AZ INTERIOR DESIGN ALERT

With your help, Interior Design licensing is NOT inevitable.

 
 
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
 

  • What can I do to prevent this legislation from going through?

Never underestimate the power of one!  One voice joined with one more voice means a great deal.  Join your voice with our grassroots effort to defeat legislation.  Add your name to our information delivery system, grassrootsfordesignfreedom@yahoo.com; call or email your lawmakers; call or email the members of the Commerce Committees in both House and Senate (click here to find your legislators); tell those you know in the industry: designers, vendors, fabricators, showroom owners, clients and anyone else you know to do the same as above.  YOU have the power to stop this legislation, but only if you take action NOW.

  • Why do we need interior design regulation?

We don’t need regulation.  It’s hard to nail down the reasons the coalitions are proposing this type legislation all over the country, especially in light of the fact that very few of their own members will actually qualify to work under the rules they seek to impose.

 

  • What are the coalitions saying is the reason we need these laws?

The language over the past five years has changed from state to state and also, it has changed in the same state from year to year, so we have to pay very close attention in order to know the current proposal.  This year, they are asking to change the Board of Technical Registration to include interior designers along with the architects and engineers as those qualified to stamp/seal their own plans.  This will include imposing levels of interior designers in Arizona as they will then be “Registered” interior designers.  Folks, that’s licensing of interior designers.  And there are other ways for them to attain the right to stamp/seal their own plans.

 

  • What is wrong with letting some designers have the authority to stamp their own plans?
The problem is that this is an innocuous means of getting their foot in the door toward full blown legislation.  Every state in the country that has started with some simple innocuous bill on the books has modified, tightened and upgraded their laws outside the view of practitioners until before you know it, you really cannot practice anymore until you leave the profession, meet their arbitrary educational requirements, work as an indentured servant for three years under a “Certificate" holder (that is ASID speak for “Professional” interior designers except that many of the so called “Professional” designers are NOT Certificate Holders), ignore the many years you have already worked successfully in the industry and start at the very bottom of the profession all over again.

And remember one very important thing:  the law language can be very innocuous, but the actual rules of the legislation will not be written until AFTER the law is passed.  Sounds impossible, but it is true.  So after this innocuous law is passed and the board seats one or more coalition members to speak for YOU, then they can rule that you have to jump through countless hoops or no hoops at all.  But if there are going to be no hoops to jump through, why would they be passing a law?  We recommend that you play it safe and refuse to accept any law at all and encourage the coalition to seek other means of reaching their stated goal of stamping their own plans.

 

  • What about claims that unlicensed interior designers are putting clients in harms way on the issue of health, safety and welfare?

In fact, there has never been even one documented case that anyone has been materially harmed on these issues.  Since record keeping began, only one suit was filed on grounds of health, safety, welfare or code violations that might lead to problems on those grounds between 1907 and 1982.  Not so coincidentally, 1982 was the year the first state upgraded their Title Act to a Practice Act.  Nonetheless, only three suits have been filed in the last 25 years, all of which were settled amicably.  The REAL problem is the number of suits that have been filed against designers BY designers turning each other in!  All other suits filed, and there really have been very few of those, have been based on contractual disputes, quality of product issues and similar issues.

 

  • We’ve been told that interior design regulation is inevitable, so why don’t we just get on with it?

In fact, interior design legislation is NOT inevitable unless you don’t get on board with the opposition and let your lawmakers know you don’t want it, it’s not necessary and it’s potentially devastating to your business.  In 2007 alone, thirteen states faced attempts by the coalitions to pass new legislation or upgrade existing laws to make it more restrictive to practice interior design.  Not one of them passed, although, three of them are still pending.  Of those three, there is strong opposition in two of the states which bodes well for failure there as well.

 

  • Why do I care what happens in other states?

If many other states pass interior design laws, it’s possible that Arizona State lawmakers may be persuaded that licensing is wanted throughout the United States and therefore, pass laws here.  Further, when the coalitions get laws passed, they have precedent to rely on to go to the next state to seek passage.  It is the stated goal of ASID to get interior design legislation passed in some form in every state and then to advance those states over time to pass the Practice Act. 

 

  • Why is ASID interested in passing legislation in every state?
Only ASID can say for sure, but we have researched this issue thoroughly over the years.  For every excuse they have given for the need for licensing, someone has been able to effectively rebut the argument for licensing.  So reasonable people have to question their motives.  Certainly, if the laws get passed that they are trying for, everyone who practices may have to work under ASID imposed rules…rules as to where you get your education, how much continuing education and where you get it, what you can and cannot do as a licensed interior designer, how much insurance you must carry, what test you must take and pass and which ones you can’t and other rules and regulations that may, from time to time, be imposed.  To date, all the rules channel huge sums of money into ASID and related agencies.  So is it really about the money?  Control of the industry?  You decide.

 

  • We want to be perceived as being professionals.  Won’t licensing make us more professional?

The only thing that will make practitioners more professional is the way they conduct themselves.  Designers who have as their value system to treat their clients in the most respectful and professional manner already exist and probably make up the vast majority of designers practicing today.  Those who do not embrace these practices don’t seem to last in the industry.  It is said that if a license makes one a professional, there would be no malpractice suits against “professionals” such as doctors, lawyers, CPAs, architects, contractors and other licensed trades.  We are what we are and no test or license impacts our basic natures.  So we are really just talking about the perception or misperception of professionalism.  If you are only interested in being perceived as a professional, licensing is for you, at least until your clients realize the facts.  We suggest that designers conduct themselves in the most professional manner possible, treat your clients with respect, provide what you agree to provide, keep appointments and keep your word.  In other words, be professional!

 

  • What if I have been working as an interior designer for many years with no formal education?

Well, if the IDCA coalition has their way and gets this Bill passed, you can forget that you ever worked a day!  The new rules for the NCIDQ test rule out any experience in the field as a qualifier to take the test, even if you have run a successful interior design business for many years.  Again, the key is to keep this legislation from passing. 

 

  • We’ve been told that this legislation will be voluntary.  Is that true?

The coalition is saying that the law will be voluntary.  The real question is, does it make sense to pass a voluntary LAW?  If you come to a stop sign at an intersection, can you imagine it being a voluntary “stop?”    How much does it cost for the state to administer a “voluntary” law?  When we met with the Board of Technical Registration, we were told there was absolutely no way they had the money to administer a voluntary law and they must have a mandated law that covered every practitioner who would have to pay annual fees to the state in order for there to be sufficient funds to administer a law, any law.  But let’s not forget, any bill language we see today can be changed minutes before it is voted on, thereby giving us a completely different law than the one we expected.  Also, any law passed today can become a completely different matter in a year or so.  The only good legislation is the one that never gets introduced!!!