Ok. So it took some serious effort to drag myself out of bed this morning. I've got a cold; I'm drained, achy, my throat hurts and my nose won't stop running.
But off I go to work, like a good little worker bee. And I get to the office, and I open my email and find a letter from another local designer (one heading up a committee lobbying for professional licensing regulations of our profession) that includes a link to this syndicated column by George Will:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07081/771491-109.stm
It's the wrong day to needle me that way, I suppose. I've sent the following reply directly to his washpost.com email, and might forward it on to some local legislators, as well:
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Good morning, Mr. Will.
I've just read your article on interior design regulation, and while I generally agree with the concept behind your secondary headline: "Government shouldn't help private businesses stifle their competition", I'm afraid you've somewhat skewed the issue by inaccurately representing the interior design profession.
I also believe that you may have failed to consider two other relevant facts: the first is that architects consider interior designers competition and are currently attempting to stifle interior design practice and title acts for that very reason, and the second is that commerical interior designers are responsible for the health, safety and welfare of the public.
Forgive me, please, if I take some offense to your simplistic characterization of my work. I don't make curtains in my basement, and I've been fighting that generalized misconception for years, so it's a bit of a touchy subject for me.
When someone asks me "And what do YOU do?" and I respond that I'm an interior designer, visions of the Home and Garden channel leap into their heads, and they imagine me draping fabric artfully about with one hand while stenciling flowers around the top of a wall with the other. They want me to come help them with their family room where the dog's chewed up the carpet. They want my advice on what color to paint their kitchens.
I'm not sure I can come up with an appropriate analogy here, Mr. Will, but this might begin to barely approximate the situation: How would you react if someone, upon hearing that you're a writer, asked you (quite seriously, mind you) to come up with a commercial jingle for their car dealership, or imagined you as an author of romance novels?
I'm familiar with the International Building Code, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the National Fire Protection Association code, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards (and several other regulations), and I am routinely tasked with applying those standards to public space plans I design. Minutia matters: I must be sure I've allowed 18" on the pull side of a door so that someone in a wheelchair can access the spaces beyond that door. I plan egress from a building such that, in the case of a fire, people may push one another *out* of a building, and not get stuck inside it. I choose hardware that opens a door even if people are crushed up against it. I coordinate the work of several other trades - licensed electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and structural consultants - into coherent construction documents that provide instruction to licensed contractors.
The government invests a lot of money in ensuring public safety in (and access to) constructed buildings, and interior design specialists are primarily the ones laying out those spaces. I juggle the myriad of legal requirements for a space while also reminding my clients about other less vital concerns: that they'll need a secure closet (with adequate ventilation) for their network server, and that sidelights next to office doors can allow daylight through to the interior of an office suite, increasing health and productivity of the staff. After 9/11, I started learning more about security options, too.
My current projects include a County Administration building, a County-run substance abuse treatment facility, and an ADA review of a County's entire public school system. I've coordinated the installation of 14,000-pound irradiator in a malaria research lab. I've designed electronically and physically secure facilities for military contractors. I've been responsible for construction documentation for offices, churches, schools, hospitals, and retail establishments.
Yes, architects at the firm for whom I work ultimately sign my drawings, and are ultimately legally responsible for my decisions. But why shouldn't I be legally held responsible for my work as well? I have ten years of experience in the field, I have studied space planning, learned the legal codes and standard practices, passed a professional exam, and paid my money to the State of Maryland for the right to call myself a Certified Interior Designer. I don't want to be an architect; I'm not interested in roof systems or concrete column footer construction any more than I want to sew curtains - my role is to focus on the efficiency, function and safety of interior spaces. To make those spaces appealing with color and other finishes at the same time, to select recycled or locally-generated materials for the project, well, those are just two additional considerations among many more important ones that I make on a daily basis.
I've worked with architects my entire career; I very much appreciate their experience, knowledge and necessary role in new building design and in structural alterations. But when it comes to renovation, to reuse of an existing constructed interior space, I see no reason the government should limit the work that can be done by requiring that an architect be involved. Licensing interior designers to complete this work is analogous to (finally) allowing nurse practitioners to write certain prescriptions.
Many mothers care quite well for sick children, and many decorators do a beautiful job of selecting furnishings, but they don't necessarily have the education or experience to handle the public's safety, so the government verifies the capability of professionals who wish to pursue those careers that affect the masses.
If anyone is limiting the field of interior design, Mr. Will, it is the architects who feel designers are a threat to their money-making. Some architects are lobbying the government to limit interior designers' practice of what currently falls under an architect's professional role, much as doctors fought the proposal that nurse practitioners being allowed to write prescriptions. If you consider limiting who can officially move furniture is taking it a bit far, consider that that 70" filing cabinet is generally immovable by one individual, and if it is placed in the wrong location - say, too close to a door - it might well restrict the civil liberties of someone in a wheelchair by making it impossible for them to access an adjacent space, or worse, restrict the legally required width for traffic flow through a corridor that's required for exiting during a fire.
Licensing of interior designers is considered a health, safety and welfare issue by the State of Maryland. Title and practice acts enforced by the states establish a minimum standard for those making decisions that affect the health, safety and welfare of the public. Limiting the ability of untrained decorators to participate in this profession is absolutely appropriate.
Thank you for your time in reading my opposing opinion.
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I know it's wordy, and would be 'better' if it were more succinct, or if I'd taken more time to include more relevant examples of how the skills of interior designers *ARE* measurable and disasterous when deficient. But I need to get some *actual* work done today, too.
Local and national interior design associations will draft more professional, more informative responses. And I wasn't trying to speak for everyone, I just had to get how I felt off my chest.
Interestingly, I feel *much* better now. My throat doesn't hurt nearly as much, and I'm actually feeling more interested in my projects than I was this morning.
Happy Friday, all!
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So, vox. Got sent this way by friend birdcage's beautiful and fascinating new blog. Perhaps I will move here. Right after I finish my 80000 things to do, about 35000 of which are work-related.
I dreamed I got a haircut, a bob type thing, and loved it. Is that a sign?
