#57 Vickki
Would you want en uneducated person selecting materials for your hospitals, hotels, and schools?

The person selecting the materials for any building should be chosen by the people who actually own the building. I trust the building owner to do what’s in his own best interest and trade associations to do what’s in their best interest. I do NOT expect the trade associations to do what’s in the best interest of the building owners, because they have no vested interest.

This is about as elementary as it gets. People who want to impose rules on others, commonly claim it’s for the others’ own good (as if the others are too stupid to decide for themselves). The implication is insulting and it’s even more insulting that they believe people are too stupid to see through it.

1) Give the consumer some credit – if they want to know which designer to use, they can and do conduct in-depth interviews, view portfolios, visit websites, call references, etc. If ASID wants to publicize that their “professional” members are more qualified, it’s a free country, go for it. It’s not a legitimate use of government to enhance the businesses of some designers to the detriment of others. It’s up to designers to market their own businesses and credentials.

2) ASID has been LEADING the push for legislation for 30 years. They have spent allegedly over $5,000,000 in lobbying for their regulation. They give more money to the state coalitions to carry out their legislative agenda than any other organization. As for the connection between ASID, NCIDQ and CIDA – that has already adequately addressed. It would be more than naïve to think they are not working toward the same goal.

3) Already gave a direct quote from ASID’s book From Practice to Profession.

4) HA! ASID has THREE full time paid lobbyists on staff! Webster’s dictionary defines lobbyist as “a person, acting on behalf of a group, who tries to get legislators to support certain measures.” So contrary to your statement, lobbyists do push legislation to legislators. What part of that do you not understand, or were you intentionally trying to mislead the public?

5) Moot. Five states have produced official sunrise reports that concluded interior design has no impact on the health, safety, or welfare of the public.

6) There is nothing wrong with specializing in any given area, e.g. designing for autism, however, the consumer has many avenues available to determine if a designer has knowledge in a specific area.

7) The undisputable result of practice legislation would be to put many already practicing, successful, honest, hard working designers out of business. If ASID has not been able to see what legislators throughout our country have been seeing and thus rightly rejecting these bills, then they have their eyes close shut. So, it’s time to open your eyes ASID – monopoly and denial of free enterprise is the outcome of the regulation you are pushing. No public interest is served, and it is just mean-spirited.

8) ?

9) Here are the facts about “25+”: 3 states have a practice act (Alabama previously had a practice act, but their Supreme Court declared it UNCONSTITUTIONAL last year); 21 states have a title act; that equals 24, but my guess is that they included Puerto Rico, even though it is not a state.

Want MORE facts?

11) According to the Better Business Bureau and other sources, since 1907 only 52 lawsuits have been filed against interior designers in the ENTIRE country. And most of these were regarding contract, not safety, issues.

12) States with practice acts have a higher number of complaints against interior designers than those with no regulation.

13) Passage of the NCIDQ exam has historically averaged less than 40%, less than even the bar exam in many states, clearly does not meet most accepted criteria for good testing mechanisms.

14) Of the 8,000 ASID “professional” members, allegedly less than half of them have even passed the NCIDQ exam that they are determined to make the minimum standard. 12,000 of their Allied Members have not passed NCIDQ. Doesn’t this mean that if legislation were to pass in every state, the majority of their own members would not legally be able to practice? And, to make matters worse, ASID forces these Allied members to pay a yearly mandatory assessment to push for legislation, regardless if that Allied member supports legislation or not. I think someone previously and correctly labeled this “militant.”

15) The Federal Trade Commission concluded that interior design regulation would result in few choices and increased cost to the consumer.

16) There is no consumer outcry for legislation, nor is it being proposed by legislative determination that regulation is necessary for the public good. Regulation has come about exclusively through the efforts of industry insiders who want to eliminate their competition and enhance their businesses.

17) Consumer protection is currently and adequately addressed by systems, codes, and inspections already in place. To duplicate these efforts would be a waste of the states time and resources.
18) The majority of universities and colleges that offer courses in interior design have accreditation other than CIDA. There has been no evidence presented that would indicate that students graduating from non-CIDA accredited schools are any less qualified or become less successful designers.

Enough facts?

Here’s the last one: regulation is NOT inevitable, contrary to ASID’s mantra. For more information on how to resist interior design regulation, please visit http://www.IDPCinfo.org

4) ASID as a national organization does not hire lobbyists to push legisltation to legislators, but does have several full time staff working in our Government and Public Affairs department where legislative issues are addressed.

HOW CLEVER! CALL THEM WHAT YOU WILL BUT THEIR ROLE IN YOUR GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT IS TO DIRECT THE LOBBYING THAT IS DONE (AND HIRED BY) LOCAL CHAPTERS OF ASID IN EACH STATE.

5) Much of what goes into interior design legislation is controlled by the local legislators as bills work their way through the state process. ACTUALLY VERY LITTLE IS CONTROLLED BY LOCAL LEGISLATORS. IN PENNSYLVANIA, FOR EXAMPLE, HOUSE BILL 807 WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY WRITTEN BY THE LOBBYIST FOR ASID.

During the process, interior design coaltions at the state levels (which is where legislation occurs), meet with architects, engineers and other groups to assure that interior design bills cover only interior design areas of practice that affect public health and safety. THERE ARE NO AREAS OF PRACTICE THAT AFFECT PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY, AND THERE NEVER HAS BEEN A SINGLE DOCUMENTED INCIDENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY BEING THREATENED BY ANY “UNLICENCED” OR “UNREGULATED” INTERIOR DESIGNER. THAT IS UNDENIABLE FACT!

8) I’ve been a member of ASID for nearly 30 years…and can tell you that the discussions, plotting and scheming to defame decorators and crush competition have absolutely not occurred.

ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE!! I HAVE SEEN EMAILS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COALITION IN WHICH I PERSONALLY HAVE BEEN DEFAMED, AND OTHERS IN WHICH “CRUSHING” THE COMPETITION HAS BEEN GLEEFULLY ADVOCATED.

MOREOVER, THE PUSH TO LEGALIZE AND EVEN COPYRIGHT THE TERM “INTERIOR DESIGNER” IS ABOUT AS ECONOMICALLY TRANSPARENT AS DONALD TRUMP’s ATTEMPT TO LEGALIZE THE TERM “YOU’RE FIRED.”

ASID WANTS EVERYONE TO BELIEVE THAT IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY. TRUST ME… IT’S ABOUT THE MONEY!!!

If you believe that ASID, NCIDQ and CIDA are not actively working together to impose anti-competitive regulation in every state, you are naive, my friend!

NCIDQ does NOT just set the examination requirements, as you suggested; they LOBBY for legislation which would result in financial windfall for their own organization:

In the January 2004 edition of their newsletter, NCIDQ Update, it stated that one of NCIDQ’s goals, amongst many, was “To assist non-regulated jurisdictions, we will continue to offer model legislation and testify for state legislatures and boards as needed”. In the same publication it further stated “A panel of legislative experts led Saturday’s discussion on ‘Strategizing for the Future of Interior Design Legislation’, and went on to say “They touched on such points as policing unlicensed practice; developing alternatives to a board’s education and experience requirements for licensure; and envisioning the day when all states and provinces in North America have interior design regulation”.

In the January/February 2002 issue of ISdesignNET under “NCIDQ News” Shirley Hammond, the then NCIDQ President states that a part of the NCIDQ charter is “to study and present new plans, programs and guidelines for new legislation FOR THE CONTROL of the practice of interior design”.

As for your last paragraph on safety — is that the best you can do? There is no evidence that furniture placed by an unregulated interior designer has lead to any public deaths. Ridiculous statements like that are what is causing others to mock our profession. You pro-regulation types say you are trying to raise the level of our profession, when in reality, you are doing just the opposite.

Here’s a novel idea: STOP wasting your time and money trying to pass legislation that the design community does not need or want and START helping us to educate the public on the value of interior design.

I have worked very hard to complete my rigorous degree. While I have had sleepless nights, ruthless criticism, and where do I begin to talk about the student loans, there is someone else out there who has spent their time studying up on the latest Design on a Dime episodes taking notes from the actors on television that can magically pull a few paint colors and fabrics to match and complete the ‘design’ of a room in one day!! Whoo-hoo!! Doesn’t my hard work and dedication account for something? Haven’t I at least earned the right to distinguish myself as a designer rather than a decorator??

Yes, you have the right to distinguish yourself in whatever way you choose. You have the right to say you have a degree. You have the right to demonstrate your skills with the quality of your product.

You do NOT — at least legitimately, if not legally — have the right to exclude others from using a common term to identify the service they provide, or competing with you for jobs simply on the basis that you consider the work that they do to be beneath the work that you do. Consumers have the right to make that choice for themselves.

If you want to distinguish yourself, do so through a solid history of producing quality work, and an impressive portfolio. Not by expecting an entitlement because of the amount of effort you’ve put in.

There is common knowledge in the Interior Design community that a residential designer and a commercial designer will ultimately have differing goals and aspirations. Not always – and please, don’t take this the wrong way, my residential counterparts, but many residential designers deal less with ‘life safety’ – and yes this is a real concept, contrary to what some of you may think, the person who is wheelchair bound and is safely able to wheel themselves up an interior ramp in a public space without rolling back or catching their fingers in the spokes of their wheelchair because the ramp is at the proper slope, appreciates the calculation methods and formulas that DESIGNERS understand and use. Interior designers within the commercial realm are held to strict standards, they’re called codes. And those codes are required by the Federal Government and local government, they are wide ranging and must be studied to truly understand and interpret. Without observing these codes many buildings would not be able to open to the public. Well, isn’t that the architect’s job, though, you say?? How many stuffy old nasty ornery architects do you know that would be willing to pillage through a contract fabric catalogue and choose a fabric that will not only be the liking of the client, but that is also fire-rated for the specific area in which the application of the fabric will remain in the structure? That, my curious friend, is a code requirement that is probably the reason why so many architect’s offices hire DESIGNERS that are educated. I would bet you – and if challenged, I promise to deliver – that if I called the top ten architectural firms in my state and asked if the principals/owners/directors would be willing to hire a DECORATOR I would get a big fat NO in response. Untrained, untrusted, and untrue to the standards with held in the professional architecture and design world is why.

So. I’m slightly bitter – sorry if it peeks through in this little response, but I don’t tell you what you should be called, or that you’ve worked hard to remain unnoticed and unwanted.

NCIDQ determines the requirements to sit for their exam, which includes some education, not necessarily a four year degree, and practical design experience.

CIDA is the accrediting body that accredits interior design educational programs.

In addition to title acts there are practice acts, which are more restrictive. Mr. Balko only referenced title acts.

The majority of interior designers are unaffiliated, meaning they do not belong to an organization – professional or otherwise. While ASID has the largest membership consisting of various categories of membership, other organizations exist such as IIDA, NKBA, IDS, and ARIDO.

Legislators in each jurisdiction determine the requirements and restrictions included in their statue. Every law includes a definition of the term interior designer, they also state which job titles are not included or exempt from the legislation. Enforcement provisions and fines are also clearly stated in each law or their supporting regulations. Exam and education requirements are determined by the legislature not ASID in each jurisdiction.

The placement of furniture can prevent or allow someone to exit a space in the event of an emergency. Panic often results during emergency situations, where most people attempt to exit using the same path they used to enter. Design professionals insure alternate routes are possible, which directly affects the health and safety of the public.

Their portrayal of the ASID Interior Designer as professionally superior to “trailer trash” interior decorators is getting out of control.

They seem obsessed with the portrayal of interior designers on HGTV.

ASID: Get a life!!! HGTV is only entertainment.

Buyer Beware and let the client do their own due diligence. We do not need to waste taxpayer dollars on “Nanny State” legislation.

It has been the strategic plan of ASID to create and pass legislation in every state and jurisdiction in the US in order to create a cartel, despite whatever public protest they make to the contrary.

ASID’s claim that interior designers actually impact public health, safety and welfare (e.g., doctors, nurses, lawyers, architects, engineers) is not only an irrational reach that exceeds its grasp but an insult to the minds of intelligent and reasonable people everywhere. No one since Oscar Wilde has ever died over the wallpaper! And where anything structural is concerned, every state, city, borough, township and municipality in the US already has building codes and inspectors that NO interior designer, decorator or home fashions guru can elude.

The free market is the very regulator known to human action, which is, of course, the study of economics. Those whose training, work experience and references are above reproach will prosper in a free market; those whose incompetence precedes them will not survive. Government licensing does not guarantee, and never has guaranteed, that anyone’s work will be sufficient unto the effort. The ONLY thing a state license guarantees is protection to the license holder from non-licensed competitors.

This is precisely why ASID wants it’s relatively small number of “professional” members to be licensed.

The number of “professional” members in ASID who actually qualify for any state’s proposed (or passed) license to practice interior design represents less than three-percent (3%) of all interior design practitioners in the US. Yet the money ASID has raised (by force from its members) and spent thus far has been enough to influence legislators in four states to pass legislation that regulates the practice of interior design.

However, thanks to the Institute for Justice last year, Alabama’s Supreme Court struck down its legislation as “unconstitutional” leaving only three states that regulate the practice of interior design.

Unless the overwhelming number of interior design practitioners in the US rise up and make their voices heard in every state legislature, ASID will continue to seek the protectionist legislation it earnestly desires and that will create a cartel that completely corners the market, driving consumer prices UP while driving consumer choice DOWN.

As a member of ASID, I vehemently OPPOSE any interior design legislation on economic liberty grounds, and I will work to ensure that the market for interior design services remains open and free.

For information on how YOU can oppose the ASID cartelization of Interior Design, log on to the Interior Design Protection Council at: http://www.IDPCinfo.org

THE JOB YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN!

Interior design is not, as Balko insists, a ‘fake profession’, anymore than architecture or engineering are fake professions. Building and designing space requires education, knowledge and expertise. This isn’t about flower arrangements or rug placement.

I mean seriously, if someone in my field fucks up, an entire chemical plant can explode, a poisonous product can end up shipped to thousands of folks all over the country, car tires can fail at the most inopportune times. I’m not trying to sound all superior, but the comparison this person is making is ridiculous.

http://www.ij.org/economic_liberty/nm_interiordesign/index.html

http://www.ij.org/economic_liberty/nm_interiordesign/4_6_07pr.html

New Mexico’s law was amended to regulate the term “licensed interior designer” rather than “interior designer.”

However, other title acts have more bite to them. From George Will’s article on the subject:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101789.html

“In New Mexico, anyone can work as an interior designer. But it is a crime, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to a year in prison, to list yourself on the Internet or in the Yellow Pages as, or to otherwise call yourself, an “interior designer” without being certified as such.”

Outrageous. Jail time. In my home state, for truth in advertising. I’m glad there aren’t any similar laws for calling yourself a “financial analyst” or a “chess coach.” Just wait, I guess. Let’s hope the United States Chess Federation doesn’t get wind of this and start requiring some sort of certification for coaching chess.

Wouldn’t it be more effective (and fair!) for the ASID simply to try to establish itself as a professional organization that maintains some sort of higher standard, and promote itself on those merits, rather than demand that interior designers everywhere either unwillingly take all these classes and get their certification, or risk going to jail for calling themselves “interior designers?”

In the ASID book From Practice to Profession, they claim that “representation through multiple professional member organizations [as] reducing the perceived clout of the practice.” They proceed to give the example of the American Bar Association as the one professional association for lawyers. It doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to assume that ASID’s agenda is to establish themselves as the ONE interior design association, and in conjunction with NCIDQ and CIDA, they would create a monopoly of the interior design profession. As someone else already said, follow the money — who stands to gain financially from interior design regulation?