SUPPORT Continued Regulation of Interior Design in Virginia
My name is Peggy White Golden, ASID, and I live and work in Virginia practicing Commercial and Residential Interior Design. Our company Golden Interiors, Inc has been in business for 30 years practicing in No. VA, Washington DC and nationwide. I write this comment in STRONG support of the continued regulation of the interior design profession in Virginia.
It is clear, eliminating regulation of Interior Design would gravely harm Virginia Certified Interior Designers, Interior Design small businesses, and others in the Commonwealth. For example:
– In order to hold a position on a corporate board for a “Professional Corporation,” the employee must be licensed or certified in their profession by the Commonwealth. Eliminating the interior design regulation would prevent interior designers from serving on the board of architectural-interior design and interior design-only firms.
– RFPs (Request for Proposals) and RFQs (Request for Qualifications) in the Commonwealth of Virginia and for Federal Government Projects that include Interior Design Services require that the Interior Designer providing these services be a Certified Interior Designer. Eliminating the regulation would bar Virginia interior designers from submitting for these proposals.
– Job postings for Interior Designers in the Commonwealth and for Federal departments typically require an Interior Designer to be a Certified Interior Designer. Eliminating the regulation would exclude Virginia interior designers from these opportunities.
In Virginia, of the 1,272 interior design establishments in the Commonwealth, 96% are small businesses of four or fewer employees. 83% of these small businesses are women or minority owned. Eliminating interior design regulation would crush these entrepreneurs and small businesses because of the reasons listed in this comment.
Eliminating the Interior Design statute would also harm the Commonwealth. Being a Certified Interior Designer in the Commonwealth provides the public with knowledge that a minimum set of requirements, including education, experience, and testing, has been met. Certified Interior Designers do complex design drafting work in large public and code-regulated spaces like hotels, hospitals, corporate offices, and multifamily housing where public life-safety is implicated. CIDs have a knowledge of building codes, standards, fire safety, other laws and regulations that are essential to the safe construction of public and other code-regulated buildings.
Washington D.C., Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, all have statutes in place for the regulation of the title and/or practice of Interior Design. In total, 27 states and two federal jurisdictions regulate interior design. No jurisdiction has ever deregulated the practice of interior design.
The interior design statute is not restrictive or protectionist. The title protection law—enacted during the 1990 Session of the General Assembly—does not restrict the scope of practice and serves as the framework for the voluntary certification program. While only certified interior designers may use the title “Certified,” any individual may contract with a client to render services as an interior designer, interior decorator, or similar practitioner if the client so chooses.
Eliminating the voluntary regulation of interior design in Virginia is bad public policy. Continued regulation is vital to the practice, profession, industry, consumers, and the public’s health, safety, and welfare. I ask you to not eliminate the regulation of this profession. Additionally Commercial Interior Designers who are Certified and keep up with yearly CEU requirements should be able to use their Commonwealth of VA Seal provided on the DPOR website to file non-structural interior design documents for permit on commercial spaces below 5,000 sq ft. Commercial Interior Designers are quite capable of performing the tasks of a set of CD's with a licensed Engineering firm providing MEP services for the project. Our roles have been minimized for years and it does hurt our potential to not be able to sign and seal our own drawings. It is time to increase state support of qualified woman/men in the Commerical Real Estate businesses and not remove our Certification that shows our professionalism to our business practices and knowledge of this critical design and construction business that promotes wellness and safe environments for offices, restaurants, stores and business of all types.
