Hi Hadley Court readers, this is Leslie Carothers again, with another guest post in this series for friend and client, Leslie Hendrix Wood, while she’s on vacation this week with her family for Spring Break.
Today, I’m going to share with you the legal differences between someone calling themselves an *Interior Designer* vs. an *Interior Decorator* and what it means when someone calls themselves an * NCIDQ Certified Interior Designer* and help you understand what you really do need to consider before you contract for interior design services.
Today, {unlike in Sister Parish and Albert Hadley’s time, pictured above }, some of the most highly qualified professionals, the most experienced professionals, the most talented professionals, and some of the most inexperienced, can all, still, depending on the state they live in and whether or not that state has implemented laws regulating the use of the term *interior designer*, choose what they wish to call themselves: interior designers, interior decorators or simply: decorators, as Sister Parish did all her life.
Because of this, with one exception, what will always be most important to you as the potential purchaser of interior design services is: checking multiple references thoroughly, checking deeply into project management experience and searching for a personality & aesthetic match since you will often be working with your interior designer over a long period of time. Imagine if you had turned down working with Sister Parish because she insisted upon calling herself an interior decorator and had not passed an exam?
With that in mind, here’s the backstory on the legal differences between an interior designer and an interior decorator and the NCIDQ exam, so you can be fully informed.
For many years, some in the interior design/decorating industry in the US and Canada had worked to find a way to develop a standardized test for interior designers to help interior design establish itself on par with architecture as a distinguished profession with rigorous educational standards in place -as architecture has- even beyond receiving a 2 or 4 year college degree in interior design. Eventually this standardized test was developed, a difficult test called the NCIDQ.
Simultaneously, ASID, the American Association of Interior Designers , started working to pass state by state legislation that prohibited everyone, no matter their qualifications, from calling themselves by the title, *interior designer” unless the NCIDQ test had been passed or unless the existing design professional was grandfathered in, with various qualifications needed, usually years of experience and references.
Today, an interior decorator/designer cannot be a professional member of ASID unless they’ve passed the NCIDQ. They can be an allied member, but not a professional member.
To date, 29 states and provinces in Canada and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have some version of a law in place regulating the use of the title *interior designer.”
However, since these laws are still in fluctuation, since not every state has a law and since each state that does have this law has different rules around grandfathering, it makes it very confusing for you, as the purchaser of interior design services, to know what the differences are between individuals, which is why I’ve written this post.
That’s why it’s important to not get caught up in titles, { remember, you might miss working with a Sister Parish like talent if you do! } but to have an in-depth understanding of the project management skill set that will be needed to complete your home’s scope of work to your standards beforehand, and then to conduct a thorough interview and reference check of each person you’re considering hiring as an interior designer or decorator for your project.
So, the real question becomes: When IS it critical to hire { or have your current designer sub-contract with } an NCIDQ certified interior designer? When building codes are involved for commercial buildings especially for fire, and because an NCIDQ certified designer has an in-depth understanding of local,city,state sustainability standards and accessibility {ADA} standards. Why does this matter to you if you’re designing a commercial property? Legal liability.
NOTE: If the NCIDQ certified interior designer has passed the test, but has not worked on a current project similar to yours, they may not be as up to date on code requirements as necessary for your project. This is VERY important from the legal standpoint. Protect yourself by getting, or requiring your current design team to get, as much documentation as you can, in writing and up front, about an NCIDQ certified interior designer’s current work on projects similar to yours.
And, although it took her a while,
Sister Parish, who was this century’s most famous decorator, did, in 1962, partner with Albert Hadley, who was an architect. She knew her limitations, and her strengths, and they went on to have the most successful collaborative partnership in interior design history.
Leslie Carothers
for
Leslie Hendrix Wood
Decorator
Chancellor Interiors
Midland, Texas
and
Founder and Editor In Chief
https://hadleycourt.com