Lesson 6 — Where this goes: the career path

Narrated video of this lesson. Every word is the text below, read aloud.

You have four hours in. You know what the camera measures, how to stay safe around the gear, why connections heat up, how to read an image without fooling yourself, and what the common patterns mean. That is a real foundation, and it is also the floor, not the ceiling.

The industry is moving toward this work

NFPA 70B-2023 changed the picture. The document moved from a recommended practice to a standard, and it places testing methods — infrared thermography among them — inside the electrical maintenance program rather than beside it.

Practically, that means facilities that treated infrared as optional are now being asked by insurers, auditors and their own standards to show a regular inspection program with records. Somebody has to do those scans. Right now there are not enough people qualified to do them.

That is the opportunity. It is an electrician skill, it pays better than general work, and it is one of the few trade specialties where the demand is being written into standards rather than argued for.

How qualification actually works

This part gets misrepresented constantly, so here it is straight.

Your employer certifies you. A school does not. Under SNT-TC-1A, the employer writes a document called a written practice, which sets out what training, experience and examinations a person needs for each level. The employer then certifies individuals against it. A training provider — Voltmark included — supplies training and administers examinations. The certificate of certification comes from the employer.

Anyone selling you a certification that makes you certified independent of an employer is selling something that does not work the way they are implying.

The three levels.

*Level I* works to written procedures under supervision. Collects data, operates the camera, records findings, applies criteria somebody else set.

*Level II* sets up and calibrates, interprets and evaluates against codes and standards, makes quantitative measurements, writes the severity calls, and supervises Level I work.

*Level III* owns the program. Writes the written practice and the procedures, develops and administers examinations, designates qualification, and carries responsibility for the technical quality of the whole thing.

Each level needs documented classroom hours, documented experience hours, and passed examinations — general, specific and practical. The hours are real and they are why this is a credential rather than a weekend.

What Voltmark issues, precisely

Voltmark issues a training and examination record showing the hours you completed, the topics covered, the examinations you sat and the scores you achieved. Your employer uses that record as part of certifying you under their written practice.

Voltmark does not certify individuals, and will not tell you otherwise. If that sounds like a smaller claim than other adverts you have seen — it is, and it is the accurate one.

Your next step

VET-1, Voltmark Electrical Thermography Level I — $995.

Thirty-six contact hours. No prerequisite: this free tier is useful preparation but it is not required, and nothing stops you going straight in.

What is in it: electrical safety for thermographers in depth, thermal science and heat transfer, infrared physics, emissivity and reflected temperature, camera operation and the maths of spatial resolution, measurement technique and its error sources, a full five hours on electrical applications and the thermal patterns behind them, how to apply an employer's severity criteria, four hours of proctored camera labs, and review.

What you sit at the end: a vision test, a general examination, an electrical specific examination, a practical examination, and a ten-target field assignment graded by a Level III.

What you walk out with: the training and examination record your employer needs, and the ability to do real inspection work under supervision.

After that, VET-2 at $1,295 takes you into quantitative measurement and severity criteria — the judgment calls Lesson 5 told you were above your level. VET-3 at $1,595 is program leadership. The full path, taken as a bundle, is $2,995.

One last thing

The best thermographers in this trade are not the ones with the most expensive camera. They are the ones who know exactly what their measurement is worth and are honest about it, including when the answer is "this reading does not support a conclusion."

Start there. The rest is hours.

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Voltmark Thermography Academy is Voltmark's own training program. It is not ASNT certification and it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ASNT, NFPA, ICC, or any certifying body or licensing authority. Certificates issued by this program attest to completing Voltmark training and passing Voltmark examinations. Employer qualification under NFPA 70E and any written practice remains the employer's responsibility. Always follow your employer's safety program and your supervising electrician.