§ 8305. Requirements for certification. 1. To qualify for certification to use the title "certified interior designer", an applicant shall fulfill all the following requirements:

(a) Application: file an application with the department;

(b) Education: have received at least seven years of professional training consisting of academic study and work experience relating to interior design and in accordance with the commissioner's regulations. These seven years shall contain at least two but not more than five years of post secondary education, including an associate degree or the equivalent, in an approved program of interior design;

(c) Experience: have experience satisfactory to the board and in accordance with the commissioner's regulations;

(d) Examination: (1) pass an examination satisfactory to the board in accordance with the commissioner's regulations, and (2) pass a separate examination satisfactory to the board relative to the fire, safety and building codes of the state;

(e) Age: be at least twenty-one years of age;

(f) Citizenship: meet no requirements as to United States citizenship;

(g) Character: be of good moral character as determined by the department; and

(h) Fees: pay a fee of three hundred dollars to the department for admission to the two department conducted examinations and for an initial license, a fee of one hundred fifty dollars for each reexamination, a fee of one hundred thirty-five dollars for an initial license for persons not requiring admission to a department conducted examination, and a fee of two hundred ten dollars for each triennial registration period.

2. On recommendation of the board, the department may exempt:

(a) from the requirement of subparagraph one of paragraph (d) of subdivision one of this section, an applicant who holds a license of certification to practice as an interior designer issued to him or her upon examination by a legally constituted board of examiners in any other state or political subdivision of the United States, provided that at the time the license or certificate was issued by such state or political subdivision the applicant met the requirements of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section for certification to use the title "certified interior designer" established by this article; or

(b) from the requirements specified in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section provided the applicant submits, prior to January first, nineteen hundred ninety-six, satisfactory evidence that the applicant has held himself or herself out as an interior designer and has prepared interior design documents in accordance with the requirements set forth in section eighty-three hundred three of this article for a minimum of seven years, has received a secondary school diploma or equivalent, and has passed the examinations required under paragraph (d) of subdivision one of this section.