Tennessee Interior Design Consumer Protection Act
House Bill 84 / Senate Bill 210
Introduced February 5, 2007, deferred March 18, 2008.

HB84 has been deferred. It will be reintroduced in the 106th General Assembly, beginning in January of 2009.

SB210 has been deferred. It will be reintroduced in the 106th General Assembly, beginning in January of 2009.

2007/ 2008 House Sponsors:

House Sponsors: Representative Janis Sontany
House Sponsors: Representative Rob Briley
House Sponsors: Representative J. Thomas DuBois
House Sponsors: Representative John Mark Windle
House Sponsors: Representative Beth Harwell
House Sponsors: Representative Robert Bibb

2007/ 2008 Senate Sponsors:

Senate Sponsors: Senator Bill Ketron
Senate Sponsors: Senator Joe Haynes

It’s About Protecting the Public.

Every decision an interior designer makes affects life safety and quality of life.

		Did you know that there are over 700 fires per month in buildings accessed by the public where interior finish materials and content were the first items ignited?
		Did you know that those 700 fires per month cause 23 civilian deaths, 330 civilian injuries and over $399 million in direct property damage?
		Did you know that qualified interior designers can help reduce the damage?

Legal recognition establishes enforceable standards of minimum competency and ensures that only qualified individuals design interior spaces and represent themselves as having the qualifications to do so. By providing legal definitions of the scope of interior design services and who may refer to themselves as an interior designer, legislation helps consumers differentiate the responsibilities and services of each of the design professions, helping them choose the appropriate professional for their projects and bringing them the benefit of more 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. Licensure provides standards of practice embodied in an enforceable code of ethics, and allows consumers a means of addressing grievances with interior designers and prevents unethical designers from continuing to practice.

It’s About Recognizing a Profession. States legally recognize the interior design profession through legislation that establishes minimum standards of qualification that must be met to become registered in the state.

Through these established standards, interior design legislation protects and benefits public health, safety and welfare. In addition to establishing standards of minimum competency for the profession, interior design laws legally recognize interior design as a profession and often define its scope of practice.

Professional licensure laws do not say who provides “good design” or “bad design.” This is a subjective decision best made by the client. Instead, professional regulations set a minimum level of competencies required to practice a profession.

Generally, there are two types of interior design legislation. Title Acts (registration), which set standards for the use of a certain title but do not prevent anyone from practicing interior design and Practice Acts (licensure), which require that professionals obtain a state licenses to offer interior design services.

The Tennessee Interior Design Consumer Protection Act seeks, through licensing, to ensure that interior designers are qualified by education, experience and examination to practice interior design in Tennessee.

		education Completing a degree in interior design is an essential element to the professional practice of interior design. This formal education prepares the professional interior designer with a unique array of knowledge and skills specific to the interior design environment. In addition, continuous life-long learning to keep abreast of important changes in the field is an important component in professional practice as well. Continuing education for licensed professions is a requirement of Tennessee’s state licensing board. For more information on the educational requirements of this bill, click here.
		experience A well-rounded work experience facilitates the development of competent interior designers who can provide interior design services and work as professional members of any design team. Work experience is required of candidates for the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) examination and all state licensing boards require proof of quality interior design experience for licensure and/or registration. For more information on the experience requirements of this bill, click here.
		examination Examination is the final step in determining whether or not an individual has met the minimum competency standards to practice a profession. The NCIDQ exam is currently the only examination that tests minimum competency in the full-body of interior design knowledge. The NCIDQ examination is entirely directed at public health, safety and welfare. For more information on the examination requirements of this bill, click here.