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Paths · Exam prep

Sheet Metal to TAB Certified

Sheet metal splits into two careers: building the ductwork, and proving it performs. This path covers both. It starts at the bench with layout and pattern development, moves to duct construction, installation and sealing, then into testing, adjusting and balancing, and finishes on the certification landscape, which is genuinely confusing: three bodies, two tiers each, firm certification separate from personal certification, and one of them open only to employees of member agencies.

23 steps

Goal credential: TAB Certification (TABB, NEBB, AABC)

At the bench

  1. 1Sheet Metal: Gauges, Materials, Tools
  2. 2Pattern Development and Layout
  3. 3Fabricating Fittings and Transitions
  4. 4Seams and Connections
  5. 5Sheet Metal Hazards: Machines, Edges, Fumes, Heights

Duct systems

  1. 6Duct Construction Standards (SMACNA)
  2. 7Duct Installation and Support
  3. 8Duct Sealing and Leakage Testing
  4. 9Which SMACNA Standard Governs What
  5. 10Pressure Class, Seal Class and Leakage Class
  6. 11Running a Duct Leakage Test

Testing, adjusting, balancing

  1. 12TAB Fundamentals
  2. 13Airflow Measurement Instruments
  3. 14Balancing Procedures
  4. 15TAB Certification (TABB, NEBB, AABC)
  5. 16TAB and Commissioning Are Not the Same Scope
  6. 17Firm Certification vs Individual Certification
  7. 18TABB Certification: Technician and Supervisor
  8. 19NEBB Certification: Certified Technician and Certified Professional
  9. 20AABC Certification: TBT and TBE

The career

  1. 21The Sheet Metal Apprenticeship (SMART/ITI)
  2. 22Becoming a Sheet Metal Contractor
  3. 23Moving From Installer to TAB Technician