We have put this number in the title, because it is worth memorising immediately: it is that of the new UNI standard for the certification of Audio, Video and Control Systems Integration Services, launched at the end of 2020 thanks to the stubborn work of SIEC and its ex- President Carla Conca.
The first day of remote training dedicated to the UNI 11799: 2020 standard took place on 28th April. Eight full hours to talk about the standard, from how it was established, to the guidelines up to how it can be obtained, and then move on to the general and specific requirements, related to technical competence in the AVC field.
A great success, with numerous members, of which we spoke with Christian Pieretto, the new SIEC President. “The norm is a great result – he said -, not only for SIEC which has worked for this goal for seven years, but for the entire market. The achievement has created a lot of interest for the AV world, and I must say with satisfaction also for SIEC itself, which is working to make the standard as accessible and inclusive as possible. Our role is precisely this, to accompany the company that wishes to be certified with a training course”.
Connessioni- How is certification obtained?
CP – It is important to clarify that the standard and the certification are two separate things: the certification is issued by the qualified certification bodies – and is totally on a voluntary basis; SIEC, on the other hand, promotes the application of guidelines for proper design and installation, and the path to certification. UNI 11799: 2020 is a service standard and was written in the interest of customers and to start a virtuous path within the sector, achievable by anyone.
C – How did you structure the study day of 28th April?
CP – The training was remote for obvious reasons, open to both members and non-members. The programme dealt with three major issues: the standardisation process – from the SIEC guidelines to the points required for certification -; the general requirements, i.e. the management of contracts, documentation, simplified or standard procedures; and the specific requirements, from design to wiring to programming etc.
C – Who are the teachers?
CP – We turned to totally super partes trainers, for the day of 28 the assignment was given to Mariko Ceccato, consultant and expert in training and auditing services. I am pleased to say a few words on this issue, which we believe to be fundamental in SIEC: as we know, for many years there has been no official training for our sector, and for this the technical figures of vendors, distributors, many times even with quality and free of charge. The upside of the coin is that today we have to re-accustom professionals, even through courses like this, to training that is free – even if only formally – from the market, and by its nature for a fee, in order to guarantee total independence in the chosen topics as well as in information.
C – What are the advantages of a company gain if they are certified?
CP – The Customer has the right to obtain solutions that comply with the rules and requirements of correctness, and therefore to be able to have a ‘guide’ – certification – in the choice of their supplier. Then it will be the market that will make the difference between the various proposals, through healthy competition on equal terms. We also hope that in the future it will be possible to implement the certification in the edition of calls and tenders, as a starting point for a high-quality service. Certified companies are in fact obliged to operate always and on every occasion in compliance with the standard.
C – Who participated in the training day?
CP – Naturally, System Integrator but also internal figures of various distributors, from commercial to technical profiles; one goal for us is to interest professional end-users and, perhaps, even vendors in the training course.
C – And what are the next training opportunities?
CP – The standard is only one of the paths that we will propose, very soon we will launch a calendar of training opportunities on UC&C, Networking e AV over IP, but also on marketing, communication, business management- all issues that the associates have reported to us in the internal surveys carried out during the past months.
