Yesterday California Assembly Bill 2482 which would have established a registered interior design practice act was suspended in the Assembly Committee on Business, Professions, and Consumers evidently as a courtesy to allow the bill sponsor, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma a chance to amend and edit the bill to address concerns raised by those opposed to such a bill. Basically the supporters of AB2482 raised the white flag rather than push the bill forward in the face of stronger opposition.
Why should we care?
Good question. My simple answer is because California is the most populous state in the Union and has the most interior designers particularly if you include the innately qualified like this- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2130695/Justin-Timberlake-turns-interior-designer-launch-new-home-line.html?ito=feeds-newsxml and what happens in California does not stay in California.
Unfortunately the interior design profession in California is literally an island unto its own. However, it is a perfect beta site for the effort to regulate, via state government powers, the practice of Interior Design. Those that oppose the government regulation of Interior Design have created a private certification process by which designers that are so inclined can become “Certified”. Here is their explanation;
ABOUT CCIDC
Background on The California Council for Interior Design Certification
CCIDC was established in January 1992 as the organization responsible for administering the requirements of the Certified Interior Designers Law under Chapter 3.9, Section 5800 of the California Business and Professions Code.
After several years of legislative efforts by interior design groups and by the California Legislative Coalition for Interior Design a new law went into effect on January 1, 1991 outlining the parameters and responsibilities of work that an interior designer can perform. Along with these guidelines the listing of “Certified Interior Designer” was added to the California Business and Professions code, providing an official designation for interior designers who meet the education, experience and examination requirements as outlined by the California Council for Interior Design Certification.
- Under the Certified Interior Designers Law, Certified Interior Designers are qualified by the CCIDC upon evidence of a combination of interior design education and/or experience and passage of a designated examination.
- Only the CCIDC can determine eligibility to be a Certified Interior Designer in the State of California. Designers who meet the education, experience and examination criteria of the CCIDC Board are allowed to use the “Certified Interior Designer” title and are recognized in the State of California.
- Upon qualification, the Certified Interior Designer will be identified by an individual number which will appear on a certificate, a stamp with which to identify interior design nonstructural and non-seismic drawings and documents, and an identification card.
- Certified Interior Designers, as mandated by the State of California, have met high standards of qualification and have agreed to uphold a strict code of ethics and conduct.
So for 20 some years California has had a voluntary self-regulatory process for its Interior Designers. PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER suspects that it was implemented to spite the pro-regulation effort as championed by ASID.
So CCIDC http://www.ccidc.org/index.html is the private regulatory entity. Their grassroots coalition is the CLCID http://www.clcid.org/ …got that? So if you have been reading with me so far you may note the sponsors of CLCID are the very same organizations that steadfastly oppose government regulation (A.K.A. licensure) of interior design across the nation. In fact you could say that their goal is to de-professionalize the ID profession. So the Interior Design bed in California is a crazy mix of bedfellows and they really don’t care about the other 49 states and territories.
But hey it is after all California- BUT PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER does see merit in the self-regulatory process. There is some merit here and it deserves our consideration. See this discussion on this blog under comments for instance https://professionalinteriordesigner.com/2012/04/16/much-ado-about-nothing-redux-part-deux-redo/
California Assembly Bill 2482 was championed by the Interior Design Coalition of California http://www.idc-ca.org/ vis-a-vis ASID. Here is a good dialog explaining their position on government regulation of interior design http://www.linkedin.com/groups/IDCC-Interior-Design-Coalition-California-4296228?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr there are obviously some good points to be considered here.
If we thought the recent legal and political battles in Florida were convoluted and contentious California represents the Battle of the Bulge in regard to the use of the government to sort out the qualified interior designers from the not. PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER is determined to sort it out and present the facts on both sides of the issue so that if there is anything from this orgy that we can use to move the entire profession forward I think we need to consider it. More to follow- I’m off to grade NCIDQ exams…..again.
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