TECA's respected Quality First™ training programs are developed by the industry, for the industry, setting minimum standards for the residential and light commercial heating, ventilating and cooling trade in British Columbia. Our courses provide contractors the information they need to install equipment that operates safely and comfortably at rated efficiencies. Quality First™ numbers for Forced Air, Hydronic Systems Design and Ventilation are required by regulatory authorities in an increasing number of municipalities throughout the province.
TECA courses are offered in spring and fall in the Lower Mainland, Okanagan, and on Vancouver Island, and may be held in varying locations based on demand. Seats are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. View our Cancellation Policy.
TECA's Quality First™ Forced Air Guidelines course includes room-by-room heat loss & heat gain for systems with A/C coils and heat pumps; equipment selection to heat loss requirements for furnaces, A/C coils, and heat pumps; and duct sizing & layout to selected equipment capacity for standard and low pressure systems. Successful participants of the 24-hour course receive a registered number on a certificate and wallet card.
Development of the new heat gain/heat pump material was funded in part by the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines & Petroleum Resources under the Energy Efficient Buildings program. The development of minimum standards for the correct sizing, design and installation of high efficiency equipment and systems is the basic building block to the achievement of the government's target reductions in energy consumption.
Manuals include technical information and documents necessary to meet requirements of municipal inspection authorities. TECA's Quality First™ Forced Air Guidelines databases are made available to inspection authorities on request for purposes of confirming successful completion and issued number. Registered Forced Air Guidelines numbers must be renewed every two years.
Course fees include 22 hours of instruction, the 2-hour exam, and the Quality First™ Forced Air Guidelines Manual (provided at the start of class). Software is not included. In some locations for intensive sessions, lunch may be provided. Course fees will be adjusted accordingly.
NOTE: Section 9.36 Energy Efficiency: This section has been signed into law for all permits pulled after December 19th, 2014. No Longer will it be legal to run heating ducts up exterior walls.
The Homeowners Protection Office recognizes and approves TECA’s Quality First Forced Air Course for Continuing Professional Development Points.
To date, TECA has offered this course 259 times and 1,782 industry professionals completed it.
TECA's Hydronic Systems Design manual with Hydronic & Combo Guidelines forms the basis of our Registered Designer program. Successful participants of the BCIT Hydronic Systems Design course are sent a form for optional registration with TECA.
Quality First™ Registered Hydronic Designers receive a numbered certificate, wallet card and optional stamp for submitting system drawings from the Guidelines to inspection authorities.
Registration information for BCIT: BCIT Hydronic Systems Design Course
NOTE: Section 9.36 Energy Efficiency:
This section has been signed into law for all permits pulled after December 19th. No Longer will it be legal to run heating ducts up exterior walls.
To date, TECA has offered this course 120 times and 2,083 industry professionals completed it.
The Principles of Moving Air ("POMA") Quietly and Efficiently manual has been completely revised. It is an expansion and simplification of TECA's original 'Basics of Air' manual. POMA is a true duct design course and a revival of good air moving practice first developed in the 1930's. It explains the logic behind the duct sizing of TECA's original Quality First Forced Air Guidelines and the duct sizing tables of TECA's 2012 Ventilation Guidelines.
Since it was first introduced in 2008 and titled 'Basics of Air', enthusiastic attendees have offered many suggestions for improvement including 35 fresh new tech sheets. The complete overhaul of this manual includes this supplementary information. The manual is now titled: 'Principles of Moving Air" it is clearly understood that it is an in-depth air moving course. While important to those working in both new construction and change out when it was first published, it is even more important today. Manufacturers continue to shrink the cabinet sizes of heat/cool equipment and yet the air moving requirements (cfm) on a CFM per BTU and CFM per ton remains high. A large benefit of applying this new information is a quiet system with heat/cool air volumes delivered to individual rooms appropriately as needed.
True to the original, POMA maintains its focus on residential air handling systems. POMA uses plain language, practical math and a fully instrumented scale model to demonstrate these important principles. The manual begins with an introduction of terms: flow rate, velocity, air density, duct aspect ratio, static and velocity pressures. It digs deeper into friction losses, fitting losses and system effects all of which compound to restrict the airflow through the system and which determine the power required (transport energy) to do that. This knowledge will also help users to justify the space and more convincingly sell the capital cost to provide adequately sized ducts and the few custom fittings required to provide a quiet comfortable space conditioning system
To date, TECA has offered this course 29 times and 247 industry professionals completed it.
TECA's Quality First™ Ventilation Guidelines course covers the latest amendments and errata to the 2012 BCBC Section 9.32. It includes:
It also provides the prerequisite information required for TECA's HRV course (soon to be released). Successful participants of the one-day course receive a certificate, wallet card and numbered stamp for use on TECA's Mechanical Ventilation Checklists.
Manuals include technical information and documents necessary to meet requirements of Municipal Inspection Authorities. TECA's Quality First™ Ventilation Guidelines databases are made available to inspection authorities on request for purposes of confirming successful completion and issued number. Certified Ventilation Guidelines numbers must be renewed at BC Building Code change, approximately every 5 years.
NOTE: Course fees include 6 hours of instruction, the 2-hour exam, and the Quality First™ Ventilation Guidelines Manual, provided at the start of class. Software is not included.
The Homeowners Protection Office recognizes and approves TECA’s Quality First Ventilation Course for Continuing Professional Development Points.
To date, TECA has offered this course 258 times and 2,681 industry professionals completed it.
