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BIID ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF NEW BIID REGISTERED INTERIOR DESIGNER TITLE

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The British Institute of Interior
Design (BIID) today announces a new protected title for professional interior
designers, BIID Registered Interior Designer®.  This new title is a way for clients,
designers and other built environment professionals to identify interior
designers who have met the BIID’s rigorous professional standard.  

The BIID will hold a Register of
these professionals which clients will be able to use as an essential
resource.  Requirements for the title are:

·        
6 years of education and work experience;

·        
The support of professional referees;

·        
Professional indemnity insurance;

·        
Successful completion of a face to face Registration
Assessment where a demonstration of extensive professional practice knowledge
must be evidenced through presentation of a completed design project.

Once a designer has become a BIID
Registered Interior Designer® they must adhere to the BIID’s Code of Conduct
and annual Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement to remain on
the Register. In addition to being able to describe themselves as a BIID
Registered Interior Designer® individuals will also be able to use the post
nominals RegID after their name.

The ‘Registered’ professional title
is already well recognised in the built environment, with fellow Construction
Industry Council (CIC) member the Association of Project Management (APM)
launching their APM Registered Project Professional standard in 2011. The BIID is
hoping that the launch of this new title will bring much needed clarity to the
current field - whilst in the UK the term ‘architect’ is a legally protected
title, governed by the Architects Registration Board (ARB), there is no similar
government regulation for interior design.

Daniel Hopwood, BIID President, comments;

“We are absolutely delighted to be launching
BIID Registered Interior Designer® and we are confident that it will provide a
much needed professional benchmark for our industry. This current widespread
title confusion between Interior Designer, Interior Architect and Interior
Decorator is not helpful for designers, students or clients. Interior Designer
is the best descriptor for the complex mix of knowledge, skills and experience
required to design interior space, which of course includes extensive knowledge
of interior architecture and interior decoration. This view, combined with the
fact that the use of the Registered title is already well established in the UK
construction sector, led to the development of BIID Registered Interior
Designer®.

“BIID Registered Interior Designer®
is a symbol that an individual has met our high standards of professional
competence and we are hoping the new title will raise standards across the profession
at every level. It is also a Registered trademark and use of the logo will be
strictly controlled to ensure only those designers who have met the rigorous
standard are able to use the title”.

Jane Duncan, President of the Royal
Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the UK body for architecture and the
architectural profession, comments; “The RIBA welcomes the new BIID Registered
Interior Designer® title. It will provide a useful benchmark for other
professionals in the built environment sector to understand that an interior
designer has met robust professional standards of practice.”

Sebastiano Renari, President of The
International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI), comments; "As
President of IFI, representing the world community of interior architecture and
design and on behalf of the world community of interiors experts, I am proud of
the BIID for your achievement. It is only with this kind of standard setting
that the profession can excel in achieving a societal greatness. All members of
the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers recognise your
efforts and congratulate your success."

BIID President Daniel Hopwood launched
the new Registered Interior Designer® title to BIID members on Thursday 17th
March at design brand Ochre's stunning Clerkenwell showroom.