This bill creates a new chapter in Title 18 RCW to regulate the professional practice of registered commercial interior design and amends RCW 18.08.330 and 18.08.340 to expand the state board for architects to a state board for architects and registered commercial interior designers. It makes the practice of registered commercial interior design a regulated profession, authorizes the Director of Licensing to issue individual certificates of registration and certificates of authorization to business entities, and requires business entities offering these services to register and name responsible registered individual(s). The act defines the practice as analysis, planning, design, coordination, documentation, and management of interior nonstructural construction and alteration projects and lists many specific included activities. It also identifies explicit exclusions from the practice (for example, changes of occupancy hazard category, structural system changes, building envelope work, engineering of mechanical/plumbing/HVAC/electrical systems, elevators and shared building egress systems, and primary life‑safety systems). To obtain registration applicants must be at least 18, of good moral character, submit an application, evidence of education and experience (or NCIDQ certification in lieu), pass the NCIDQ and a Washington law review exam (or provide NCIDQ certification), and pay fees; the bill authorizes reciprocity, continuing professional development, seals on technical submissions, five‑year record retention, and allows military training/experience to satisfy experience requirements unless not substantially equivalent. It imposes an additional $6.50 fee on each certificate/renewal/authorization (remitted quarterly to the building code council account) and authorizes other fees under RCW 43.24.086. The bill creates enforcement, disciplinary, and procedural provisions: it makes it unlawful to use the title without registration, lists prohibited knowing acts, permits the board to discipline registrants and seek injunctions, makes violations a misdemeanor and subject to civil penalties up to $1,000 per offense, and requires immediate suspension for noncompliance with certain DSHS orders. It also establishes board membership composition and terms, rulemaking authority, and requires the director to employ an executive director subject to board approval. Some text and specifics are incomplete or not included in the extracted facts: the limitation on authority for registered commercial interior designers in Sec. 3 is cut off, full details of section 8 and section 17 (including any exceptions referenced for fee deposits) are not present, and some procedural and fee details are not fully specified in the provided material.

If enacted, the bill makes commercial interior design a regulated profession in Washington, so individual interior designers and any business that offers those services will generally need a state certificate to use the title, to sign and seal technical submissions, and to be the responsible party on projects. Practitioners will need NCIDQ certification or equivalent evidence, pass a Washington law exam, meet continuing professional development standards, keep technical records for five years, and firms must register and name a person with authority to make final design decisions. The law also carves out many types of work (structural, building envelope, major mechanical/electrical systems, certain life-safety systems, and many small residential projects) as outside the new regulated scope, and provides reciprocity for qualifying out-of-state or foreign practitioners. The immediate practical impacts are higher administrative and compliance costs for designers and firms (registration and renewal fees, the new $6.50 per certificate/renewal/authorization remitted quarterly to the building code council, costs of seals and meeting continuing education requirements), plus enforcement and legal risk for working without registration (misdemeanor exposure, board discipline, and civil penalties up to $1,000 per offense). The state board for architects is expanded to nine members with two commercial interior designers and an executive director, shifting governance and oversight. Some important implementation details and exact fee amounts beyond the $6.50 surcharge, the full limits on designer authority, and rules for professional development and firm registration are left to the board and other sections not included here, so precise compliance obligations and total costs are partly uncertain.