NARI and NKBA Team up to Oppose Designer Legislation

NKBA includes 40,000 members, while NARI represents 7,700 companies.

Staff -- Interior Design, 8/28/2008

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) has officially joined with the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) to publicly oppose proposed nationwide legislation that would create legal definitions and licensing requirements, or alter existing ones, for interior design professionals.

NARI and NKBA now join the American Institute of Architects, Interior Design Society, and the International Furnishings and Design Association in opposing the Title and Practice acts. The two organizations issued a joint statement claiming that "the proposed regulation stems from the efforts of a small, but influential group of interior designers who are lobbying state legislatures across the United States for legislation that would regulate who may provide interior design services to the public and would prohibit the large majority of designers from practicing their profession." There was no specific mention of any pending state legislation in the release.

According to Edward Nagorsky, general counsel and director of legislative affairs for the NKBA, "Such unnecessary and anti-competitive legislation will limit consumer choice in retaining the service of a professional designer, while increasing the costs of design services beyond the reach of the ordinary consumer."

NKBA is a non-profit trade association that owns the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference and counts more than 40,000 members. NARI, with more than 7,700 member companies nationwide, stakes claim as the only trade association dedicated solely to the remodeling industry.