Unless you are a member of the Ontario Association of Architects or Professional Engineers of Ontario, if you need to submit your design with an application for a building permit, you must be qualified by the Province of Ontario. Membership in associations such as AATO, DDA and ARIDO is not sufficient to be considered Building Code qualified for the purposes of applying for a building permit with your design.

1. Provincial Qualifications for ‘Designers’
• The Ontario Building Code requires all interior
decorators (designers) who take responsibility for
design activities in connection with plans submitted
with building permits to pass provincial Building
Code knowledge examinations.
• If your interior decorating work (design) is not
required to be submitted for a building permit,
remember, the work must still comply with the
Building Code, if applicable, however you are not
obliged to be qualified.

2. How to Become Provincially Qualified for
Housing in Ontario
• The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing qualifies
designers ‘interior decorators, interior designers, architectural
technologists, etc) who have passed Ministry examinations on
various categories of buildings.
• You can do it!
• Once you become qualified, your design drawings can be
submitted for a building permit on behalf of your client.
• Insurance, the province does not require designers to have
insurance for alterations to dwellings, but it is a
recommended business strategy.

3. The Profession of Interior
Decorating – Interior Decorator to
‘Designer’