Experience

How do I complete my supervised work experience?

In order to be eligible to write the NCIDQ examinations, members must successfully complete ARIDO’s supervised work experience requirement. There are currently two paths for work experience in Ontario: the competency-based Interior Design Experience Requirement (IDER) reporting or the hours-based reporting.

Interns completing either reporting path must track all work experience which meets the supervised work experience requirements. You are advised to track this experience throughout the years that you are completing it.

If, during this period of time, you have successfully completed the required work experience through multiple jobs under multiple Supervisors or Mentors, you will need to separately report and obtain a signature from each of these Supervisors or Mentors. This applies to both the IDER reporting and hours-based reporting.

For example, if over the course of three years you have obtained work experience through two separate jobs with two separate firms, you will need to report the accumulated experience separately. This will mean obtaining signatures from both Supervisors to whom you reported.

Once you have obtained the required amount of supervised work experience, make sure that your reporting is complete and that all qualified Supervisors or Mentors have signed off. Your reporting can be completed by filling in the appropriate documentation for the path you are following.

Who qualifies as a Supervisor or Mentor?

For both IDER and the hours-based path, a direct Supervisor is the individual within the firm where the Intern is employed and who supervises their daily work. A current or former direct Supervisor may sign off on experience of which they supervised.

A work experience Sponsor or Mentor is not the Intern’s direct employment supervisor who meets the above qualifications and volunteers their time to review, give feedback, and sign off on the Intern’s work.

Interior Design Experience Requirement (IDER) Reporting

The new requirement, also known as Interior Design Experience Requirement (IDER), is a move away from hours-based reporting to evidence-based reporting and requires the completion of mandatory tasks within each interior design phase.

With this transition, ARIDO believes this new reporting format will provide Intern members with a greater understanding of their next steps on the interior design career path, along with a clearly defined roadmap for their career growth plan which can be established with their Supervisor or Mentor.

For Supervisors and Mentors, the new requirement provides clear and consistent areas of supervised experience so supervisors and sponsors can ensure Interns obtain the experience needed. As more Intern members begin onboarding with the new requirement, it will also result in more consistent and equitable training across the Intern membership.

If you are using the IDER reporting path, you must complete and submit the following forms directly to ARIDO once you have successfully completed all mandatory tasks.

For Applicants

For Supervisors / Mentors

Once all your supervised work experience is completed, submit your form(s) directly to ARIDO: membership@arido.ca .

More information about completing these forms is available in the Applicant Supervised Work Experience Guide.

Hours based reporting

Intern members who reported to ARIDO that they would continue to use the hours-based reporting path prior to January 1st, 2022, should ensure they use the correct form: Direct Supervised Work Experience Reporting Form

Your Supervised Work Experience hours are worth their full value (100%) when the hours are completed under one of the following individuals:

  • Registered Member of ARIDO or another provincial regulatory body
  • Designer (passed the NCIDQ exam/meets ARIDO requirements)
  • Licenced Architect

75% of the total Supervised Work Experience hours may be claimed under someone who is a Designer but is not NCIDQ Certified nor is licensed/registered with another provincial body. The remaining 25% must be under the supervision of one of the individuals listed above.

Click here for the Direct Supervised Work Experience Reporting Form.

Once all your supervised work experience hours are completed, submit your form(s) directly to ARIDO: membership@arido.ca.

Experience completed through the IDER path or the hours path will qualify Interns to write the exam alternative (EAP) to qualify for Registered membership.

NCIDQ Exams and Certification

Members who plan to carry out interior design services in the United States may wish to take the NCIDQ exams and maintain NCIDQ certification instead of completing ARIDO’s EAP. NCIDQ certification along with meeting ARIDO’s requirements for education and supervised work experience will qualify for application for Registered membership. Maintaining NCIDQ certification annually once the exams are passed is not a requirement for maintaining Registered membership with ARIDO or to practice in Ontario.

CIDQ’s certification requirements for education and experience must be met in order to register for the NCIDQ exams and for CIDQ to grant NCIDQ certification.

If you wish to write the be NCIDQ exams, it is recommended that you also maintain a record of supervised work experience using CIDQ’s Reporting Form in order to meet CIDQ’s requirements for supervised work experience. Please refer to CIDQ for information at www.cidq.org.

ICRS and the IDER Path-NCIDQ Exam Eligibility

Intern members who completed the ICRS process to qualify their education to meet ARIDO’s education requirement will then complete the IDER Report to track their supervised work experience to qualify to write ARIDO’s exam alternative (EAP).

If an Intern member via ICRS would like to complete the NCIDQ exams instead, this is an option however they must meet CIDQ’s requirements for education and experience in order to register to write the NCIDQ exams. 

Please refer to CIDQ for information about their registration requirements at www.cidq.org

Whitepaper on the Interior Design Experience Requirement

This whitepaper describes the competency mapping process that informed the creation of the Interior Design Experience Requirement.

Questions?

For questions regarding the supervised work experience requirement, or to initiate the Member Board approval, please contact membership@arido.ca.