1. (a) An Applicant for Interior Design registration by examination in Texas must successfully complete all sections of the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) examination or a predecessor or other examination NCIDQ deems equivalent to the NCIDQ examination. In lieu of successfully completing the NCIDQ examination, an applicant may successfully complete all sections of the Architectural Registration Examination (ARE), or another examination NCARB deems equivalent to the ARE, after fulfilling the requirements of §1.21 and §1.41 of this title relating to Board approval to take the ARE for architectural registration by examination.
2. (b) The Board may approve an Applicant to take the NCIDQ examination only after the Applicant has completed the educational requirements for Interior Design registration by examination in Texas, has completed at least six (6) months of full-time experience working under the Direct Supervision of a Registered Interior Designer, and has submitted the required application materials. In jurisdictions where interior designers are not licensed, the supervision may be under a licensed architect or a Registered Interior Designer who has passed the NCIDQ examination.
3. (c) An Applicant may take the NCIDQ examination at any official NCIDQ testing center but must satisfy all Texas registration requirements in order to obtain Interior Design registration by examination in Texas.
4. (d) Each Candidate must achieve a passing score in each division of the NCIDQ examination. Scores from individual divisions may not be averaged to achieve a passing score.

5. (e) An examination fee may be refunded as follows:

   1. (1) The application fee paid to the Board is not refundable or transferable.

   2. (2) The Board, on behalf of a Candidate, may request a refund of a portion of the examination fee paid to the national examination provider for scheduling all or a portion of the registration examination. A charge for refund processing may be withheld by the national examination provider. Refunds of examination fees are subject to the following conditions:

      1. (A) A Candidate, because of extreme hardship, must have been precluded from scheduling or taking the examination or a portion of the examination. For purposes of this subsection, extreme hardship is defined as a serious illness or accident of the Candidate or a member of the Candidate's immediate family or the death of an immediate family member. Immediate family members include the spouse, child(ren), parent(s), and sibling(s) of the Candidate. Any other extreme hardship may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

      2. (B) A written request for a refund based on extreme hardship must be submitted not later than thirty (30) days after the date the examination or portion of the examination was scheduled or intended to be scheduled. Documentation of the extreme hardship that precluded the applicant from scheduling or taking the examination must be submitted by the Candidate as follows:

         1. (i) Illness: verification from a physician who treated the illness.
         2. (ii) Accident: a copy of an official accident report.
         3. (iii) Death: a copy of a death certificate or newspaper obituary.
      3. (C) Approval of the request and refund of the fee or portion of the fee by the national examination provider.
   3. (3) An examination fee may not be transferred to a subsequent examination.

Source Note:The provisions of this §5.51 adopted to be effective October 11, 2001, 26 TexReg 7860; amended to be effective April 4, 2004, 29 TexReg 3471; amended to be effective December 24, 2008, 33 TexReg 10323; amended to be effective June 13, 2010, 35 TexReg 4701; amended to be effective September 18, 2013, 38 TexReg 6040.