Choose your path. Earn your certifications. Each one carries a documented pay increase on your next check.
SELECT ANY CERTIFICATION OR BADGE TO SEE ITS REQUIREMENTS
The Certification Path
CHOOSE ONE
THE DECLARATION — choose your specialization at a Talent Review. The other path closes. One change allowed, mentor-approved, starting back at Restricted.
Skill Badges
Tier 1 skills · advance within Band 1
Badges are more than pay — several are prerequisites for higher certifications. Select one to see what it leads to.
Advanced Entry
Prior credentials · higher starting grade
ARRIVE WITH CREDENTIALS. START AT A HIGHER GRADE.
Same principle as the military: an Eagle Scout doesn't skip boot camp — he enlists at a higher pay grade. Verified credentials earn a higher starting rate and a fast-tracked certification schedule. They never skip a card.
Credential
Proof required
Entry credit (proposed)
CDL Class A or B
License on file
+$1.00 · Truck & Trailer cards scheduled first week
2+ years verified utility construction
References called and documented
+$1.00 · equipment cards scheduled immediately
Prior HDD or locating experience
References + demonstrated on the card
+$0.50 · path flagged for the Talent Review
OSHA 10 / OSHA 30
Card copy
+$0.25 / +$0.50
Military service
DD-214
+$0.50
The cap: Advanced Entry credit tops out at the ceiling of Band 1. It changes where you start — never what you prove. Every card still gets run; verified experience just runs them faster (Rule 2). Credential amounts are placeholders — open decision #8.
The Specialization Rule
ONE MAN, ONE SPECIALIZATION.
At Tier 4 you declare one specialization — Locator or Operator. The moment you declare, the other path closes on your card. Specialists master one craft.
Want to master the full operation? That ambition has a path, and it is called Foreman. The Foreman trades mastery of one craft for working command of both: Checked Out in both specializations, every Tier 1–3 certification, plus the leadership requirements. And you do not enroll yourself — leadership selects you based on a Talent Review.
Changing paths: allowed once, with mentor approval, starting the new path at Restricted. (Pay treatment during the change = open decision #6.)
How Certifications Are Earned
RESTRICTED — the card is open. You observe and assist, and you handle the equipment only with your trainer present — never alone.
CHECKED OUT — you perform every step while a trainer observes and initials, and you run the work on a live job with your trainer on site.
NOVA CERTIFIED — you have demonstrated the work independently, on live jobs, on separate days, with two signatures. You run it. The pay increase takes effect and the next tier opens.
Pay Bands
BAND 1Groundhand
BAND 2Equipment
BAND 3Specialist
BAND 4Crew Lead
BAND 5Foreman
$18.00$21.00$23.00$27.00+role pay
Badges move you WITHIN a band. Certifications move you BETWEEN bands. Every band has a ceiling. Advancement comes through tier gates — badges alone will not reach specialist pay.
ALL NUMBERS SHOWN ARE PLACEHOLDERS — final rates are set by ownership.
The Talent Review
YOUR MENTOR SEES THE WHOLE MAP. YOU STILL CHOOSE THE ROUTE.
When: at 30 days, and at every tier gate. Who: you and your Crew Lead (the Supervisor joins for the Declaration).
Your Crew Lead reviews your record — badges earned, certification pace, and how you perform in the field.
He gives a specialization recommendation with reasons, based on the fit factors on the Locator and Operator cards.
You choose. Both the choice and the recommendation are recorded on the card — even when they differ.
If you choose against the recommendation, you still receive the opportunity. The Checked Out stage will confirm the fit before you ever work alone.
Program Rules
No certification, no machine. Ever. Nobody operates equipment alone without a signed card.
Experienced hires don't skip — they certify faster. Five years on a mini-ex still completes the card; it takes a day instead of a month. Verified credentials also earn a higher starting rate — see Advanced Entry.
Separate days are separate days. Three demonstrations means three dates on the card. No same-day triple sign-offs.
Badges within a band, certifications between bands, every band capped. No stacking past a tier gate.
One specialization. Declared at Tier 4, the other path closes. One change, mentor-approved, back to Restricted. Both paths open only for the Foreman.
Pay increases are automatic once signed and tracked. Card → tracker → QuickBooks → next payroll. If it is not in the tracker, it does not exist.
Certifications are portable. Your card follows you, not your crew lead.
A pulled certification pauses the pay increase. Preventable damage, safety violation, or uncertified operation. Re-earn the violated stages.
The tracker is the single source of truth. One record, headed into the company software with the training system.
Open Decisions
7 DECISIONS BEFORE THIS PROGRAM GOES LIVE
#1
Final pay numbers — band ranges plus badge and certification amounts. Everything shown is placeholder.
#2
Grandfathering day — current crew walks the path, gets carded at their true level, pay unchanged.
#3
Who is the Certifier today? End state is the Foreman. Until one exists: Supervisor? Adam?
#4
Register number — proposed NU-QAL-601.
#5
DOT/CDL determination feeds the Truck card (open gate #2 on the SOP register).
#6
Path-change pay rule — keep Band 3 pay while re-certifying, or return to Band 2?
#7
Final badge list — updated 8/1/26: Rod Handler removed (covered inside the HDD Operator book), Pipe Fusion parked until Nova owns a fusion machine. The six shown are the working list.
#8
Advanced Entry credential list and credit amounts — which credentials count, what each is worth, and the Band 1 cap.