The Florida Senate

481.2131  Interior design; practice requirements; disclosure of compensation for professional services.--

(1)  A registered interior designer is authorized to perform "interior design" as defined in s. 481.203 Interior design documents prepared by a registered interior designer shall contain a statement that the document is not an architectural or engineering study, drawing, specification, or design and is not to be used for construction of any load-bearing columns, load-bearing framing or walls of structures, or issuance of any building permit, except as otherwise provided by law. Interior design documents that are prepared and sealed by a registered interior designer may, if required by a permitting body, be submitted for the issuance of a building permit for interior construction excluding design of any structural, mechanical, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, ventilating, electrical, or vertical transportation systems or that materially affect lifesafety systems pertaining to firesafety protection such as fire-rated separations between interior spaces, fire-rated vertical shafts in multistory structures, fire-rated protection of structural elements, smoke evacuation and compartmentalization, emergency ingress or egress systems, and emergency alarm systems.

(2)  An interior designer shall, before entering into a contract, verbal or written, clearly determine the scope and nature of the project and the method or methods of compensation. The interior designer may offer professional services to the client as a consultant, specifier, or supplier on the basis of a fee, percentage, or markup. The interior designer shall have the responsibility of fully disclosing to the client the manner in which all compensation is to be paid. Unless the client knows and agrees, the interior designer shall not accept any form of compensation from a supplier of goods and services in cash or in kind.

History.--ss. 10, 24, ch. 88-383; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 303, ch. 94-119.