SB 261 — INTERIOR DESIGNER LICENSURE

Bill Text

• Introduced introduced version Current pdf

AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

The bill streamlines licensure requirements for interior designers in New Mexico by modifying definitions, membership criteria for the board, and licensure processes.

• Section 61-24C-3

  "interior design" means services that do not necessarily require performance by an architect, such as administering contracts for fabrication, procurement or installation in the implementation of designs, drawings and specifications for any interior design project and consultations, studies, drawings and specifications in connection with reflected ceiling plans, space utilization, furnishings or the fabrication of nonstructural elements within and surrounding interior spaces of buildings, but specifically excluding mechanical and electrical systems, except for specifications of fixtures and their location within interior spaces; → means the rendering of or the offering to render designs, consultations, studies, planning, drawings, specifications, contract documents or other technical submissions and the administration of interior construction of a building in order to enhance and protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. "Interior design" includes: (1) space planning, finishes, furnishings and the design for fabrication of nonstructural interior construction within interior spaces of buildings; (2) responsibility for life safety design of proposed elements or modifications of existing nonstructural and nonengineered elements of construction, including partitions, doors, stairways and paths of egress connecting to exits or exitways; (3) modification of existing building construction so as to alter the number of persons for which the egress systems of the building are designed; and (4) reviewing, analyzing and evaluating building codes, fire codes, accessibility standards, including the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or other federal, state or local regulations, codes and standards;

  The definition of interior design is broadened to encompass additional responsibilities and activities.

• Section 61-24C-4

  appointed in a manner that the term of one member shall expire on December 31, 1990; the terms of two members shall expire on December 31, 1991; and the terms of the last two members shall expire on December 31, 1992. Thereafter → Members shall be appointed for terms of three years or less in a manner that the terms of not more than two members expire on December 31 of each year.

  The process for appointing board members is updated to ensure staggered terms are set without specific expirations.

• Section 61-24C-5

  may → shall

  The board is required to adopt a common seal or stamp for use by licensed interior designers.

• Section 61-24C-8

  Each applicant for licensure shall apply to the board. Except as otherwise provided in the Interior Designers Act, each applicant shall take and pass a nationally standardized examination. The board may adopt substantially all or part of the examination and grading procedures of the national council for interior design qualifications. Prior to examination, the applicant shall provide substantial evidence to the board that the applicant: A. is a graduate of a five-year interior design program from an accredited institution and has completed at least one year of diversified interior design experiences; B. is a graduate of a four-year interior design program from an accredited institution and has completed at least two years of diversified interior design experience; C. has completed at least three years of an interior design curriculum from an accredited institution and has completed three years of diversified interior design experience; D. is a graduate of a two-year interior design program from an accredited institution and has completed four years of diversified interior design experience; or E. has apprenticed under a designer who has passed the national council for interior design qualification examination or a licensed designer for a minimum of eight years → submit to the board: (1) proof of having reached twenty-one years of age; (2) a completed application, as required by the board; (3) the fees for licensure, as required by the board; (4) proof of having passed the examination administered by the national council for interior design qualification or its successor entity; and (5) proof of having acquired a minimum degree from a college or university in a program of study of: (a) architecture accredited by the national architectural accrediting board or another national accrediting organization recognized by the board; or (b) interior design approved by the council for interior design accreditation or a substantially equivalent program of study approved by the board.

  The requirements for licensure applications are revised to streamline the application process and clarify educational qualifications.

Action History

1. March 21, 2018

   action postponed indefinitely

2. January 31, 2018

   Sent to Senate Committees' Committee & Senate Public Affairs Committee & Senate Judiciary Committee

Sponsors

• Mary Kay Papen · Primary

Subjects