HB4715eng 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4715 Engrossed LRB102 23360 SPS 32528 b

AN ACT concerning regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Registered Interior Designers Act is amended by changing Sections 3, 4, 8, and 13 and by adding Sections 4.1 and 4.2 as follows:

(225 ILCS 310/3) (from Ch. 111, par. 8203)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)

Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Accredited institution" means an institution accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation, accreditation body recognized by the United States Department of Education, or a curriculum or transcript approved by the Board per a registration applicant's application.

"Address of record" means the designated address recorded by the Department in the applicant's application file or the registrant's registration file as maintained by the Department's licensure maintenance unit.

"Board" means the Board of Registered Interior Design Professionals established under Section 6 of this Act.

"Department" means the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

"Email address of record" means the designated email address recorded by the Department in the applicant's application file or the registrant's registration file as maintained by the Department's licensure maintenance unit.

"Interior technical submissions" means the designs, drawings, and specifications that establish the scope of the interior design to be constructed, the standard of quality for materials, workmanship, equipment, and construction systems, and the studies and other technical reports and calculations prepared in the course of the practice of registered interior design.

"Practice of registered interior design" means the design of interior spaces as a part of an interior alteration or interior construction project in conformity with public health, safety, and welfare requirements, including the preparation of documents relating to building code descriptions, project egress plans that require no increase capacity of exits in the space affected, space planning, finish materials, furnishings, fixtures, equipment, and the preparation of documents and interior technical submissions relating to interior construction. "Practice of registered interior design" does not include:

(1) The practice of structural engineering as defined in the Structural Engineering Practice Act of 1989, the practice of professional engineering as defined in the Professional Engineering Practice Act of 1989, or the practice of land surveying as defined in the Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989.

(2) Services that constitute the practice of architecture as defined in the Illinois Architecture Practice Act of 1989, except as provided in this Act.

(3) Altering or affecting the structural system of a building, including changing the building's live or dead load on the structural system.

(4) Changes to the building envelope, including exterior walls, exterior wall coverings, exterior wall openings, exterior windows and doors, architectural trim, balconies and similar projections, bay and oriel windows, roof assemblies and rooftop structures, and glass and glazing for exterior use in both vertical and sloped applications in buildings and structures.

(5) Altering or affecting the mechanical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, ventilation, electrical, vertical transportation, fire sprinkler, or fire alarm systems.

(6) Changes beyond the exit access component of a means of egress system.

(7) Construction that materially affects life safety systems pertaining to fire safety or the fire protection of structural elements, or alterations to smoke evacuation and compartmentalization systems or to fire-rated vertical shafts in multistory structures.

(8) Changes of use to an occupancy of greater hazard as determined by the International Building Code.

(9) Changes to the construction classification of the building or structure according to the International Building Code.

"The profession of interior design", within the meaning and intent of this Act, refers to persons qualified by education, experience, and examination, who administer contracts for fabrication, procurement, or installation in the implementation of designs, drawings, and specifications for any interior design project and offer or furnish professional services, such as consultations, studies, drawings, and specifications in connection with the location of lighting fixtures, lamps and specifications of ceiling finishes as shown in reflected ceiling plans, space planning, furnishings, or the fabrication of non-loadbearing structural 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.

"Public member" means a person who is not a registered an interior designer, educator in the field, architect, structural engineer, or professional engineer. For purposes of board membership, any person with a significant financial interest in the design or construction service or profession is not a public member.

"Registered interior designer" means a person who has received registration under Section 8 of this Act. A person represents himself or herself to be a "registered interior designer" within the meaning of this Act if he or she holds himself or herself out to the public by any title incorporating the words "registered interior designer" or any title that includes the words "registered interior design".

"Responsible control" means the amount of control over detailed professional knowledge of the content of interior technical submissions during the preparation as is ordinarily exercised by registered interior designers applying the required professional standard of care. Merely reviewing or reviewing and correcting an interior technical submission or any portion thereof prepared by those not in the regular employment of the office where the registered interior designer is a resident without control over the content of such work throughout its preparation does not constitute responsible control.

"Secretary" means the Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation.

(Source: P.A. 102-20, eff. 1-1-22.)

(225 ILCS 310/4) (from Ch. 111, par. 8204)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)

Sec. 4. Title; application of Act.

(a) No individual shall, without a valid registration as a registered an interior designer issued by the Department, in any manner hold himself or herself out to the public as a registered interior designer or attach the title "registered interior designer" or any other name or designation which would in any way imply that he or she is able to use the title "registered interior designer" as defined in this Act.

(a-5) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as preventing or restricting the services offered or advertised by an interior designer who is registered under this Act.

(b) Nothing in this Act shall prevent the employment, by a registered interior designer association, partnership, or a corporation furnishing interior design services for remuneration, of persons not registered as interior designers to perform services in various capacities as needed, provided that the persons do not represent themselves as, or use the title of, "registered interior designer".

(c) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the activities and use of the title "interior designer" on the part of a person not registered under this Act who is a graduate of an interior design program and a full-time employee of a duly chartered institution of higher education insofar as such person engages in public speaking, with or without remuneration, provided that such person does not represent himself or herself to be a registered interior designer or use the title "registered interior designer".

(d) Nothing contained in this Act shall restrict any person not registered under this Act from carrying out any of the activities listed in the definition of "the profession of interior design" in Section 3 if such person does not represent himself or herself or his or her services in any manner prohibited by this Act.

(e) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as preventing or restricting the practice, services, or activities of any person licensed in this State under any other law from engaging in the profession or occupation for which he or she is licensed.

(f) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as preventing or restricting the practice, services, or activities of engineers licensed under the Professional Engineering Practice Act of 1989 or the Structural Engineering Practice Act of 1989; architects licensed pursuant to the Illinois Architectural Practice Act of 1989; any interior decorator or individual offering interior decorating services including, but not limited to, the selection of surface materials, window treatments, wall coverings, furniture, accessories, paint, floor coverings, and lighting fixtures; or builders, home furnishings salespersons, and similar purveyors of goods and services relating to homemaking.

(g) Nothing in this Act or any other Act shall prevent a licensed architect from practicing interior design services. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring the services of a registered interior designer for the interior designing of a single family residence.

(h) Nothing in this Act shall authorize registered interior designers to perform services, including life safety services that they are prohibited from performing, or any practice: (i) that is restricted in the Professional Engineering Practice Act of 1989, the Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989, of the Structural Engineering Practice Act of 1989; (ii) that is restricted in the Illinois Architecture Practice Act of 1989, except as provided in this Act; or (iii) that they are not authorized to perform under the Environmental Barriers Act, except as provided in this Act. Nothing in this Act shall authorize registered interior designers to perform services, including life safety services that they are prohibited from performing, or any practice (i) that is restricted in the Illinois Architecture Practice Act of 1989, the Professional Engineering Practice Act of 1989, or the Structural Engineering Practice Act of 1989, or (ii) that they are not authorized to perform under the Environmental Barriers Act.

(i) Nothing in this Act shall authorize registered interior designers to advertise services that they are prohibited to perform, including architecture or engineering services, nor to use the title "architect" in any form.

(j) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as preventing or restricting persons from engaging in professional services limited to the design of kitchen and bath spaces or the specification of products for kitchen and bath areas in noncommercial settings.

(Source: P.A. 102-20, eff. 1-1-22.)

(225 ILCS 310/4.1 new)

Sec. 4.1. Seal. Every registered interior designer shall have a reproducible seal, or facsimile, the impression of which shall contain the name of the registered interior designer, the registrations number, and the words "Registered Interior Designer, State of Illinois". The registered interior designer shall affix the signature, current date, date of registration expiration, and seal to the first sheet of any bound set or loose sheets of interior technical submissions used as contract documents between parties to the contract or prepared for the review and approval of any governmental or public authority having jurisdiction by that registered interior designer or under that registered interior designer's responsible control. The sheet of interior technical submissions in which the seal is affixed shall indicate those documents or parts thereof for which the seal shall apply. The seal and dates may be electronically affixed. The registrant may provide, at the registrant's sole discretion, an original signature in the registrant's handwriting, a scanned copy of the document bearing an original signature, or a signature generated by a computer. All interior technical submissions issued by any corporation, partnership, or professional service corporation shall contain the corporate or assumed business name in addition to any other seal requirements set forth in this Act.

A registered interior designer under this Act shall not sign and seal interior technical submissions that were not prepared by or under the responsible control of the registered interior designer, except that:

(1) the registered interior designer may sign and seal those portions of the interior technical submission that were prepared by or under the responsible control of a person who holds a registration under this Act, and who has signed and sealed the documents, if the registered interior designer has reviewed in whole or in part such portions and has either coordinated their preparation or integrated them into the work;

(2) the registered interior designer may sign and seal portions of the professional work that are not required by this Act to be prepared by or under the responsible control of a registered interior designer if the registered interior designer has reviewed and adopted in whole or in part such portions and has integrated them into the work. The work associated with the combination of services in connection with the design and construction of buildings shall be provided by a licensed architect. If engineering, structural engineering, or licensed land surveying services are required in association with an interior nonstructural project being performed by a registered interior designer, the documents that have already been properly sealed by a licensed professional engineer, licensed structural engineer, or licensed land surveyor may be compiled by a registered interior designer. Each design professional shall seal the respective documents and shall not seal a document that was not prepared under the design professional's responsible charge. For all other projects, engineering, structural engineering, or land surveying services shall be procured separate from the registered interior designer;

(3) a partner or corporate officer of a professional design firm registered in this State who has professional knowledge of the content of the interior technical submissions and intends to be responsible for the adequacy of the interior technical submissions may sign and seal interior technical submissions that are prepared by or under the responsible control of a registered interior designer who is registered in this State and who is in the regular employment of the professional design firm.

The registered interior designer exercising responsible control under which the interior technical submissions or portions of the interior technical submission were prepared shall be identified on the interior technical submissions or portions of the interior technical submissions by name and Illinois registration number.

Any registered interior designer who signs and seals interior technical submissions not prepared by that registered interior designer but prepared under that registered interior designer's responsible control by persons not regularly employed in the office where the registered interior designer is a resident shall maintain and make available to the Board upon request for at least 5 years following such signing and sealing, adequate and complete records demonstrating the nature and extent of the registered interior designer's control over, and detailed professional knowledge of the interior technical submissions throughout their preparation.

(225 ILCS 310/4.2 new)

Sec. 4.2. Interior technical submissions.

(a) All interior technical submissions intended for use in this State shall be prepared and administered in accordance with standards of reasonable professional skill and diligence. Care shall be taken to reflect the requirements of State law and, where applicable, county and municipal ordinances in the submissions. In recognition that registered interior designers are registered for the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare, submissions shall be of such quality and scope, and be so administered, as to conform to professional standards.

(b) No officer, board, commission, or other public entity who receives interior technical submissions shall accept for filing or approval any interior technical submissions related to services requiring the involvement of a registered interior designer that do not bear the seal and signature of a registered interior designer.

(c) It is unlawful to affix a seal to interior technical submissions if it masks the true identify of the person who actually exercised responsible control of the preparation of such work. A registered interior designer who seals and signs interior technical submissions is not responsible for damage caused by subsequent changes to, or uses of, those interior technical submissions where the subsequent changes or uses, including changes to uses made by State or local agencies, are not authorized or approved in writing by the registered interior designer who originally sealed and signed the interior technical submissions.

(225 ILCS 310/8) (from Ch. 111, par. 8208)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)

Sec. 8. Requirements for registration.

(a) Each applicant for registration shall apply to the Department in writing on a form provided by the Department. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, each applicant shall take and pass the examination approved by the Department. Prior to registration, the applicant shall provide substantial evidence to the Board that the applicant has completed the education and work experience requirements to sit for the NCIDQ examination administered by the Council for Interior Design Qualification, has successfully passed the NCIDQ exam, has maintained an active NCIDQ certification, and:

(1) is a graduate of a 5-year interior design or architecture program from an accredited institution and has completed at least 2 years of full-time diversified interior design experience;

(2) is a graduate of a 4-year interior design or architecture program from an accredited institution and has completed at least 2 years of full-time diversified interior design experience;

(3) has completed at least 3 years of interior design or architecture curriculum from an accredited institution and has completed 3 years of full-time diversified interior design experience; or

(4) is a graduate of a 2-year interior design or architecture program from an accredited institution and has completed 4 years of full-time diversified interior design experience.

(b) In addition to providing evidence of meeting the requirements of subsection (a), each applicant for registration as a registered interior designer shall provide substantial evidence that he or she has successfully completed the examination administered by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification Qualifications.

Examinations for applicants under this Act may be held at the direction of the Department from time to time but not less than once each year. The scope and form of the examination shall conform to the National Council for Interior Design Qualification examination for interior designers.

(b-5) Each applicant for registration shall pay to the Department the required registration fee, which is not refundable, at the time of filing his or her application.

(b-10) Each applicant for renewal or reinstatement of registration under this Act shall have completed continuing education as set forth by the Department by rule. The Department shall consider the recommendations of the Board in establishing requirements for continuing education requirements but shall be no less than 10 hours of continuing education in the areas of health, safety, and welfare every 2 years.

(c) An individual may apply for original registration prior to passing the examination. He or she shall have 2 years after the date of filing an application to pass the examination. If evidence and documentation of passing the examination are received by the Department later than 2 years after the individual's filing, the application shall be denied and the fee forfeited. The applicant may reapply at any time, but shall meet the requirements in effect at the time of reapplication.

(d) Upon payment of the required fee, which shall be determined by rule, an applicant who is an architect licensed under the laws of this State may, without examination, be granted registration as a registered interior designer by the Department provided the applicant submits proof of an active architectural license in Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 100-920, eff. 8-17-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)

(225 ILCS 310/13) (from Ch. 111, par. 8213)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)

Sec. 13. Refusal, revocation or suspension of registration. The Department may refuse to issue, renew, or restore or may revoke, suspend, place on probation, reprimand or take other disciplinary action as the Department may deem proper, including fines not to exceed $10,000 $5,000 for each violation, with regard to any registration for any one or combination of the following causes:

(a) Fraud in procuring the certificate of registration.

(b) (Blank). Habitual intoxication or addiction to the use of drugs.

(c) Making any misrepresentations or false promises, directly or indirectly, to influence, persuade, or induce patronage.

(d) Professional connection or association with, or lending his or her name, to another for illegal use of the title "registered interior designer", or professional connection or association with any person, firm, or corporation holding itself out in any manner contrary to this Act.

(e) Obtaining or seeking to obtain checks, money, or any other items of value by false or fraudulent representations.

(f) Use of the title under a name other than his or her own.

(g) Improper, unprofessional, or dishonorable conduct of a character likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public.

(h) Conviction in this or another state, or federal court, of any crime which is a felony, if the Department determines, after investigation, that such person has not been sufficiently rehabilitated to warrant the public trust.

(i) A violation of any provision of this Act or its rules.

(j) Revocation by another state, the District of Columbia, territory, or foreign nation of an interior design or residential interior design license, certification, or registration if at least one of the grounds for that revocation is the same as or the equivalent of one of the grounds for revocation set forth in this Act.

(k) Mental incompetence as declared by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(l) Being named as a perpetrator in an indicated report by the Department of Children and Family Services pursuant to the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, and upon proof by clear and convincing evidence that the registrant has caused a child to be an abused child or neglected child as defined in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

(m) Aiding or assisting another person in violating any provision of this Act or its rules.

(n) Failure to provide information in response to a written request made by the Department within 30 days after receipt of the written request.

(o) Physical illness, including, but not limited to, deterioration through the aging process or loss of motor skill that results in the inability to practice interior design with reasonable judgment, skill, or safety.

(p) Using or attempting to use an expired, inactive, suspended, or revoked registration or the certificate or seal of another registrant or impersonating another registrant.

(q) Signing, affixing, or allowing the registered interior designer's seal to be affixed to any interior technical submission not prepared by the registered interior designer or under the registered interior designer's responsible control.

(r) Negligence, incompetence, or misconduct in the practice of interior design.

(s) Habitual or excessive use or abuse of drugs defined in law as controlled substances, alcohol, narcotics, stimulants, or any other substances that results in the inability to practice with reasonable judgment, skill, or safety.

(t) Inability to practice the profession with reasonable judgment, skill, or safety as a result of physical illness, including, but not limited to, deterioration through the aging process, loss of motor skill, mental illness, or disability.

(u) The determination by a circuit court that a licensee is subject to involuntary admission or judicial admission, as provided in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code, operates as an automatic suspension. Such suspension will end only upon a finding by a court that the licensee is no longer subject to involuntary admission or judicial admission, the issuance of an order so finding and discharging the patient, and the recommendation of the Board to the Secretary that the licensee be allowed to resume practice.

(v) Knowingly undertaking any activity or having any financial or other interest, or accepting any compensation or reward except from the registrant's clients, for registered interior design services by the result of those same services, any of which would reasonably appear to compromise the registrant's professional judgment in serving the best interest of clients or the public.

The Department may refuse to issue or may suspend the registration of any person who fails to file a return, or to pay the tax, penalty, or interest showing in a filed return, or to pay any final assessment of tax, penalty, or interest, as required by any tax Act administered by the Illinois Department of Revenue, until such time as the requirements of any such tax Act are satisfied.

The entry of a decree by any circuit court establishing that any person holding a certificate of registration under this Act is a person subject to involuntary admission under the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code shall operate as a suspension of that registration. That person may resume using the title "registered interior designer" only upon a finding by the Board that he or she has been determined to be no longer subject to involuntary admission by the court and upon the Board's recommendation to the Director that he or she be permitted to resume using the title "registered interior designer".

(Source: P.A. 100-872, eff. 8-14-18; 100-920, eff. 8-17-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)