NYS Interior Design:License Requirements

General Requirements |
Fees |
Partial Refunds |
Education and Experience Requirements |
Credit for Education |
Examination Requirement

General Requirements

Any use of the title “Certified Interior Designer,” within
New York State requires licensure.

To be licensed as a certified interior designer in New York State you
must:

• be at least 21 years of age
• meet education and examination requirements
• meet experience requirements
• be of good moral character

You must submit an application for licensure and the other forms indicated,
along with the appropriate fee, to the Office of the Professions at the
address specified on each form. It is your responsibility to follow up
with anyone you have asked to send us material.

The specific requirements for licensure are contained in Title 8, Article
161,
Section 8305 of New York Education Law and Section
52.18 and
Subpart 79-3 of the Commissioner’s
Regulations.

You should also read the general
licensing information applicable for all professions.

Fees

The licensure fee for Certified Interior Design is $377.

The fee listed is the fee that is currently in place when this page was
posted. Fees are subject to change. The fee due is the one in law when
your application is received (unless fees are increased retroactively).
We will bill you for the difference if fees have been increased.

NOTE: Payment submitted from outside the United States
should be made by check or draft on a United States bank
and in United States currency; payments submitted in any
other form will not be accepted and will be returned. Your
canceled check is your receipt.

Partial Refunds

• Partial refunds may be granted only if you submit a written
  request, fax, or email to withdraw your licensure application.
• The New York State Education Department is not responsible for any
  fees paid to an outside testing agency.

If you withdraw your application, obtain a refund, and then decide to
seek New York State licensure at a later date, you will be considered a
new applicant and be required to pay the licensure and registration fees
and meet the licensure requirements in place at the time of reapplication.

Education and Experience Requirements

Eligibility for licensure is based on a combination of education and experience
for which years of credit are awarded. The credit awarded for education
determines the required number of years of experience.

You must accrue at least seven years of acceptable education and experience
credits, including the following:

• At least two but no more than five years of postsecondary
  education in an approved program of interior design, including
  an associate degree or its equivalent; and
• At least two years of interior design work experience satisfactory
  to the State Board for Interior Design. To be acceptable for licensure
  your practical experience must:
  • be under the direct supervision of an interior designer,
    architect, or professional engineer;
  • within the bounds of interior design practice as set forth in section
    8303 of the Education Law, demonstrate diverse experience in all
    aspects of project planning and execution; and
  • reflect increased levels of professional growth.

Credit for Education

You may earn two years of education/experience credit for completion of
an associate degree interior design program or four years credit for completion
of a baccalaureate degree interior design program if the program is:

• registered by the New York State Education Department as
  licensure-qualifying, or
• accredited by an acceptable accrediting agency, or
• considered to be an “equivalent” program.

The Council for Interior Design
Accreditation (CIDA – formerly FIDER, Foundation for Interior Design
Education Research) is an acceptable professional accrediting agency
for interior design for programs accredited at the professional level.

Earlier programs that were CIDA-accredited at the pre-professional assistant level will be reviewed for equivalency to an associate-degree curriculum.

For a program to be considered “equivalent:”

• A baccalaureate degree curriculum must contain at
  least 48 semester hours of coursework in the following
  content areas:
  1. drafting and presentation techniques;
  2. fundamentals of space planning and design;
  3. materials and methods of construction;
  4. furniture, finishes, and equipment;
  5. history of architecture and the decorative
     arts;
  6. codes – construction, fire, safety, and accessibility;
  7. environmental and building systems;
  8. color theory and application;
  9. business practices and ethics; and
  10. construction documents.
• An associate degree curriculum must contain at least 30 semester hours
  of coursework in content areas (1) through (6) listed above for a baccalaureate
  degree curriculum.

Additionally, you may also earn education/experience credit for
postsecondary-level courses completed in the content areas listed
for a baccalaureate degree curriculum if the courses are offered
through an approved program as described at the beginning of
this section.

Examination Requirement

You are required to pass all three sections of the Council for
Interior Design Qualification (CIDQ) Examination which is administered
twice yearly in April and October. The examination consists of the following
three sections:

• Section 1 – Fundamentals – IDFX
• Section 2 – Professional – IDPX
• Section 3 – Practicum – PRAC 2.0

If you have taken the NCIDQ examination prior to October
2000, and were
not successful in passing all sections of the examination, then you must
take all three sections of the new examination.

If you have passed the NCIDQ examination prior to 1990, you must have
also taken and passed the Building & Barrier Free Codes section of
the examination prior to October 2000 or taken and passed Section I of
the examination between October 2000 and January 2004.

Contact CIDQ for eligibility requirements, fees, and other examination
information at:

CIDQ
225 Reinekers Lane
Suite 210
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone 202-721-0220, Fax: 202-721-0221
Email [email protected]
Web www.cidq.org

If you have a disability and may require reasonable testing accommodations
for the examination, please contact the Council for Interior Design
Qualification (CIDQ) for information on the procedures for requesting
such accommodations.