BILL ANALYSIS
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| Hearing Date: April 14, |Bill No:SB |
|2008 |1312 |
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, Chair
Bill No: SB 1312Author: Yee
As Amended:March 24, 2008 Fiscal: Yes
SUBJECT: Registered interior designers.
SUMMARY: Eliminates the California Architects Board (CAB)
and instead establishes the California Architects and
Registered Interior Designers Board (CARIDB); establishes a
registration and regulation program for registered interior
designers under the newly-established CARIDB.
Existing law:
1)Provides for a state sanctioned private certification
program for interior designers, whereby only
practitioners who meet specified education and experience
standards, and who pass a privately administered
examination, may use the title "certified interior
designer," but does not otherwise limit any person from
practicing interior design.
2)Provides for the licensure and regulation of some 22,000
architects by the CAB within the Department of Consumer
Affairs (DCA) and imposes various related fees that are
deposited in the California Architects Board Fund, a
continuously appropriated fund.
3)Provides that the CAB consists of 10 members, including:
a) 5 architects (appointed by the Governor)
b) 5 public members (3 appointed by the Governor, 1
appointed by Senate Rules, 1 appointed by the
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Speaker).
This bill:
1)Eliminates the CAB and instead establishes the CARIDB
consisting of 12 members, including:
a) 5 architects (appointed by the Governor)
b) 4 registered interior designers (2 appointed by
Senate Rules, 2 appointed by the Speaker)
c) 3 public members (1 appointed by the Governor, 1
appointed by Senate Rules, 1 appointed by the
Speaker).
2)Renames the California Architects Board Fund, the
California Architects and Registered Interior Designers
Fund and authorizes the Board to impose various fees on
registered interior designers, which would be deposited
in that fund.
3)Establishes a registration and regulation program for
registered interior designers under the newly-established
CARIDB.
4)Defines various terms, including "registered interior
design" and "practice of registered interior design" to
mean rendering services to enhance the quality and
function of an interior area within a structure, and
includes:
a) Analysis of a client's needs and goals for the
interior area.
b) Formulation of preliminary designs, including space
planning, for the interior area.
c) Development and presentation of final designs of
the interior area.
d) Preparation of contract documents for the
alteration or construction of the interior area.
e) Collaboration with professional engineers,
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architects for the alteration or construction of the
interior area.
f) Preparation and administration of bids or contract
documents for the alteration or construction of the
interior area as the agent of a client.
g) Review and evaluation of problems relating to the
design of the interior area during alteration or
construction, and upon its completion.
5)Exempts from the chapter relating to registered interior
design:
a) Architects and engineers.
b) Persons employed by, working under the responsible
control of, or consultants to a registered interior
designer.
a) Persons who prepare drawings used in interior
design if the preparation, implementation or
installation is not regulated by a building code or
other law governing the alteration of construction of
a structure.
b) Employees of retail establishments providing
consultation about interior decoration or furnishings
the purpose of retail sales.
6)Establishes requirements to obtain a certificate of
registration from the CARIDB, including:
a) Not committed or been convicted of specified acts
in violation of the law.
b) Education and experience requirements, as
specified.
c) Pass the examination administered by the National
Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ).
7)Includes a "grandfather" provision whereby any person who
holds the private "certification" authorized by existing
law may be issued a certificate of registration by the
CARIDB if they apply before January 1, 2011 and
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demonstrate 10 years of experience or 8 years of
experience and 2 years of specified education.
8)Requires that "grandfathered" registered interior
designers who have not passed the NCIDQ examination must
pass Section 1 of the examination within the first two
renewal periods (4 years) of their registration.
9)Prohibits the practice of registered interior design or
use of the title "registered interior designer" without a
certificate of registration.
a) Specifies that the prohibition does not prohibit a
person certified by a private organization using a
title protected under law, provided that its use does
not connote registration under the chapter.
10)Enacts various provisions regarding the practice of
registered interior design, including, but not limited
to, practice requirements, registration requirements,
conditions for registration renewals, and grounds for
revocation or suspension of a registration, among other
disciplinary actions.
11)Makes a violation of any of these provisions a
misdemeanor, punishable by a fine and imprisonment, as
specified.
12)Additionally, makes a violation of any of these
provisions subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000
for each violation.
13)Makes technical and conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the Interior Design
Coalition of California (Sponsor). According to the
Sponsor:
"In the interest and for the protection of the
public health, safety and welfare, SB 1312 creates a
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Practice Act for Registered Interior Designers in
California. The measure amends the current
California Architects Board into the California
Architects and Registered Interior Designers Board.
It further defines a scope of practice, and
establishes education, experience and examination
requirements, and provides a voluntary registration
process and regulation for interior designers who
provide specific code-affecting services.
This bill ensures that interior designers that do
not provide code-affecting services may continue to
use the title "interior designer."
The bill authorizes the Board to establish fees for
the registration process, and provides for oversight
of registered interior design professionals and
disciplinary action by the CARIDB.
The measure also provides an opportunity and an
ample timeframe for certified interior designers and
interior designers with varying education and
experience to apply and qualify for registration.
The measure also requires continuing education for
registered interior designers.
2.Background and History. There is a lengthy and at times
tumultuous history regarding interior design in
California. In 1990, Senator William Craven introduced
SB 153 (Chapter 396, Statutes of 1990) to establish an
Interior Designer Practice Act. Eventually, the bill was
amended to instead establish title protection for
"certified interior designers" who obtain a stamp from a
private nonprofit organization. The stamp certifies that
the interior designer has provided the interior design
organization with evidence of meeting certain
qualifications including examination, education and
experience requirements. After SB 153 passed, the
California Council for Interior Design Certification
(CCIDC) was established in 1992, to issue certifications
under the law.
AB 1096 (Romero) in the 1999-2000 Legislative Session would
have created a Practice Act and established an
independent Board of Interior Design for the purpose of
registering interior designers. That bill would have
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repealed the private certification program for interior
designers and established a nine-member Board of Interior
Design in the DCA to register interior designers.
AB 1096 would have shifted the funds, and transferred files
and data from the CCIDC to the newly established board.
The measure, which was sponsored by the California
Council for Interior Design Certification and the
California Legislative Conference on Interior Design, was
vetoed by the Governor.
3.Arguments in Support. The Sponsor makes the following
arguments in support of the bill:
a) Many highly qualified interior designers will be
excluded from specific scope of work defined in the
International Building Code (IBC) because there is not
a process for "registration" of interior designers in
California, as there are in other states. Because
interior designers must rely on the review of their
work by other "registered design professionals,"
consumer costs increase for professional services
related to design projects. The added costs and delay
for consumers is often unnecessary as many interior
designers are educated, trained and highly proficient
in performing specific professional interior design
services.
When the State lacks a statute that defines the scope of
work, individual building departments define it
because they are concerned about their liability.
Therefore, continuity is lacking throughout the State
for interior designers to serve their clients
effectively because of differing restrictions placed
on them by the various building departments. Some
local building officials will accept work from
certified interior designers and others do not.
By providing a clear definition of scope of practice for
registered interior designers, along with specific
education, experience and examination requirements,
building officials will have the assurance that work
submitted by registered interior design professionals
will be of a quality backed by education, experience
and examination.
b) The current certification process does not provide
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actual state oversight or offer an enforcement
mechanism other than taking away the "title" certified
interior designer.
Further, only one of the three current examinations,
which are offered through the California Council for
Interior Design Certification to certify interior
designers, meets the standards for testing defined by
the Department of Consumer Affairs. This examination
established by the National Council for Interior
Design Qualification is used by most other states that
have licensure or registration of interior design
professionals. SB 1312 would prescribe the NCIDQ
examination as the standard examination for
registration.
4.Arguments in Opposition. The California Legislative
Coalition for Interior Design (CLCID), the National
Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), and the Interior
Design Society (IDS) oppose the bill, arguing that SB
1312 will have devastating consequences for a large
percentage of interior design professionals currently
doing business in California. They further believe that
the bill will prohibit existing certified interior
designers from continuing their practice and give
authority to determine who can practice interior design
in California to the sponsors of the bill.
The CLCID believes the bill would discriminate against many
current professional interior designers in California by
"requiring us to become licensed through an out of state
organization that will not recognize our qualifications."
They argue the bill would not protect the consumer and
adds an unjustified layer of bureaucracy to the already
overburdened state budget. The bill will raise exam and
licensing costs which will result in higher prices passed
on to the consumer; and, only add additional cost to the
services that an interior designer provides making it
more exclusive and out of reach for many consumers,
according to the CLCID. The CLCID states that the
current certification process in California already
requires an interior designer to follow a code of ethics
and pass an exam covering California codes and
regulations. They argue that this bill will exclude many
designers from becoming registered because of
hard-to-meet requirements and will criminalize certain
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acts subjecting them to severe penalties.
The NKBA does not believe that there is any compelling need
to add to the State's regulatory scheme and license
interior designers, especially given the impact on the
many thousands of employees in California who, under the
definition of "interior design" set forth in the proposed
bill, would be prohibited from practicing their
profession by the broad sweep of this law.
American Institute of Architects, California Counsel
(AIACC) states that practice acts should be enacted only
to protect the public, arguing that interior designers
are often an integral part in the design process, and
frequently work with architects in planning and designing
interior spaces. However, their knowledge, acquired
through education and experience, does not include the
whole building system, and this knowledge is necessary to
protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
5.International Building Code (IBC) Requirements. As
stated above, proponents are concerned that the IBC
requirements would exclude many highly qualified interior
designers from specific scope of work defined because
there is not a process for "registration" of interior
designers in California.
As of January 1, 2008, the State of California adopted
the 2007 California Building Code (Title 24 of the
California Code of Regulations). Part 2 of Title 24 is
based upon the IBC and defines "registered design
professional" as: "An individual who is registered or
licensed to practice their respective design profession
as defined by the statutory requirements of the
professional registration laws of the state or
jurisdiction in which the project is to be constructed"
(CCR, Title 24, Part 2, Volume 1, Chapter 2).
While the definition states "registered" or "licensed,"
California law does not currently require interior
designers to be registered or licensed in order to
practice interior design. California law refers to
"certified" interior designers (BPC 5800). Despite the
inclusion of the word "certified" in the definition in
Section 5800, California has no governmental
certification program or licensing scheme for interior
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designers, but rather provides for voluntary
certification by a professional interior design
organization. A certified interior designer may obtain a
stamp from an interior design organization certifying
that the person has submitted evidence of passage of an
interior design examination approved by that interior
design organization along with completion of specified
education and experience requirements. Local building
officials, in exercising discretion in the acceptance of
plans submitted by certified interior designers are
required to reference the Uniform Building Code.
However, any person including certified interior
designers may furnish labor and materials with or without
plans, of nonstructural or nonseismic work.
To provide clarification on this issue, a 2000
Legislative Counsel opinion addressed the question posed
by Senator Bruce McPherson of whether under the (then)
proposed 2000 International Building Code, local building
officials in California would be prohibited from
accepting interior design plans from certified interior
designers who are not registered design professionals.
Counsel opined that under that proposed code, local
building officials in California would not be prohibited
from accepting interior design plans from certified
interior designers. Counsel further stated that
California law allows a certified interior designer to
engage in programming, planning, designing, and
documenting programming, planning, designing, and
documenting the construction and installation of
nonstructural or non-seismic elements, finishes and
furnishings within the interior spaces of a building.
"Thus while California does not license or register
interior designers, it allows certified interior
designers to submit interior design plans to local
building officials." Counsel further indicated, if the
law was amended to make the IBC applicable in California,
local building officials would continue to have authority
under California law to accept interior design plans from
persons, including certified interior designers, who are
not registered design professionals.
6.Sunrise Questionnaire Competed by Sponsors. Government
Code Sections 9148 et seq. require that "Prior to
consideration by the Legislature of legislation . . .
creating a new category of licensed professional, a plan
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for the establishment and operation of the proposed . . .
new category of licensed professional shall be developed
by the Author or Sponsor of the legislation." Rules of
this Committee require the Author or Sponsor to complete
a "Sunrise Questionnaire" (Questionnaire) prior to
consideration of the measure by the Committee. The
Committee's Questionnaire was completed by the Sponsors
to meet the requirements of the Government Code and the
Rules of the Committee. The Questionnaire is designed to
assist proponents of new regulatory programs to collect
and organize information necessary for objective
evaluation by the Committee of the need and justification
for the proposal.
With regard to the clients served by practitioners, the
Questionnaire states: Interior design practitioners work
with any consumers who have requested services to
facilitate some or all aspects of the built environment.
Practitioners' clients can be individuals or
organizations, a finite number from each group is
unknown, but can be extrapolated from the following
figures. Of the 4,279 California American Society of
Interior Designers members, 30% work exclusively on
commercial projects, 20% on residential and the remaining
50% report they work in both fields. The International
Interior Design Association works primarily in a
commercial setting; therefore, it can be assumed that 90%
of its members work in the commercial setting .
Additionally, commercial, residential and healthcare
clients can hire designers who have specific expertise in
aspects of design. These aspects include and are not
limited to such areas as accessible design (ADA),
sustainable/green design, and universal design. Also,
there are interior designers who are concerned with
different issues such as environmental/ecological,
economic, ethical and the social aspects and impacts of
design.
With regard to the likelihood of harm that can come through
unlicensed practice, the Questionnaire states that, many
areas of harm are covered by building codes which are
written to ameliorate as much harm as possible. It is in
the lack of utilizing them or the interpretation of those
building codes in an incompetent manner that increases or
creates harm. The injuries can range from slip and fall
due to a non-code compiling flooring being utilized to
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the inability of a disabled individual to have full use
of a space due to lack of code mandated items such as
grab bars in restrooms or proper turning radius being
provided. Ultimately, there is no method to preclude
injury from regulated professions only the reduction and
subsequent removal of incompetent individuals from that
scope if found in violation of the standards.
The Questionnaire states that there are currently no
established methods to remove incompetent practice and
the only current remedies for consumers is through legal
redress via the court system,
7.Policy Issues. Several policy issues are raised
regarding the design and effect of this bill.
a) This bill would repeal the CAB and instead
establish a CARIDB. The current CAB has 10 members,
with 5 architects, and 5 public members. The new
CARIDB would have 12 members, with 5 architects, 4
registered interior designers, and 3 public members.
This would reduce the public member balance on the
CARIDB. This Committee and the Legislature have an
established policy which encourages and promotes
public member majorities on non-health licensing
boards. As currently drafted, this bill would be
contrary to this policy.
In addition, it would appear that rather than
dramatically changing the existing CAB in this manner,
it may be appropriate to consider instead establishing
a technical committee under the CAB similar to the
Landscape Architects Technical Committee (LATC), which
exercises licensing, regulatory and disciplinary
functions with reference to licensed landscape
architects. The LATC is composed of 5 professional
members, and operates under the jurisdiction of the
Architect's Board.
The Author may wish to consider amending the bill to
establish a similar committee under the CAB to
register interior designers .
b) As discussed above, under current law, interior
designers may receive a certification from a private
certification design organization through a voluntary
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program. The opponents of this bill have argued that
the bill will either force existing interior designers
to become registered as this bill provides, or either
force them out of the business because they cannot
meet the requirements to sit for the NCIDQ
examination.
The Author's staff and the Sponsors have stated that it
is not the intent of the bill to put any of those who
currently are certified out of business, or change the
way they operate in California. However, there appear
to be certain elements in the bill which seem to be
restrictive. For example, the bill defines the
practice of registered interior design to mean
rendering certain services (See Item # 4) above), and
prohibits the practice of registered interior design
or use of the title registered interior designer
without a certificate of registration (See Item # 9)
above). Since a certified interior designer carries
out many of those activities that are defined as the
practice of registered interior design, it would
appear that the bill could currently prohibit those
persons from acting in that capacity without a being
registered under the bill.
The Author may wish to speak to this issue, and
recommend alternatives which might make these
provisions less restrictive .
c) According to the Author and the Sponsor, this bill
is a work in progress. Both the Sponsor's and the
Author's staff have stated that they wish to work to
address issues that have been raised by the opposition
to the bill.
If this bill moves forward, the Committee may wish to
obtain the Author's agreement to work on outstanding
issues and commit to amending the bill in the Assembly
and bring it back to Committee if necessary when the
bill comes back for the Senate's concurrence .
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
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Interior Design Coalition of California (Sponsor)
International Interior Design Association (IIDA)
American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)
Numerous Individuals
Opposition:
California Legislative Coalition for Interior Design
(CLCID)
National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA)
California Architects Board
American Institute of Architects, California Counsel
(AIACC)
Numerous Individuals
Consultant: G.V. Ayers