The path to professional accreditation for interior designers in Singapore has been long and winding. Several professional interior designer associations have been in talks about introducing an accreditation scheme to the industry. But that elusive professional accreditation might just be appearing on the horizon.

The Interior Design Confederation Singapore (IDCS) has announced the launch of a registry programme that serves as Singapore’s first recognition and approval process for Qualified Professional Interior Designers (QPID) leading (it is hoped) to accreditation. IDCS is an organisation that resulted from a merger between the Interior Designers Association (IDA) and the Society of Interior Designers Singapore (SIDS). SIDS itself has been recently revived and is accepting memberships in stratified categories. It also recently held its inaugural Singapore Interior Design Awards.

The new IDCS qualification programme was conducted after an industry dialogue that IDCS conducted on 5 August 2016 to gain feedback about the current state of, and issues within, the interior design industry in Singapore. The IDCS Qualification Programme will be launched in two phases.

The first phase, which runs throughout this year, will list all IDCS registered members online. In order to be accepted as a registered member of IDCS, interior designers must first submit their qualifications and portfolio to IDCS for assessment. Members or firms will be given until 31 December to accumulate 10 CPD points in order to be listed as a Qualified Interior Designer on the IDCS website in 2018. Those qualified members must attain a minimum 20 CPD points (and pay a membership fee) by the end of 2018 to maintain their status.

IDCS has also announced a partnership with RADAC (Renovation and Decoration Advisory Centre) to provide a better and holistic service to the public and create a design ecosystem with greater consumer safety. IDCS celebrated the announcement with a public ceremony in which its members signed the Code of Professional Conduct for Interior Designers at the VLV Singapore. The ceremony was followed by the signing of MOU between IDCS and RADAC.

The Code of Professional Conduct for Interior Designers lists the key responsibilities of a professional interior designer, which includes responsibilities to the public, the client, fellow interior designers, the interior design profession and the professional organisation.