Complete Your CEUs and Plan Your Educational Goals for Your Interior Design Business
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For all of us, the end of the year marks the time when we either 1 ) scramble to get things done that we promised ourselves we would check off our list OR 2 ) we call it a loss and start planning for the year ahead.
If you fall into camp #1, this means you might be approaching deadlines that force YOU to finish things you MUST do before year’s end.
CEUs (continuing education units) are that way. YIKES! Along comes the end of the year, and you realize you haven’t completed the CEUs that are required.
Many interior designers DO NOT have a requirement to complete and document CEUs. But, we are team education over here and believe it is ALWAYS good to learn new things and keep your existing skills honed.
Everyone can benefit from increasing their own competencies and knowledge!
So, if you’re scrambling to complete your CEU requirements for the current year, OR if you’re looking ahead to the upcoming year and want to plan your educational and/or upskilling goals, this post is for you.
We’ll address:
Who may need to complete CEUs
How CEUs should be tracked and reported
Where CEUs can be found (who offers them)
How to achieve your educational goals if you do not have a CEU requirement
I’m an Interior Designer. How Do I Know if I Need to Complete CEUs?
There may be several reasons that interior designers are required to complete continuing education:
Designers who are Certified, Registered, or Licensed in their state or Canadian province will have CEU requirements mandated by their state or province, in order to keep their certification/registration/license current. For more information about the legislative picture in your state/province (whether the state has a “Practice Act,” “Title Act,” or Permitting Privileges), check here.
And for a full explanation of various interior design regulations, check out this post.
Dates for renewal, as well as annual or bi-annual CEU requirements (how many CEUs are required, and on what topics), vary. In some states and provinces, some of the required hours may need to focus on the Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) of the public, or other topics such as barrier-free design, professional ethics, or sustainability.
If you are a Certified, Registered, or Licensed interior designer in a state or province, and you do not know the reporting period or requirements, links to each interior design regulatory board can be found here, under “State-by-State” info.
Some states require CEU completion by the end of the calendar year, other states mark the end of their CEU compliance period mid-year (in the summer).
For designers who have passed the NCIDQ exam, but are not Certified, Registered, or Licensed in their state or province—perhaps because their state/province does not have such interior design legislation in place—to keep their NCIDQ status updated, designers must complete 5 hours of continuing education each year. Those five hours of education must be focused on the Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) of the public, and reported to CIDQ.
Designers who are members of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) at either the Professional, Allied, Associate, or Educator level are required to complete 10 hours of CEUs every two years. The course topics can be anything that the designer feels supports their own professional development. The current period for CEU completion and reporting is January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2025.
Designers who hold the Certified Kitchen and Bath Designer (CKBD) Certification through NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association) must complete and report 20 hours of continuing education every two years. The current period for CEU completion and reporting is July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2026. The course topics can be anything that the designer feels supports their own professional development.
Members of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) are required to complete 10 hours of CEUS every two years. The current period for CEU completion and reporting is January 1, 2024 - December 31, 2025.
Members of IDC—Interior Designers of Canada—must fulfill the CEU requirements for their provincial regulatory body, but are not required to additionally fulfill requirements to the IDC.
It is important to note that earned CEUs may qualify to be used for more than one requirement. For instance, if a designer is certified or registered in their state, and also a member of ASID, the same earned educational credits can be reported for both the state certification and the ASID requirements.
How Should Interior Designers Track and Report Completed CEUs?
It is suggested that all designers track their CEU activity through IDCEC, the International Design Continuing Education Council. IDCEC is the recognized centralized registry for interior design continuing education units (CEUs) in the United States and Canada.
Designers can set up a free account, and have both their CEUs reported and tracked there, as well as have the association or regulatory board to which the CEUs need to be reported connect with those records to check compliance. All documentation of educational certificates or proof of attendance can be uploaded to a designer’s IDCEC records.
Where Can I Find Coursework to Complete my Required CEUs?
There are many sources of pre-approved CEU coursework for interior designers. Many are free to attend, but a good deal of these courses are offered at a cost to the designer.
IDCEC is not only the centralized reporting agency for interior designers’ continuing education, it is also a great source for many educational opportunities for designers. They work with educational providers to review course content, and grant approval for CEU offerings. If a course is IDCEC approved, a designer can be assured it will be accepted for all CEU requirements. Registration for upcoming free classes can be accessed here.
ASID offers a variety of educational opportunities to its members in several formats: meetings of local chapter members, synchronous online webinars and virtual meetings, and asynchronous podcasts and pre-recorded videos. All CEU offerings will have been reviewed and preapproved by IDCEC. Members will be notified of upcoming CEU opportunities at the chapter or national level. Connect with a local chapter here.
NKBA sponsors and provides many CEU opportunities, geared specifically at kitchen and bath designers. A list of upcoming pre-approved CEUs can be found here and here.
IDC—the Interior Designers of Canada—offers a variety of continuing education opportunities to its members that help them keep up to date on industry regulations, business practices, and trends. IDC members can access the event calendar and register for events here.
Many manufacturers of interior products and materials provide CEU content. The courses are not allowed to promote or sell specific products, but must provide design specific education of interest to designers. The best way to connect with manufacturer-offered CEUs is to contact product reps. Also, you can check a specific manufacturer of interest to see if they offer CEU opportunities, such as these offered by Sherwin-Williams. All CEU offerings will have been reviewed and pre-approved by IDCEC.
Home Designer Marketing provides a wide variety of CEU learning opportunities. (We’ve also co-hosted FOUR webinars with them). Many focus on marketing and branding. There are similar companies such as Red Vector, Design Arts Seminars, and InteriorDesign-ED that provide CEU trainings. Course topics with these providers vary widely, so if there is a very specific topic you want to learn about, you may be able to find it with one of these educational sources.
With the CEU providers listed above, in most cases, the designer can supply their IDCEC number to the educational provider, and that provider will report course attendance to the IDCEC for the designer.
Do CEUs Need to be Pre-Approved to Count?
The CEU courses through the providers listed above will have been PRE-APPROVED as “counting” or being valid for any interior design CEU requirement. Review and approval for course content is managed by IDCEC, NKBA, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), or perhaps a state regulatory board.
But many states—for the maintenance of their interior design certification or registration—recognize that some designers pursue activities outside of traditional CEU attendance that certainly DO contribute to that designer’s professional development. Examples might include:
Performing design research, and writing a research article
Developing and teaching a course to other designers
Authoring a book or a portion of a book
Attending college-level or post-graduate-level courses
Participating as a student in a structured seminar, workshop, or program that has not been reviewed and approved for CEU authorization, but that is still very relevant to a designer’s professional growth
So, many states DO allow designers to count these kinds of endeavors toward the required minimum amount of educational hours. Sometimes this is called self-directed study, personal development hours, or qualifying structured activities.
If a designer wants some of these non-CEU-approved activities to count toward their required number of educational hours, there is usually a self-report form they need to complete which describes the activity. If there is a corresponding certificate or letter of completion provided by the educator, an image of that should be uploaded to the designer’s IDCEC account.
ASID also provides the opportunity to self-report a professional development activity that has not been pre-approved as an authorized CEU to count towards their required 10 hours bi-annually. Check here for their eligibility guidelines toward educational requirement fulfillment.
What Happens if an Interior Designer Doesn’t Meet the CEU Requirements?
At the end of each reporting period (whether it be annually or bi-annually, or ending at the end or the middle of a calendar year), each state’s regulatory board, and each membership organization will look at the IDCEC report to see if a designer has met the number of required CEUs or educational hours. If these are not met, a designer might face suspension of their state’s certification/registration, or their membership. Reinstatement policies vary, so check with your state regulatory board or membership organization.
In the case of health issues, disabilities, or other extenuating circumstances, check the policies regarding time extensions.
I Don’t Have CEU Requirements, but Want to Always Continue to Learn. What Do You Suggest?
Oh yes!!! We at Dakota are strong supporters of life-long learning, and continual professional growth and process improvement! The interior design industry is continually evolving, and it’s up to each designer to remain at the forefront of progress and developments. And designers need to always keep their design knowledge fresh, as well.
That is why we do so much to contribute to designers’ competencies and skill sets, through: The Weekly Install®, The Design Brief™, our signature program, The Designed to Scale® Method, our on-demand trainings in The Workroom, and our live pop-up trainings (check out our next one on how to elevate your design presentation).
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