Quick answer: For the first time in Kenyan law, interior design is being formally recognised and regulated as a profession. The Architectural and Quantity Surveying Practitioners Bill, 2026 published in the Kenya Gazette Supplement on 22nd July 2026, creates a new Architectural and Quantity Surveying Practitioners Board that will register, license, and discipline interior designers alongside architects, quantity surveyors, landscape architects, and construction project managers. If passed, no one will legally be allowed to call themselves an “interior designer” or charge for interior design services in Kenya without being registered and licensed by the Board.
If you design homes, offices, hotels, or retail spaces in Kenya — or you’re thinking about training in interior design — this is one of the most important pieces of legislation to hit the built environment sector in decades. Here’s everything you need to know, in plain language.
Why This Bill Exists
The current law, the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Act (Cap. 525), dates back to 1934, during colonial rule. It only recognised architects and quantity surveyors. Interior design, landscape architecture, and construction project management didn’t exist as regulated professions at the time — they’ve since grown into full careers with their own training pipelines, but the law never caught up.
The new Bill closes that gap. According to its own Memorandum of Objects and Reasons, the goal is to:
- Align Kenya’s built environment laws with the 2010 Constitution and East African Community standards, to make cross-border practice easier.
- Deal with the growing number of unregistered, unqualified people offering professional design and construction services.
- Formally bring landscape architecture, interior design, and construction project management under one regulatory roof, alongside architecture and quantity surveying.
In short: interior design is graduating from an unregulated craft into a licensed profession.
The Big Change: Interior Design Becomes a Protected Title
Under Clause 43 of the Bill, the terms “architect,” “quantity surveyor,” “landscape architect,” “interior designer,” “construction project manager,” and “technician” become legally protected titles. That means:
- You cannot call yourself an “interior designer” in your branding, business cards, signage, or advertising unless you are registered or enrolled under the Act.
- You cannot display a sign, stamp, or any device implying you are a licensed interior designer if you’re not.
- The Board can grant limited exemptions, but only where an international treaty Kenya has ratified requires it.
This is a significant shift from today’s reality, where “interior designer” is essentially a self-declared job title that anyone can adopt, regardless of training.
Who Needs to Register — and How
Clause 22 sets out the registration path for interior designers (and architects, quantity surveyors, and landscape architects, who share the same criteria). To be eligible, you must:
- Be at least 21 years old.
- Hold a degree in interior design (or the relevant discipline) from a university recognised in Kenya.
- Pass an examination prescribed by the Board.
- Complete a minimum of two years’ practical experience, to the Board’s satisfaction.
- Be a member of a relevant professional body recognised by the Board.
- Pay the prescribed registration fee.
If you trained outside Kenya, Clause 22(4) allows for recognition, provided your institution is accredited in its home country and the Board is satisfied your qualification meets local standards.
There’s also a separate, lighter-touch pathway for technicians (Clause 23) — people holding a diploma or certificate (rather than a degree) who complete an internship and can demonstrate practical competence. This matters a lot for Kenya’s interior design sector, where many talented practitioners come up through diploma and certificate programmes rather than four-year degrees.
Once registered, you’ll also need an annual practising licence (Clause 31) to legally take on paid interior design work — registration alone isn’t enough to bill clients.
Interior Design Firms Get Rules Too
It’s not just individuals. Clause 26 requires interior design firms to register as well. A firm can only be registered if:
- It has a valid certificate of registration or incorporation.
- The majority partner or principal shareholder is a registered interior designer (or architect, quantity surveyor, etc.) with a valid licence.
- It meets any other conditions the Board prescribes.
This is a meaningful change for design studios currently run by people without formal interior design credentials, even if they employ qualified designers.
The Pros: Why This Could Be Good for Interior Designers
1. Legal recognition, finally. Interior design stops being an informal “creative service” and becomes a licensed profession with the same legal standing as architecture and quantity surveying. That’s a credibility upgrade the industry has wanted for years.
2. Protection from unqualified competition. Clause 45 makes it an offence to employ unregistered people to perform interior design work, and Clause 47 penalises practising without a licence (a fine of up to KSh 2 million or up to three years’ imprisonment, or both). For trained, registered designers, this should reduce undercutting from untrained “designers” who currently compete on price alone.
3. A seat at the table. Clause 7 guarantees at least one seat for an interior designer on the Board itself, meaning the profession will have a direct voice in setting standards, fees, and continuing education requirements — not just architects and quantity surveyors deciding on their behalf.
4. Standardised fees. Clause 5(2)(s) gives the Board power to determine fees charged by registered persons, including interior designers. This could help stabilise pricing in a market where fees currently vary wildly.
5. A push toward professional development. The Bill requires continuing professional education (Clause 32(3)(c)) to renew your licence each year, which should raise the overall skill and knowledge level across the profession over time.
6. Recognition of technicians and diploma holders. The enrolment pathway (Clause 23) means people without a full degree still have a legitimate, legal route into the profession — important in a market where many designers train through polytechnics, colleges, and institutes like AlphaTech rather than universities alone.
The Cons: What Interior Designers Should Be Concerned About
1. New costs and paperwork. Registration fees, licensing fees, annual renewal fees, and continuing education requirements all cost money and time. For freelance and small-studio designers, this is a real overhead that didn’t exist before.
2. A degree becomes the “default” standard. While there’s a technician pathway, full registration under Clause 22 requires a university degree. Kenya currently has far fewer interior design degree programmes than certificate/diploma programmes, which could push many experienced but non-degree-holding designers into the technician tier — with narrower recognition — even if their design skill and client base rival degree holders.
3. Practising without a licence becomes a criminal offence. Clause 47 sets penalties of up to KSh 2 million or three years in prison for practising and charging fees without a licence. This is a serious escalation from today, where there’s essentially no legal risk to freelancing as a self-taught interior designer.
4. Board composition is architecture/QS-heavy. Of the Board’s members, only one seat is guaranteed for an interior designer, compared to two architects and two quantity surveyors, plus the Chief Architect and Chief Quantity Surveyor from the Ministry of Public Works. Interior designers will be a minority voice in a Board historically built around architecture and quantity surveying.
5. Compliance burden for firms. Design studios not currently structured around a registered principal (common among boutique or founder-led interior styling businesses) may need to restructure ownership or bring on a registered partner to legally continue operating as a firm.
6. Inspection powers. Clause 38 gives authorised officers the power to enter and inspect building sites and construction works to verify compliance. For interior designers working on live sites, this adds a new layer of oversight that doesn’t exist today.
What This Means in Practice — A Quick Comparison
| Today (Cap. 525, 1934 law) | Under the 2026 Bill |
|---|---|
| Interior design is not a legally regulated profession | Interior design becomes a protected, licensed profession |
| Anyone can call themselves an “interior designer” | Only registered/enrolled, licensed persons can use the title |
| No mandatory qualifications to practise | Degree + exam + 2 years’ experience (or diploma + internship for technicians) |
| No licensing fees or renewal requirements | Annual practising licence required, renewable each year |
| No continuing education requirement | Continuing professional education tied to licence renewal |
| No firm registration requirement | Firms must have a registered principal partner/shareholder |
| No penalty for practising without credentials | Fines up to KSh 2 million and/or up to 3 years’ imprisonment for unlicensed practice |
What Interior Designers in Kenya Should Do Now
The Bill is still going through the National Assembly and hasn’t been enacted yet — but the direction of travel is clear. Here’s how to get ahead of it:
- Start building your qualification pathway now. If you don’t already hold a recognised diploma or degree in interior design, this is the moment to enrol. Waiting until the law is enacted means competing for registration slots against everyone else at the same time.
- Document your practical experience. The Bill emphasises verifiable, supervised experience (two years for registration, an internship period for enrolment). Keep records of projects, clients, and supervision now.
- Join a recognised professional body. Membership of a Board-recognised professional association is a registration requirement — get connected to industry bodies early.
- If you run a firm without a registered principal, start thinking about your ownership and partnership structure.
- Watch for the Regulations. Clause 56 leaves a lot of the fine detail — exact fees, exam formats, CPD requirements — to Regulations the Board will issue later. These will matter as much as the Bill itself.
How AlphaTech Can Help
At AlphaTech Training Institute, our Interior Design programme is built for exactly this shift — giving you the qualification, portfolio, and practical grounding that a future regulated industry will expect, whether you’re starting out or formalising skills you’ve already built on the job. As Kenya’s built environment professions move toward mandatory registration, having a recognised qualification behind your name won’t just be a nice-to-have — it will be the difference between being able to legally practise and not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is interior design currently a regulated profession in Kenya? No. As of 2026, interior design has no legal registration or licensing requirement in Kenya. The Architectural and Quantity Surveying Practitioners Bill, 2026 is the first law that proposes to regulate it.
Do I need a degree to become a registered interior designer under the new Bill? For full registration, yes — a degree in interior design (or a related discipline) from a recognised university, plus an examination and two years of supervised practical experience. Diploma and certificate holders can pursue enrolment as technicians instead, through an internship pathway.
What happens if I practise interior design without a licence after the law passes? Under Clause 47, practising and charging professional fees without a valid licence would be an offence carrying a fine of up to KSh 2 million, imprisonment for up to three years, or both.
Will foreign-trained interior designers be recognised? Yes, subject to conditions. Clause 22(4) allows registration for holders of foreign qualifications, provided the awarding institution is accredited in its home country and the Board is satisfied the training meets Kenyan requirements.
When does the Bill come into force? As of this writing (based on the Gazette Supplement dated 22nd July 2026), the Bill has been published for introduction to the National Assembly. It is not yet law — it still needs to pass through Parliament and be assented to before it takes effect.
To read more on this bill: https://alphatech.ac.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/The-Architectural-and-Quantity-Surveying-Practitioners-Bill-2026-1.pdf
This article is for general information and does not constitute legal advice. Always confirm the current status of the Bill and any subsequent Regulations with the National Assembly or the Architectural and Quantity Surveying Practitioners Board once established.