Licensed Professional Interior Designer Practice Act.

The penalty for practicing without a license was changed from a criminal misdemeanor punishable by a fine or up to six months in county jail (or both) to a civil penalty with an unspecified dollar range. This removes the possibility of incarceration for unlicensed practice.

A new subdivision (d) was added to Section 5710 requiring that the board shall not limit consideration of educational requirements for licensure to any accredited two-year, three-year, or four-year program. This ensures the board must consider other types of educational pathways (such as apprenticeships, non-degree programs, or longer programs).

Throughout the bill, references to 'professional interior design' were changed to 'licensed professional interior design,' narrowing the defined scope of regulated activity to specifically the licensed practice rather than the broader profession.

The coauthor list was updated: Assembly Members Haney and Hart were added, and Assembly Member Bains was removed. The final list is Haney, Hart, Macedo, and Zbur.

The term 'commercial professional interior designer' is replaced with 'professional interior designer' throughout the bill, removing the commercial qualifier and broadening the scope of regulated practice to all professional interior design work in buildings and structures, not just commercial spaces.

Coauthors Assembly Members Bains, Macedo, and Zbur are added to the bill.

A new California Professional Interior Designer Fund is established, to be made available to the board upon appropriation by the Legislature to defray expenses of carrying out and enforcing the bill's provisions. This supplements the existing California Architects Board Fund.

The board is required to implement the provisions of the new chapter no later than July 1, 2028 (new Section 5705(c)).

New Section 5710 requires the board to determine eligibility requirements including examination and education requirements, gives special consideration to national examinations, authorizes continuing education requirements, and allows the board to require education or training for identifying when architectural or engineering services are needed.

New Section 5711 makes it a misdemeanor (fine and/or up to six months in county jail) to practice professional interior design without a license or to use titles implying licensure under the chapter.

The board is required to designate the National Council for Interior Design Qualification Examination as its examination for licensure as a professional interior designer (Section 5705(b)(2)).

The term 'commercial interior designer' is replaced with 'commercial professional interior designer' throughout the entire bill, changing the name of the regulated profession and the act itself.

A new definition of 'professional interior design' is added (Section 5701(g)) that mirrors the commercial interior design definition but adds a specific exclusion for work requiring structural engineering analysis or where the designer would assume responsible control for a building's structural systems, including lateral force resisting systems and seismic bracing.

A new definition of 'structural engineer' is added (Section 5701(k)), referencing Section 6736 of the Business and Professions Code.

The 'responsible control' definition is expanded to clarify that professional responsibility and liability attach only to aspects of work performed within the licensed designer's scope of practice, and that it does not require personally preparing all instruments but requires exercise of professional judgment and supervisory authority.

A new legislative finding (paragraph 6) is added stating that acceptable overlap between licensed design professions occurs through coordinated practice within defined scope boundaries, consistent with nationally recognized professional standards.

The digest adds language authorizing the board to determine whether additional education or training is required for professional interior designers to identify when architectural or engineering services are needed, and if so, requiring the board to develop and prescribe such education or training.

Section 5528 is broadened so that enforcement consultants need not be 'licensed architects' but may be 'architect and commercial professional interior design consultants who are licensed,' expanding the pool of eligible consultants.

Board membership count is corrected from 10 to 11 members in Section 5510 and 5514(a), fixing an internal inconsistency where the components (5 architects + 1 interior designer + 5 public) already totaled 11.

Fees collected for professional interior designer licensure will now be deposited into a new Professional Interior Designer Fund that is made available only upon appropriation by the Legislature, rather than into the continuously appropriated California Architects Board Fund. This means the board cannot spend these funds without explicit legislative approval each time.

The provision requiring initial establishment and support costs to be advanced from the General Fund was removed. The bill no longer commits any state general fund money directly.

The legislative digest now states Appropriation: no (previously yes), confirming the bill no longer constitutes an appropriation of state funds.

The vote requirement for passage was changed from a two-thirds majority to a simple majority, consistent with the removal of the appropriation that had triggered the supermajority threshold.