What is ASID's position on licensing interior designers?
Who are the organizations critical of ASID and its efforts?
Does ASID stand to gain financially from the legislative efforts?
How are legislative efforts initiated?
What is ASID's position on licensing interior designers?
ASID believes that, in the interest of the public good, the professional responsibilities of interior designers should be regulated. As such, ASID supports the examination and registration and licensure of the interior design profession. Interior design legislation sets standards of minimum competency for the profession as defined in law.
Interior design legislation is not intended to restrict anyone’s ability to offer decorative services, as the opposition would have you believe. The real goal of interior design legislation is to legally define the interior design profession and enable qualified interior designers to be able to practice their profession to the fullest extent of their capabilities.
The practice of interior design is restricted by statutes that were enacted decades ago before the practice of interior design as we now know it existed. These laws were enacted for a reason—to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public—but they were enacted before there was a formalized education, experience and examination path for interior designers. Now that there is, it is time that interior designers be recognized as professionals and allowed to fully practice their profession. With that right, though, comes the need for licensure laws that establish minimum competency to provide those services that do affect the public health, safety and welfare.
The interior design profession has evolved with the needs of families and individuals, in the home, workplace, where they heal, and where they spend their free time. Interior design professionals apply the latest science and technology to make those spaces as safe, efficient and as enjoyable as possible therefore interior designers should be educated, experienced and evaluated to ensure competency.
Who are the organizations critical of ASID and its efforts?
There are several organizations, including the Institute for Justice (IJ) and an offshoot called the Interior Design Protection Council, each with names that do not describe their activities (IDPC). IJ is one of the main organizations opposing interior design legislation, and is a primary member of IDPC. It is a libertarian organization that seeks to preserve a society without regulation. It asserts that legislation which restricts the title “interior designer” is a violation of First Amendment rights and discriminates against those who, for whatever reason, cannot meet the criteria set forth in the legislation. Organizations affiliated with IJ have opposed government regulation of arsenic in water, airbags in vehicles, and mandatory limits on the hours that truckers are allowed to drive.
The goal of interior design legislation is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. IJ’s public case against the profession is that interior design does not offer professional services that warrant a state interest in protecting consumers by requiring education, experience and evaluation of interior design professionals. This spurious charge not only misconstrues the nature of the services that the profession provides on a daily basis, but it defies common sense and reality. For example, interior design professionals are trained to evaluate how spaces can best accommodate four-generation workplaces, how lighting and noise can impact productivity, how air quality can affect asthma and other health issues, and how fabric and flooring materials can provide the best protection against toxic fumes in the event of a fire.
Does ASID stand to gain financially from the legislative efforts?
ASID as a Society does not gain financially from legislative efforts. ASID uses all of its legislative funds to help support the legislative initiatives of state coalitions and ASID chapters. A portion of the funds are allocated to ASID chapters and designated for use in its legislative activities. The remaining portion is pooled together to aid legislative initiatives in those states that are actively pursuing legislation.
How are legislative efforts initiated?
ASID is not the sole and driving force behind all interior design legislation. Certainly, ASID is supportive of legislative efforts to register and license interior designers, and interior design legislation is a priority for ASID. Those efforts, however, are typically initiated and led by coalitions of interior designers at the local level. Those interior design coalitions are comprised of members of ASID, as well as members of other interior design professional organizations and unaffiliated interior designers.