Becoming a Licensed Interior Designer

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Licensing Requirements for Interior Designers

As you start your interior design career, all of the education, job experience and testing leads up to one last hurdle: licensure. Many US states and jurisdictions (including Puerto Rico) and seven Canadian provinces currently have some kind of legislation regulating the interior design profession.

Each governing body has a unique set of criteria a designer must meet in order to practice. It is important to understand the requirements early in the process of becoming an interior designer, so that there will be no surprises when you apply for licensure. The following states and jurisdictions have licensing requirements:

US States and Jurisdictions

Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Note: Interior design legislation has also been introduced in the following states: Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington.

Canadian Provinces

Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

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