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Why should Interior Designers be licensed?
The interior design of structures and environments significantly affects the health, safety and welfare of the public.
Licensure establishes standards of minimum competency, including education, experience and examination, which are enforceable.
Licensure ensures that qualified individuals design interior spaces.
By providing a legal definition of the scope of practice, legislation helps consumers differentiate the responsibilities and services of each of the design professions. It allows consumers to choose the appropriate professional and brings the benefit of open competition to the design process.
Legal recognition enables a state or jurisdiction to discipline an interior designer. Without the ability to regulate and discipline a profession, a jurisdiction cannot protect the public.
Professional recognition of interior designers benefits and protects the public in other ways. It provides standards of practice embodied in an enforceable code of ethics, which incorporates professional fiduciary responsibilities.
Education: The Council for Interior Design Accreditation According to the professional standards of the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), there are twelve program standards that an interior design program must comply or partially comply with in order to meet the established accreditation standards. Standards 1 through 8, the educational standards, are evaluated through the review of opportunities, experiences, and information the program presents to students; examination of student work; interviews; and on-side observation. Standards 9 through 12 relate to faculty, facilities, administration, and assessment. These standards use indicators as guiding criteria and allow a variety of approaches to accommodate institutional and program philosophy, mission and goals.
Experiences: Interior Design Experience Program After interior designers complete their formal education, they can continue their professional career path by enrolling in an Interior Design Experience Program (IDEP). The Interior Design Experience Program (IDEP) is a monitored documented experience program administered by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) for graduates of interior design education programs. The career path of a professional designer involves formal education, entry-level work experience, and a qualifying examination. Entry-level work experience is required of candidates for the NCIDQ examination, as well as by major interior design organizations for professional membership, examination, as well as by major interior design organizations for professional membership. State and provincial licensing board require proof of quality interior design experience for licensure and/or registration. IDEP has been developed to assist entry-level interior designers in obtaining a broad range of quality professional experience and to establish performance guidelines for the world experience of new designers. Most Important, IDEP facilitates the development of competent interior designers who can provide exemplary interior design services and work as members of teams of professionals involved in the design of the built environment. The general purpose of IDEP is to:
Reinforce the interior design graduate's
education. The IDEP program has been developed using the Definition of an Interior Designer and the Common Body of Knowledge established by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).
Examination: The NCIDQ Examination Examination is an elemental component of determining whether or not an individual has met the minimum competency standards. All states and jurisdictions with licensing or registration laws in place use examination as a qualifying measure for the licensure or registration or professions use examination as a qualifying measure for the licensure or registration or professions. In order to inform consumers and protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, it is essential that states and jurisdictions recognize an examination that test the necessary minimum competency for the practice of interior design. The National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) is the nationally recognized interior design testing agency. The NCIDQ examination is the only national interior design exam developed and administered in the United States by an agency that is independent from other interior design organizations. The NCIDQ examination is entirely directed at public health, safety and welfare. The NCIDQ is currently the only examination that tests minimum competency is the full body of interior design knowledge. The NCIDQ tests six performance areas:
Project organization In order to be eligible for the examination, an applicant must first complete a combination of education plus experience of not less than six years, of which two years must be formal interior design education. Passage of the NCIDQ examination shows that an individual has met the minimum standards of competency to practice interior design. For more information, contact www.ncidq.org.
Life Long Learning- Interior Design CEUs A CEU is a continuing education profession hour. One clock hour of instruction equates to .1 CEU: therefore 1.0 CEU is equal to ten contract hours of instruction (excluding breaks and meals). IDCEC is Interior Design Continuing Education Council. IDCEC has six member organizations involved in joint approval CEU.
American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Course content must focus on specific applications and/or knowledge that directly relates to the practice of interior design. Subject matter must be generic in nature, product-oriented material and promotion of products, services, books, video or audio tapes in strictly prohibited. Currently 14 states or jurisdiction require licensed or registered interior designers to meet continuing education requirements: Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, DC, Wisconsin Economic Impact of Interior Design
The highly specialized and technical knowledge
of professional interior designers can have a significant positive
impact by reducing injury, sick leave and medical insurance costs:
increasing well-being and productivity, and conserving energy and other
scarce resources, thereby reducing costs to consumers and business.
The total
professional design fees, from the largest 100 firms: $1,441 Billion. The firms employed: 1400 interior designers. The results were 21.1% higher than 1999 results.
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