Hei Gregor. I'm that Norwegian fellow you refered too. Actually there are a few that follow the list and sometimes throw in a comment or two. Myself I am born american and became Norwegian a couple years ago after living here for the past 25 years. I started my piano tech life in the US and continued it here so I have a pretty good familiarity with both countries. And after having joined associations in both the US and Norway and being active in both I've come to know quite a few techs in Europe as well. You are going to no doubt hear a lot of different opinions about how education and certification of pianotechs should be. Many, especially in america, but not limited to them, are of the firm belief that no certification should be required and that any government involvement will just make matters hopeless. These will argue, and correctly so, that having a certification does not guarantee that workmanship will be of good quality. The certification can yield a false sense of authority and dependability and even sometimes unrightfully protect a technician who produces shoddy results. The flip side of this coin however in my view is even worse. You allow anyone to market themselves as a pianotech and allow the market place to rule. A kind of chaos really... with its own particular filtering devices for both technicians.... and customers. Further, I would point out that while requiring a formal education and state approved certification does not guarantee any degree of workmanship... it certainly does leave the technician no excuse for not performing acceptably. It strikes me that when a baseline of ethics, standards and practices are formally drawn up the customer is far better protected, the industry at large is far better served, and the piano technical community will be far better informed and equipped to support the market as a whole. So I side up on the side of those who adhere to the way things were in Germany a couple years back and still are in Switzerland. I say this in full admission of being one of those who came up through the grasses on my own. I think back many times about how many years I wasted wallowing around in the semi dark without any formal education and how much more I may have been able to accomplish in my career had I started on that educational journey back then instead of roughly 10 years ago. You get so far on your own... and no farther. And indeed I got about as far as one could expect on ones own. In the US, and in Norway, as in most places on this planet... anyone with no more then a freshly purchased tuning hammer and fork can legally market themselves as a pianotech and take money for the "work" they do. It is in my mind no small wonder we see such a depressed and confused market with customers expecting the most incredible of unrealistic things from their instruments and a public that in general looks at us all to often with far less then the respect we deserve. To become an RPT, you must demonstrate enough knowledge and ability that at least you know a reasonable amount about what you are doing. But the pass levels are low enough that it is not what I would call more then a beginning journeyman's (at best) level. And the US test is probably the best around of the private associations in the piano world. You ask a question that really demands more of an answer then our forum can give you when it comes down to it. But I hope this and some of the other answers will at least give you pause and food for thought on the matter. Cheers RicB
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