Interior design is more than aesthetics. NCIDQ Certified interior designers apply building and fire codes, calculate occupancy loads, identify load-bearing vs. non-load-bearing walls and components (which can collapse), design adequate pathways to exit a building in an emergency, ensure that appropriate materials are used to reduce slip and fall risk, or which minimize the release of toxic fumes in the event of a fire, and that spaces are accessible for persons with disabilities to name several examples.

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When these activities are done improperly, the public is endangered. You wouldn't allow an unlicensed architect or engineer to design a skyscraper, right?

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​Not everyone is competent to do this work in regulated public spaces where improper design can endanger large numbers of people (in hospitals, hotels, convention centers, airports, arenas, etc.). Only competent professionals should be allowed to work independently in these public spaces.

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The majority of United States and Canadian jurisdictions currently regulate Interior design, but some still have no laws overseeing interior design practice.  Lack of oversight could make public spaces less safe and lack of legal recognition discriminates against a female-dominated profession.

Reasonable regulation of the interior design profession ensures that only competent and qualified designers can work independently in code-regulated spaces. Reasonable regulation protects the public from fraudulent, unqualified, and unethical practitioners, and increases consumer choice.

 

​​​​​The rigorous NCIDQ Exam assesses the competency of interior designers to practice independently in a manner that protects public health, safety, and welfare. CIDQ supports policies and legislation that enable interior designers to practice to the full extent of their demonstrated capabilities and be held accountable for their work…just like other design professionals such as architects and engineers with whom they frequently collaborate.