STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2232
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 23, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to continuing education
requirements for certified interior designer certification
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 8305-a
2 to read as follows:
3 § 8305-a. Mandatory continuing education for certified interior
4 designers. 1. (a) Each certified interior designer required under this
5 article to register triennially with the department to practice in the
6 state shall comply with the provisions of the mandatory continuing
7 education requirements prescribed in subdivision two of this section
8 except as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivision.
9 Certified interior designers who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing
10 education requirements shall not use the title certified interior
11 designer until they have met such requirements, and have been issued a
12 registration certificate, except that a certified interior designer may
13 practice without having met such requirements if he or she is issued a
14 conditional registration certificate pursuant to subdivision three of
15 this section.
16 (b) In accord with the intent of this section, adjustment to the
17 mandatory continuing education requirement may be granted by the depart-
18 ment for reasons of health certified by an appropriate health care
19 professional, for extended active duty with the armed forces of the
20 United States, or for other good cause acceptable to the department
21 which may prevent compliance.
22 (c) A certified interior designer not engaged in practice as deter-
23 mined by the department, shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing
24 education requirement upon the filing of a statement with the department
25 declaring such status. Any certificate holder wishing to use the title
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08158-01-9
S. 2232 2
1 certified interior designer who returns to the practice of interior
2 design during the triennial registration period shall notify the depart-
3 ment prior to reentering the profession and shall meet such mandatory
4 education requirements as shall be prescribed by regulations of the
5 commissioner.
6 (d) Certified interior designers shall be exempt from the mandatory
7 continuing education required by this section for the triennial regis-
8 tration period during which they are first registered.
9 2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for regis-
10 tration shall complete a minimum of twenty hours of acceptable continu-
11 ing education, as specified in subdivision four of this section,
12 provided, however, that a minimum of sixteen hours of such continuing
13 education shall consist of courses in the state building code and fire
14 safety code and related subjects. Any interior designer whose first
15 registration date following the effective date of this section occurs
16 less than three years from such effective date, but on or after January
17 first, two thousand twenty-one, shall complete continuing education
18 hours on a prorated basis at the rate of one hour per month for the
19 period beginning January first, two thousand twenty up to the first
20 registration date thereafter. A certificate holder who has not satisfied
21 the mandatory continuing education requirements shall not be issued a
22 triennial registration certificate by the department and shall not use
23 the title certified interior designer unless and until a conditional
24 registration certificate is issued as provided for in subdivision three
25 of this section. With the exception of continuing education hours taken
26 during the registration period immediately preceding the effective date
27 of this section, continuing education hours taken during one triennium
28 may not be transferred to a subsequent triennium.
29 3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional regis-
30 tration to a certificate holder who fails to meet the continuing educa-
31 tion requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who
32 agrees to make up any deficiencies and complete any additional education
33 which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional regis-
34 tration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the trien-
35 nial registration. The duration of such conditional registration shall
36 be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any
37 certificate holder who is notified of the denial of registration for
38 failure to submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required
39 continuing education and who uses the title certified interior designer
40 without such registration, shall be subject to disciplinary proceedings
41 pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.
42 4. As used in subdivision two of this section, "acceptable continuing
43 education" shall mean courses of learning and other activities which
44 contribute to the profession or practice of interior design and which
45 meet the regulations of the commissioner. The department may, in its
46 discretion and as needed to contribute to the health and welfare of the
47 public, require the completion of continuing education courses in
48 specific subjects. Such courses of learning must be taken from a sponsor
49 approved by the department, pursuant to regulations of the commissioner.
50 5. Certified interior designers shall maintain adequate documentation
51 of completion of acceptable continuing education and shall provide such
52 documentation at the request of the department.
53 6. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be thirty dollars and
54 shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial registra-
55 tion period, and shall be paid in addition to the triennial registration
S. 2232 3
1 fee required by paragraph (h) of subdivision one of section eighty-three
2 hundred five of this article.
3 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
4 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
