The National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Specialist Engineering) (Level 3) with strands in Automotive Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning; Automotive Machining; Diesel Fuel Injection; and Motorsport [Ref: 1415] recognises the skills and knowledge required for people in roles, within the automotive specialist sector of the motor industry, that involve general vehicle and vehicle component repair and service work at an introductory to intermediate level.

The qualification includes a Core Compulsory and Core Elective section. This core covers knowledge and skills in generic areas such as health and safety, communication, customer service, and self-management, as well as industry specific knowledge and skills including: quality control and industry standards, legislation, tools and equipment used in the industry, cleaning components, general engineering tasks, new and emerging technology, business responsibilities towards customers, stock security in the workplace, and the protection of vehicle electronics. Each strand comprises a set of compulsory standards, which reflect the specific requirements of each of the automotive specialist industry sectors, and an elective section that allows candidates to add further skills that are relevant to their position and/or specific workplace requirements.

In order to recognise a minimum and consistent set of fundamental competencies across all roles in all qualifications at each level, a common set of standards appear consistently across the core sections in all of the Level 3 qualifications in the Motor Industry subfield. This structure has been modelled on the Qualifications Roadmap (the motor industry career pathway document), which allows a candidate to move more easily between strands of qualifications in similar areas and to transfer skills from this qualification to other motor industry qualifications.

The qualification strands recognise the competencies required to work in a range of automotive specialist workplaces in:
. automotive heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) roles involved in the overall repair and servicing of HVAC and climate control units and their components in a manner that ensures compliance with legislative and environmental requirements
. automotive machining roles involved in the machining and reconditioning of engine and related automotive components
. diesel fuel injection roles involved in the reconditioning and servicing of diesel fuel pumps and governors
. motorsport roles requiring all aspects of competition vehicle preparation and maintenance before, during, and after race events, and vehicle and personal compliance with race event requirements.

This qualification is one of a suite of qualifications developed at the introductory to intermediate level for the motor industry. The qualifications in this suite are grouped to reflect the industry recognised sector subsets of: automotive body, automotive electrical and mechanical engineering, automotive heavy engineering, automotive specialist engineering, and vehicle servicing. In most cases these subsets are also divided into two levels to provide clearer entry points to and exit points from training.

People wishing to obtain information on career pathways should contact the NZ Motor Industry Training Organisation Incorporated (see contact details below).

While they are not considered prerequisites to this qualification, candidates may follow on from the National Certificate in Motor Industry (Foundation Skills) (Level 1) [Ref: 1222] or the National Certificate in Motor Industry (Entry Skills) (Level 2) with strands in Automotive Electrical and Mechanical, and Collision Repair [Ref: 1252], as a number of standards are common to these qualifications.

This qualification is a prerequisite for the award of the National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Specialist Engineering) (Level 4) with strands in Automotive Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning; Automotive Machining; Diesel Fuel Injection; and Motorsport [Ref: 1416].