The RESNET Board of Directors is dedicated to a continuous improvement of the effectiveness of the quality of HERS® Index ratings. Based on discussion at the 2018 Fall Board Meeting as well as direct feedback from Rating Providers, utility program implementers, and other stakeholders, RESNET recognizes the need for further improvements to the RESNET quality assurance program to increase its efficiency and effectiveness. At its 2019 Spring RESNET Board Meeting, the RESNET Board of Directors adopted five initiatives to help solidify the RESNET QA Program as the Gold Standard. Elements of the policy adopted by the RESNET Board are: 1. RESNET quality assurance efforts will be amended to support increases or reductions in quality assurance stringency based on performance. Further, these amendments shall incentivize and place more focus on the quality of the Providers’ quality assurance oversight and feedback to raters, not just the quantity. 2. RESNET shall develop internal policy improvements for Rating Provider tracking and reporting with the intent to reduce the overall time burden on quality assurance activities that do not add substantial value to the program. 3. RESNET shall develop and implement a pilot program in partnership with a utility program implementer, leveraging the field quality assurance performed by their staff. The purpose of the pilot is to identify and resolve any barriers to leveraging utility program quality assurance with the intent of eliminating redundancy and reducing the field quality assurance cost burden for Rating Providers. 4. RESNET Quality Assurance Staff shall develop, on an ongoing basis, Quality Assurance Designee (QAD) training content in order to more quickly disseminate information learned from RESNET enhanced quality oversight and to train new procedures established through future standard or policy changes. 5. RESNET QA Staff shall implement regular reporting of QA Genie flag information. This information shall be communicated to the Rating Provider and the Primary QAD to support their ongoing QA activities. It must be pointed out this is a proposed policy and not a work plan. RESNET staff will now develop an implementation plan for the RESNET Board to consider. This plan will be vetted with the HERS® Rating industry. The RESNET Board also adopted a policy on more clearly defined disciplinary actions for RESNET Accredited Rating Providers. To view the newly adopted quality assurance policy, go to RESNET Board Policy on Quality Assurance Program Efficiency and Effectiveness Improvements
