NCIDQ
Encyclopedia
The National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ), an independent of state and provincial credentialing
bodies, provides the North American public with the means to identify interior design
ers who have demonstrated the minimum level of competence
needed to practice interior design. In fulfillment of this purpose, NCIDQ provides a professional examination in interior design. One hundred percent of the Examination covers those aspects of the practice of interior design that affect the public's health
, life safety and welfare
.
and Canada
whose core purpose is to protect the health, life safety and welfare of the public by establishing standards of competence in the practice of interior design. NCIDQ serves to identify to the public those interior designers who have met the minimum standards for professional practice by passing the NCIDQ Examination. Completion of the NCIDQ Examination recognizes that an individual has met minimum competency
standards for the practice of interior design.
Passage of the exam is a requirement for licensure
in all NCIDQ member jurisdictions. The exam also serves as a qualifier for professional membership within interior design organizations and, for non-affiliates, represents a voluntary individual accomplishment.
requirements and pass all required sections of the NCIDQ Examination are each assigned a unique NCIDQ Certificate number. Certificate holders who pay an annual Certificate Renewal fee receive exclusive Active Certificate holder benefits and discount
s.
s that have enacted licensing or certification
statute
s to protect the health, safety
and welfare of the public. The NCIDQ Examination must also be passed by every interior designer applying for professional membership.
s on the NCIDQ Council of Delegates for two-year terms.
Beyond the Council's responsibilities for conducting and jurying the examination in locations throughout North America
, it is charged with defining, researching and updating bodies of knowledge, conducting field surveys, analyzing candidate performance, evaluating subject areas and item validity
, developing and pretesting questions and problems, improving scoring, implementing grading and jurying procedures, reviewing education
and practice requirements, and identifying public health, safety and welfare issues.
The career path of a professional interior designer involves formal education, work experience
and a qualifying examination. Work experience is required of candidates for the NCIDQ Examination. State licensing boards and provincial associations require proof of high-quality, diversified interior design experience for licensure and/or registration.
IDEP assists entry-level interior designers in obtaining a broad range of quality professional experience. The program provides a structure for the essential transition between formal education and professional practice, recognizing the differences between classroom
and workplace.
s to today's professional interior design practitioner, the Council has been in effect since 1972. It was formalized as a not-for-profit organization when it was incorporated in 1974. NCIDQ's founders were the American Institute of Interior Designers (AID) and the National Society of Interior Designers (NSID), two national organizations that were then preparing to merge into what became the American Society of Interior Designers
(ASID). All national design
organizations, whose membership was made up in total or in part of interior designers, were asked to join.
The parent organizations decided that a separate council was needed to
Credentialing
Credentialing is the process of establishing the qualifications of licensed professionals, organizational members or organizations, and assessing their background and legitimacy...
bodies, provides the North American public with the means to identify interior design
Interior design
Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...
ers who have demonstrated the minimum level of competence
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...
needed to practice interior design. In fulfillment of this purpose, NCIDQ provides a professional examination in interior design. One hundred percent of the Examination covers those aspects of the practice of interior design that affect the public's health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, life safety and welfare
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
.
About NCIDQ
NCIDQ is an organization of regulatory boards and provincial associations in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
whose core purpose is to protect the health, life safety and welfare of the public by establishing standards of competence in the practice of interior design. NCIDQ serves to identify to the public those interior designers who have met the minimum standards for professional practice by passing the NCIDQ Examination. Completion of the NCIDQ Examination recognizes that an individual has met minimum competency
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...
standards for the practice of interior design.
Passage of the exam is a requirement for licensure
Licensure
Licensure refers to the granting of a license, which gives a "permission to practice." Such licenses are usually issued in order to regulate some activity that is deemed to be dangerous or a threat to the person or the public or which involves a high level of specialized skill...
in all NCIDQ member jurisdictions. The exam also serves as a qualifier for professional membership within interior design organizations and, for non-affiliates, represents a voluntary individual accomplishment.
Certificate Holders
While NCIDQ does not offer membership to individuals, professional interior designers can become Certificate holders by completing the examination process. Individuals who meet NCIDQ's eligibilityEligibility
Eligibility may refer to:* The right to run for office , sometimes called passive suffrage or voting eligibility* Desirability as a marriage partner, as in the term eligible bachelor...
requirements and pass all required sections of the NCIDQ Examination are each assigned a unique NCIDQ Certificate number. Certificate holders who pay an annual Certificate Renewal fee receive exclusive Active Certificate holder benefits and discount
Discount
Discounting is a financial mechanism in which a debtor obtains the right to delay payments to a creditor, for a defined period of time, in exchange for a charge or fee. Essentially, the party that owes money in the present purchases the right to delay the payment until some future date...
s.
Acceptance
Successful completion of the NCIDQ Examination is a prerequisite for professional registration in those American states and Canadian provinceProvince
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
s that have enacted licensing or certification
Certification
Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit...
statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
s to protect the health, safety
Safety
Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
and welfare of the public. The NCIDQ Examination must also be passed by every interior designer applying for professional membership.
Administration
Representatives from state/provincial regulatory agencies are appointed to serve as delegateDelegate
A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...
s on the NCIDQ Council of Delegates for two-year terms.
Beyond the Council's responsibilities for conducting and jurying the examination in locations throughout North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, it is charged with defining, researching and updating bodies of knowledge, conducting field surveys, analyzing candidate performance, evaluating subject areas and item validity
Validity
In logic, argument is valid if and only if its conclusion is entailed by its premises, a formula is valid if and only if it is true under every interpretation, and an argument form is valid if and only if every argument of that logical form is valid....
, developing and pretesting questions and problems, improving scoring, implementing grading and jurying procedures, reviewing education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and practice requirements, and identifying public health, safety and welfare issues.
IDEP
The Interior Design Experience Program (IDEP) is a monitored, documented experience program administered by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) for entry-level interior designers.The career path of a professional interior designer involves formal education, work experience
Work experience
Work experience is the experience that a person has been working, or worked in a specific field or occupation.- Volunteer work and internships :...
and a qualifying examination. Work experience is required of candidates for the NCIDQ Examination. State licensing boards and provincial associations require proof of high-quality, diversified interior design experience for licensure and/or registration.
IDEP assists entry-level interior designers in obtaining a broad range of quality professional experience. The program provides a structure for the essential transition between formal education and professional practice, recognizing the differences between classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
and workplace.
History
Conceived in the late 1960s to serve as a basis for issuing credentialCredential
A credential is an attestation of qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or de facto authority or assumed competence to do so....
s to today's professional interior design practitioner, the Council has been in effect since 1972. It was formalized as a not-for-profit organization when it was incorporated in 1974. NCIDQ's founders were the American Institute of Interior Designers (AID) and the National Society of Interior Designers (NSID), two national organizations that were then preparing to merge into what became the American Society of Interior Designers
American Society of Interior Designers
The American Society of Interior Designers is the oldest and largest professional association for interior designers. Through education, knowledge sharing, advocacy, community building and outreach, the Society strives to advance the interior design profession and, in the process, to demonstrate...
(ASID). All national design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
organizations, whose membership was made up in total or in part of interior designers, were asked to join.
The parent organizations decided that a separate council was needed to
- develop, administer and certify, through a qualifying examination, the interior design practitioner competent to practice; and
- study and present plans, programs and guidelines for the statutory licensing of interior design practitioners.