registered piano technician

[RicB]

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