NYS Interior Design :License Requirements

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

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:

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.

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.

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.

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:

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:

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:"

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

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 NCIDQ for eligibility requirements, fees, and other examination information at:

NCIDQ 1602 L Street NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036-5681 Phone 202-721-0220, Fax: 202-721-0221 Email NCIDQ@NCIDQ.ORG Web http://www.ncidq.org

You must request NCIDQ to send verification of your passing examination(s) to the New York State Education Department.

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

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NYS Interior Design :License Requirements