How are Certification Agencies made?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I am just curious. What prerequisites are needed to start a certification agency?

There are some agencies that are aggressively marketed (PADI) and then there are those that have an equally well developed if not better curriculum but they are not that well known (PSAI). Can anyone just write a curriculum and start giving out C-cards? What benefit are they receiving from giving out C-cards? I just wanted to know what goes into this C-card issuing authority business and if there are agencies out there that are not legit. Why not?

Thanks for your help -

CS

 

[Rhone Man]

I am far more interested to know how we could kill a few off....

 

[tstormdiver]

I am just curious. What prerequisites are needed to start a certification agency?

There are some agencies that are aggressively marketed (PADI) and then there are those that have an equally well developed if not better curriculum but they are not that well known (PSAI). Can anyone just write a curriculum and start giving out C-cards? What benefit are they receiving from giving out C-cards? I just wanted to know what goes into this C-card issuing authority business and if there are agencies out there that are not legit. Why not?

Thanks for your help -

CS

In a nutshell, you are correct. Most are splinters off of another agency, where someone either disagreed with part of the curriculum or thought it should be expanded. Basically a difference in core values of how training should be conducted. Most, if not all US agencies fall under the RSTC, which establishes the bare minimum standards. The biggest issue would be to get your new agency recognized though the industry. Some are better known than others, some have better reputations for better training methods. When you really look at it,... all the agencies do is develop & print the training materials, set the standards & ethics rules for the instructors & issues certifications.

 

[TSandM]

As far as I can tell, anyone who wants to can start an agency. Whether you can convince insurance companies to insure you is another question. And whether you can convince anyone to become an instructor with your new agency is also an issue. And then there is whether the dive op in Timbuktu will recognize your card . . .

 

[redacted]

You have to get a card making device. And then you have to have dive op accept the card.

 

[boulderjohn]

Insurance is an issue. You will need professional liability insurance, and insurers don't just agree to go along with it. I know that one relatively recently formed agency had a lot of trouble with its insurance because potential carriers were not happy with at least one aspect of their standards. Additionally, remember that insurance costs depend upon the number of members among who the risk is distributed. It could be very expensive for you if you don't find a way to get into a larger group.

A guy who was kicked out of NAUI formed an agency in Arizona--Scuba Divers of America. The address of the agency was a vacant lot the last time I checked. I doubt if he has insurance. He has a number of blatantly fraudulent claims on his web site. Still, he issues cards, and if someone accepts the card, it is as good as any other one, at least on that day.

 

[Doppler]

I am just curious. What prerequisites are needed to start a certification agency?

There are some agencies that are aggressively marketed (PADI) and then there are those that have an equally well developed if not better curriculum but they are not that well known (PSAI). Can anyone just write a curriculum and start giving out C-cards? What benefit are they receiving from giving out C-cards? I just wanted to know what goes into this C-card issuing authority business and if there are agencies out there that are not legit. Why not?

Thanks for your help -

CS

I can really only speak about the formation of one agency -- TDI -- because I was lucky enough to witness its formation from the ground up... maybe that should be mean sea-level down.

Bret Gilliam -- for many reasons -- decided that there was a void in the growing technical diving segment, and contacted a couple of dozen instructors who he figured thought along similar lines. He got encouraging answers and broke away from NAUI and IANTD. He guided the creation of a base curriculum and found an insurance company willing to underwrite TDI standards. That was 1994.

For the record, many of the first 100 or so instructors and instructor-trainers for TDI were already teaching for NAUI and IANTD when TDI was formed.


BY THE WAY, a training agency is an educational publishing house, primarily.

 

[knotical]

On the off chance you're thinking of starting one, be aware there's already a fair amount of competition out there:
SCUBA Agency Websites (Part 1A) - Independent Agencies - Blogs - ScubaBoard - Scuba Diving Forum - Diving Social Network

 

[flots am]

I am just curious. What prerequisites are needed to start a certification agency?

As AWAP said, all you need is a card printer and to live in a "hard or impossible to sue" location.

If you live anywhere with a functioning legal system, you'll also need a lot of insurance.

After that, you can do what you want.

You should note that a SCUBA certification agency certifies that a particular diver is qualified to dive, so as soon as someone gets hurt or killed and has your card, you're going to be in court defending yourself, which is why you need insurance.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

On the off chance you're thinking of starting one, be aware there's already a fair amount of competition out there:
SCUBA Agency Websites (Part 1A) - Independent Agencies - Blogs - ScubaBoard - Scuba Diving Forum - Diving Social Network

Hell no! I would actually like to get rid of some