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IIDA advocates for the advancement in design excellence, legislation, leadership, accreditation, and community outreach to increase the value and understanding of interior design. We are strong advocates for the registration, and/or certification of practicing interior designers who work in a code-impacted environment.
What does it mean to advocate for your profession?
To advocate for interior design means to support, champion, and commend the profession to people, organizations, and legislators. It also means knowing how to communicate what interior designers do to various stakeholders. Public perception influences your practice in many ways, including your legal standing as a professional at both the state and national levels, access to resources, salaries, and the way you are treated by clients and colleagues alike.
As commercial interior designers, you have the opportunity to work with IIDA to advocate for legal recognition so that you may expect more from your careers in terms of control, growth, project ownership. Participate in direct action and learn how to successfully talk to your legislators about interior design, engage with current best practices and breakthrough research, and recognizing interior design through IIDA's advocacy program. We encourage you to be involved in advocating for your profession on the state and national levels.
Get Involved
At any given time, your community offers a wide variety of resources and activities that will help you keep growing as a professional and contribute to a dynamic design community. Get involved and use your voice to advocate to your local legislators to help them understand why recognition and certification of commercial interior design are vital to the health and safety of your community.
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Everything you need to know from the latest bill news and interior design advocacy news.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (Oklahoma Interior Design Coalition) April 29, 2024—Oklahoma legislation passed last week changes the legally recognized title of interior design to provide clarity for scopes of practice within the profession. HB 1793 was approved by the Oklahoma House and Senate, then signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt on April 26, 2024. This landmark bill recognizes interior design as a distinct profession in the built environment and acknowledges the vital role that professional interior designers play in safeguarding occupant health, safety, and well-being. Read the full press release
Join us in conversation with IIDA Great Plains Chapter (Nebraska) VP of Advocacy, Stacy Spale, IIDA, as she unravels the pivotal moments leading to the enactment of Legislative Bill 16. signed into law on March 5, 2024. Read more
IIDA members with a wide range of expertise, including practitioners, educators, as well as both seasoned and new advocates who will work together to find ways to integrate IIDA’s initiatives on sustainability, climate change, and social justice into the work of advocacy. Read more
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), the Council for Interior Design Qualification (CIDQ), and the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) are committing to collaborative advocacy efforts for legal recognition and reasonable regulation of the interior design profession through the formation of the joint Consortium for Interior Design. Read the full press release here
House Bill 4715 was signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker on June 10, 2022, and voted on unanimously by the Illinois House and Senate, this historic legislation recognizes interior design as a distinct profession in the built environment and acknowledges the crucial role professional interior designers play in protecting occupant health, safety, and well-being.
Sponsored/introduced by Senator Dale Kooyenga and Assembly Member Cody Horlacher, and signed into law by Governor Tony Evers, the new legislation reinforces the critical role of Wisconsin interior designers who protect occupant health safety in their work through robust practice rights and a strong scope of practice.
The bill removes several barriers for designer registration and establishes the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) as the bureau in charge of the industry’s certifications. The legislation further allows designers in Wisconsin to stamp and seal construction documents.
These two chapters team up to achieve momentum on practice, EDI, and climate policy—hear from their Advocacy VPs on how it all works.
As interior designers, while our work shapes the human experience, our impact stretches far beyond. We are making choices and decisions that matter in public health and safety, accessibility, and ultimately have the capacity to impact the climate and our collective futures through the choices we make as individual practitioners, firms, and product designers.
As a direct result of dedicated advocacy work from IIDA in partnership with ASID (The American Society of Interior Designers) and CIDQ (Council for Interior Design Qualification), North Carolina takes bold action, passing Bill 188 on July 8, 2021 establishing a voluntary state registry for qualified interior designers. This bill provides the opportunity for interior designer to stamp and seal construction documents for permits, and is the most comprehensive bill in the profession's history paving the way for nation-wide recognition in the future.
Lisa Schettler, IIDA celebrates the passing of a bill expanding the scope of work for registered interior designers in Iowa
A monumental achievement for practitioners of commercial interior design in Oklahoma, this law ensures more robust recognition and representation of commercial interior designers by modifying several terms within the State Architectural and Registered Interior Designers Act. The bill stems from efforts by members of The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), and the Oklahoma Interior Design Coalition (OIDC).
- The title Registered Interior Design (RID) will be changed to Registered Commercial Interior Designer (RCID) to more accurately describe the profession.
- Added Stamp and Seal Provisions for RCIDs.
- The Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, and RCIDs will take one Architectural board seat and replace with one RCID seat for a total of two interior design representatives on the board.
- Definition added for interior design that matches the structure of the current law defining Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
Interior design is a profession that encompasses all aspects of design from project planning to the actual design process, interior designers work to promote the health, safety, and welfare of occupants while enhancing the human experience. IIDA helps support designers through programming, continuing education, networking, and advocacy work that aims to improve recognition for the expertise that interior designers have in their work.
Des Moines – Efforts from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), national and Great Plains regional chapters of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), as well as support from the Council for Interior Design Qualification (CIDQ), have led to the unanimous passing of Senate File 135 (SF 135); a practice rights bill signed into law on April 27, 2023 by Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa. Passage of this bill confirms the key role interior design plays in the built environment and reinforces the critical role of interior designers as stewards of health, safety and well-being. Read the full press release
Santa Fe, NM – The New Mexico interior design community celebrates the passage of House Bill 384 in New Mexico, which protects the title and legal recognition of licensed interior designers in the state. With unanimity from both chambers of the New Mexico legislature, the bill was officially signed into law today by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. This victory follows success in other states to resist efforts that threaten the legal standing of commercial interior design. Following Similar Efforts in Wisconsin and Virginia, HB 384 Prevents Dissolution of Interior Design Board. Read the full press release
