commercial and golf course. A CID-agriculture exam was also offered. Today, there are five different landscape certifications offered by the IA: certified irrigation technician (CIT), certified landscape irrigation auditor (CLIA), certified golf irrigation auditor (CGIA), certified irrigation contractor (CIC) and certified irrigation designer (CID).<\/p>\n

The certification exams, like the industry itself, are dynamic and always changing. Michael Pippen, PE, CAIS, CID, director of business development at Jain Irrigation Inc., Lakeland, Florida, spent several years on the Certification Board. \u201cWe took those exams out into the field and did a job analysis, getting feedback from hundreds of certified professionals in the field,\u201d he says. \u201cWe created a survey that asked what\u2019s important and how frequently do you do it. And we refined the exam questions based on that job analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pippen says this process, which the board still conducts regularly for every certification, tightens up the types of questions asked and their difficulty. For instance, if a CIT only does some job function only once a year, it\u2019s not important to include questions about it on the exam. But if 100 people do that task once a week, then it should probably be tested very thoroughly.<\/p>\n

Certification benefits<\/h2>\n

There are at least three good reasons for any technician or contractor to consider certification, according to IA CEO Deborah M. Hamlin, CAE, FASAE. \u201cNumber one, to prove your knowledge,\u201d she says. \u201cNumber two, to differentiate yourself from your competition. And number three, for personal improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCertification is this extra step,\u201d Hamlin adds. \u201cIt\u2019s a way of showing that \u2018I\u2019m better than my competitor because a third party has endorsed me. I\u2019ve passed a test and received tangible proof of my knowledge.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Differentiating himself from the competition is exactly what motivated Dale Aubertine, CIC, CLIA, owner of Northstar Water Services, Monroe, North Carolina, to get certified. \u201cI did it for the simple fact that I wanted to be better than my competition. And I wanted to be knowledgeable in my field. I find it interesting working with the scheduling, the hydraulics, the electrical \u2014 I guess you could just say that I\u2019m \u2018into it.\u2019 It\u2019s what I do for a living, so I wanted to be the best at it, to separate myself from all the others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certification set him apart and made his company\u2019s name reputable in the Charlotte area, he says. Also, the courses taught him technical details he wouldn\u2019t have picked up through experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned so much about the plant\/water relationship, about scheduling, about understanding slopes and angles and degrees, and all the hydraulics that come into play,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Art Elmers, CIC, CID, CLIA, area specification manager, Landscape and Turf Division at Netafim USA, Fresno, California, has held IA certifications for a long time \u2014 the oldest one dates back to March 11, 1984. \u201cI was actually one of the very first certified irrigation designers in the country,\u201d he says. He\u2019s worked in irrigation since he was 14, helping his father, a golf course superintendent with an irrigation company on the side. \u201cThe value of certification is it indicates that you have met a certain level of proficiency. My dad used my certifications to help sell the qualifications of our company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Temple, CID, CIC, CLWM, CLIA, CGIA, LEED AP, now technical program director for the IA, remembers why he first sought certification. \u201cAs an irrigation consultant for 20 years, I\u2019d dealt with a lot of certified contractors who expressed to me how much they\u2019d learned just preparing to take the CIC exam, and how the knowledge they\u2019d gained helped them a lot in their businesses,\u201d he says. \u201cOne contractor said that even though he\u2019d failed the exam, he\u2019d learned so much that it took a lot of the sting out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert \u201cBobby\u201d Alvarez, CLIA, a former irrigation contractor and now water conservation administrator in the Department of Environmental Utilities, Water Efficiency Division for the City of Roseville, California, got his CLIA a couple of years after becoming a a contractor. He says it helped him put together the puzzle of irrigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudying for the CLIA, I learned about distribution uniformity, precipitation rates, evapotranspiration, hydrozoning \u2014 all of these things turned a light bulb on in my head and started to make everything else make sense,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Once Alvarez understood all of that, he began shifting his business model. \u201cI changed from being a landscape irrigation specialist to a water-efficient landscape irrigation specialist,\u201d he says. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t the usual thing back then. What I\u2019d learned previously was \u2018just put a lot of water on this thing and it\u2019ll grow.\u2019 That was the mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walter Mugavin, CIC, CLIA, founder and managing member of Aqua Mist Irrigation of New Jersey LLC, in South Hackensack, does a lot of commercial irrigation work including designing systems. He says being certified has, without a doubt, helped his career and his business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get into doing commercial work, bigger housing developments and stuff like that, dealing with engineers, having a certification lets them know that they\u2019re dealing with a fellow professional,\u201d says Mugavin. \u201cI deal mostly with engineers and land development managers. Once I got the certifications, I noticed the change \u2014 they have a little bit more respect for you, pay more attention to you when you say you\u2019re a nationally certified contractor or irrigation auditor. It lends credence to what you do and say.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Want to get certified?<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve decided it\u2019s time for you to obtain one or more IA certifications, go to the www.irrigation.org website and click on the \u201cCertification\u201d tab. You\u2019ll see drop-down menus for the various certifications.<\/p>\n

On the webpage for each one, you\u2019ll find a description of the functions the certified person performs, how much experience is recommended before you take the exam and how to register for it. It will also tell you how many questions will be on the test, how much it\u2019ll cost and what\u2019s required after you pass.<\/p>\n