What States Require an Interior Design License?

Only four U.S. jurisdictions require you to hold a license before you can perform certain interior design work: Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and the District of Columbia. The states that require an interior design license do so through what’s called a practice act, and the restrictions apply mainly to commercial and code-impacted projects rather than residential decorating. Another 25 states regulate the profession more lightly by protecting professional titles, and 21 states don’t regulate interior designers at all.1CIDQ. Legislative Map

License to Practice vs. Protected Title

Interior design regulation comes in two forms, and the difference decides whether you need credentials to do the work or just to describe yourself a certain way.1CIDQ. Legislative Map

A practice act is the stricter form. You must hold a license or registration before performing defined interior design services, especially work affecting health, safety, and welfare in commercial or public buildings. Space planning for code compliance, construction documents for non-structural interior elements, and specifying fire-rated materials all fall inside the regulated scope. Working without credentials in these jurisdictions can mean fines or other penalties.

A title act is lighter. It doesn’t restrict who can do the work. It reserves specific professional titles, such as “Registered Interior Designer” or “Certified Interior Designer,” for people who meet the state’s education, experience, and exam requirements. You can design interiors without those credentials. You just can’t advertise using the protected title.

The Four Jurisdictions That Require a License

Florida

Florida draws a legal line between “interior design” and “interior decorator services.” Decorator services, like selecting paint, wallcoverings, window treatments, floor coverings, and loose furnishings, require no registration. Interior design, meaning space planning, reflected ceiling plans, and construction documents for non-structural elements of commercial buildings, does. A registered interior designer in Florida can seal documents and submit them for building permits covering non-structural interior construction. The scope explicitly excludes structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and life-safety systems.2Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Title XXXII Chapter 481

Nevada

Nevada requires registration to practice as an interior designer. The scope is broad: analyzing client needs for safety, developing final designs, preparing contract documents for interior construction, and administering bids and contracts. Applicants need a degree from a CIDA-accredited program or substantially equivalent education, at least two years of experience, and a passing score on the NCIDQ exam.3Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 623 – Architects, Interior Designers and Residential Designers

Louisiana

Louisiana requires registration through the Louisiana State Board of Interior Designers. Eligibility blends education and experience. Graduates of a five-year interior design program need one year of experience; graduates of a two-year program need four years. All applicants must pass the NCIDQ exam.4Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes 37-3177 – Examinations

District of Columbia

D.C. requires a license for the “practice of interior design,” defined as design analysis, programming, space planning, or aesthetic planning of building interiors using specialized knowledge of construction, building codes, fire and safety codes, equipment, and materials. Licensed architects can perform the same work without an interior design license but cannot use the title “Interior Designer” unless separately licensed as one.5DC Municipal Regulations. DC Municipal Regulations 17-3209 – Scope of Practice, Interior Designers

States That Only Protect the Title

Most regulated states use title acts. You can practice interior design freely, but you can’t call yourself by the state’s protected designation without meeting the credentialing requirements. These states, and the title each one reserves, are current as of early 2026:6CIDQ. Jurisdictions and Requirements

  • Alabama: Registered Interior Designer
  • Arkansas: Registered Interior Designer
  • Connecticut: Registered Interior Designer
  • Georgia: Registered Interior Designer
  • Illinois: Registered Interior Designer
  • Indiana: Registered Interior Designer
  • Iowa: Registered Interior Designer
  • Kentucky: Certified Interior Designer
  • Maine: Certified Interior Designer
  • Maryland: Certified Interior Designer
  • Minnesota: Certified Interior Designer
  • Mississippi: Mississippi Certified Interior Designer
  • Missouri: Registered Interior Designer
  • Nebraska: Registered Interior Designer (legislation enacted March 2024)
  • New Jersey: Certified Interior Designer
  • New Mexico: Licensed Interior Designer
  • New York: Certified Interior Designer
  • North Carolina: Registered Interior Designer
  • Oklahoma: Licensed Interior Designer
  • Pennsylvania: Certified Interior Designer (legislation enacted October 2024)
  • Tennessee: Registered Interior Designer
  • Texas: Registered Interior Designer
  • Utah: Commercial Interior Designer
  • Virginia: Certified Interior Designer
  • Wisconsin: Wisconsin Registered Interior Designer

Nearly all of these states use NCIDQ certification as the baseline credential, combined with state-specific education and experience rules. Some title-act states also grant extra privileges to credentialed designers, like the ability to seal documents or pull building permits for non-structural interior work, which blurs the line between the two categories.

California Runs Its Own System

California protects the title “Certified Interior Designer” (CID), but it doesn’t accept the NCIDQ exam. The state requires its own test, the IDEX California, which focuses on California building codes and regulations. Four requirements apply: education (minimum 40 core units), experience (two to eight years depending on education level), passage of the IDEX exam, and adherence to a code of ethics. Using the CID title without meeting these requirements is a misdemeanor under California Business and Professions Code Sections 5800 through 5812. The California Council for Interior Design Certification (CCIDC), a nonprofit written directly into the statute, administers the program.7CCIDC. California Certification for Interior Design

States With No Interior Design Regulation

Twenty-one states don’t regulate interior designers at the state level at all. Anyone can offer services and use general terms to describe their work without meeting state credentialing requirements:

Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

No statewide regulation doesn’t mean zero oversight. Individual cities or counties may impose their own rules, particularly for commercial projects involving building permits. Designers in these states who want to show professional competence often pursue NCIDQ certification voluntarily, since many clients and employers treat it as the industry standard.

Interior Design vs. Interior Decorating

This boundary matters even in licensed states. Interior decorating is generally unregulated, including in Florida, which spells it out: paint, wallcoverings, window treatments, floor coverings, and loose furnishings are “interior decorator services” and require no registration.2Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Title XXXII Chapter 481 Interior design, by contrast, means space planning, construction documents, reflected ceiling plans, code compliance, and specification of materials that intersect with building systems. If your work stays on the decorating side, practice-act requirements generally don’t reach you. The moment you start preparing documents that affect how a building functions or how occupants exit in an emergency, you’ve crossed into regulated territory.

The NCIDQ Exam

The NCIDQ exam ties the whole regulatory map together. Every regulated jurisdiction requires it except California.6CIDQ. Jurisdictions and Requirements Passing earns you NCIDQ certification, which you then use to apply for state-level licensure or registration.

The exam has three sections: the Interior Design Fundamentals Exam (IDFX), the Interior Design Professional Exam (IDPX), and the practicum (IDIX). The application fee is $235.8CIDQ. NCIDQ Exam Eligibility Pathways

How much work experience you need depends on your education. All pathways require at least 60 semester hours (or 90 quarter hours) of interior design coursework:9CIDQ. NCIDQ Candidate Handbook

  • Bachelor’s or master’s from a CIDA-accredited program: 3,520 hours of experience (roughly two years full-time)
  • Architecture degree: 3,520 hours
  • Bachelor’s or master’s from a non-CIDA program: 5,280 hours (roughly three years)
  • Associate degree, certificate, or diploma: 7,040 hours (roughly four years)
  • Alternative Review Program (no qualifying degree): 8,800 hours minimum (roughly five years)

Up to 1,760 hours of pre-graduation work experience can count toward the total, and a direct supervisor or sponsor must verify your hours.

Working in More Than One State

Designers who work across state lines run into this patchwork quickly. There’s no universal reciprocity, but NCIDQ certification functions as the closest thing to a portable credential. Since nearly every regulated state requires it, holding the certificate lets you apply for registration elsewhere without retaking an exam.

Several states have formal reciprocity or endorsement provisions. Florida allows registration by endorsement for designers who have passed the NCIDQ and hold a substantially equivalent license in another state. Arkansas requires both NCIDQ certification and a valid registration from another U.S. jurisdiction. Kentucky directs its board to issue certificates to designers credentialed elsewhere. Texas allows reciprocal transfer when the originating state has substantially equivalent requirements, with a $150 application fee and a $200 initial registration fee for reciprocal applicants.10Texas Board of Architectural Examiners. Registered Interior Designers – Registration by Reciprocal Transfer

California is the outlier again. Because it requires the IDEX exam rather than the NCIDQ, certification from another state doesn’t automatically qualify you there. You’d need to meet California’s separate education, experience, and exam requirements through the CCIDC.

Keeping Your License Active

Every regulated state requires continuing education (CE) to maintain registration or certification. Hours and renewal periods vary:6CIDQ. Jurisdictions and Requirements

  • Florida: 20 hours every two years, including at least 14 in health, safety, and welfare topics plus 2 hours on the Florida Building Code
  • Nevada: 8 hours per year, all in health, safety, and welfare
  • District of Columbia: 10 hours per year
  • Alabama: 10 hours per year
  • Minnesota: 24 hours every two years, including 2 hours of professional ethics
  • Illinois: 10 hours per renewal period beginning in 2025, including sexual harassment prevention and ethics training

Most states require that a portion of CE hours cover health, safety, and welfare (HSW) topics rather than purely aesthetic or business subjects, which tracks with the public-safety rationale for regulating the field in the first place. A lapsed registration in a practice-act state means you can’t legally perform regulated design services until you reinstate. In a title-act state, it means you lose the right to use your protected title.

Initial application fees for state registration typically run from $100 to $700, with renewal fees assessed every one or two years. Check with your state board for the current schedule before budgeting.