State Bill 816 Pledges Collaboration

This Spring, IIDA’s California Chapters joined together to evaluate and provide amendments to SB 816 which was heard and advanced by the Senate Business and Professions Committee this week. 

Committee Chair, Senator Roth, presented the bill to his colleagues on the committee and concluded his remarks with a pledge to continue advancement in this area, noting “I look forward to continuing to work with commercial designers and others in this space to determine what additional changes may be necessary to ensure efficiency and the appropriateness of the Council’s [California Council for Interior Design Certification] work.”

In prior conversations with the B+P Committee’s consultants – staff who work year-round on regulation of professions and vocations – IIDA representatives learned the primary purpose of this bill is to align statute to current practice. This alignment includes the codification of the Commercial Designation for Certified Interior Designers which has been issued by the Council since 2017 but was not previously recognized in statute which contributed to confusion among design professionals and issues of stamp acceptance at local building departments.

As the preeminent professional association for commercial interior designers, IIDA supports the bill’s recognition of the commercial interior design specialty. Several other states also differentiate the work of interior designers this way including Utah which passed the State Certification of Commercial Interior Designers Act in 2016.

IIDA also recommended minor clarifying language to committee consultants to ensure SB 816’s statutory updates do not contribute to confusion in the already-complex landscape of design professions in California. The clarifications included recommending that any further changes to the regulation of commercial interior designers should be brought to the Legislature for review, as is typical practice for regulating bodies of other professional boards who wish to make changes to requirements for education, testing, continuing education, etc.

Advocate designers as well as IIDA’s lobbyist team will continue to engage in the progress of SB 816 as it advances to the next phase of legislative review by the Senate Appropriations Committee for fiscal analysis. All legislative engagement by IIDA is rooted in the belief that regulated interior design is crucial for the public health, safety and welfare of all Californians and IIDA’s commitment to the ability of commercial interior designers to practice to the fullest extent possible.

For more information regarding IIDA’s EDI efforts, visit each chapter’s EDI resources:
Northern California EDI 
Southern California EDI