Interior designer client agreements in California
Interior Designers: 3 Lines to Draw in Your Client Agreement Before the Project Starts
Most design disputes do not start with bad work. They start with a question nobody answered at the beginning of the project.
Can you post the finished room? Who pays for the custom piece the client no longer likes? And when the client asks you to "just handle" the construction, should you?
Each of those questions has a simple answer if it is written into your client agreement before the project starts. Here are the three lines to draw.
Who owns the design, and can you show it?
The project is finished, and it is some of your best work. You want it in your portfolio and on your Instagram. Does your agreement say you can photograph it and share it?
Your design and your photos are worth protecting, and so is your right to show them.
As a general rule, the person who creates original work, such as design drawings and plans, owns the copyright in it unless that ownership is transferred in a signed writing. The same goes for photographs: if you hire a professional photographer to shoot the project, the photographer generally owns the photos unless your agreement with them says otherwise.
Ownership of the design is only half the question. The other half is the client's home. Some clients are happy to be featured. Others do not want their address, their family, or their belongings online.
What your agreement should say
- Who owns the design work. Drawings, plans, renderings, and specifications.
- What the client may do with it. For example, use it for this project only.
- Your right to photograph and publish. Portfolio, website, social media, and press.
- Any limits the client needs. No address, no people, no personal items, or approval before a photo goes up.
- Who owns the photos if you bring in a photographer.
Before the project starts: Say who owns what, and what you can post. It is a two-minute conversation at signing and a much harder one after the photos are already up.
Approvals and custom orders: get it in writing
The client approved the custom piece. It was ordered, built, and delivered. Now they have changed their mind and refuse to accept it.
Did the client approve it in writing? A nod in a meeting is not a signature, although it could be evidence of approval. Evidence is something you argue about. A signed approval is something you point to.
Custom orders usually cannot go back. That is the point of them being custom. If the agreement is silent, the designer can be left owning a piece the client refuses to pay for and the vendor will not take back.
A $12,000 sofa no one wants.
Picture a custom sofa ordered to the client's approved fabric and dimensions. The vendor will not accept a return. Without a clear term in your agreement, the argument becomes whose problem that $12,000 is. (Example figure is illustrative.)
What your agreement should say
- How approvals are given. In writing, by signature or a confirming email, before anything is ordered.
- That custom and special orders are final. Once approved and ordered, they are generally non-cancellable and non-returnable.
- Who pays if the client changes their mind. Including restocking fees, storage, and freight.
- When deposits are due. Ideally before you place the order.
It is very important to have that distinction, custom versus standard, written into the contract.
Know where design ends and contracting begins
Clients trust their designer. So they ask you to hire the tile setter, manage the electrician, move a wall, or "just run the job." It feels like good service. It can also be a legal problem.
If you are not a licensed contractor, stop doing licensed contractor work. In California, doing construction work generally requires a contractor's license from the Contractors State License Board.
The consequences of crossing that line can be significant. Contracting without a required license can be a crime. An unlicensed contractor generally cannot sue to collect payment for that work, and may be required to return what the client already paid.
What your agreement should say
- What your role includes. Design, selections, specifications, and coordination.
- What it does not include. Performing, supervising, or contracting for construction work.
- How licensed trades are hired. For example, the client contracts directly with a licensed contractor, and you coordinate on design.
Designers, know where your role ends and put it in your agreement, because your clients will push you to do a general contractor's work if you are not careful.
Frequently asked questions
Can I post photos of a client's project in my portfolio?
Only if your agreement allows it, or the client agrees. The best practice is to address it in the client agreement before the project starts: your right to photograph and publish, and any limits the client needs, such as no address or no personal items.
Who owns my design drawings and plans?
Generally, the designer who created them, unless ownership is transferred in a signed writing. Your agreement should say who owns the design work and what the client is allowed to do with it.
Can a client return custom furniture they approved?
Custom orders usually cannot be returned to the vendor. Whether the client still has to pay depends largely on your agreement, which should require written approval before ordering and state that approved custom orders are final.
Do interior designers need a contractor's license in California?
Design work itself generally does not require a contractor's license. Construction work generally does. If your services start to include performing or contracting for construction, talk to an attorney about where the line is for your business.
The bottom line
Ownership, approvals, and the scope of your role are all easy to settle at the start of a project, when you and your client are excited and agreeing on everything. Settled later, each one becomes a dispute. Draw the lines in your agreement first.
Draw the lines before the project starts.
We help California design firms put client agreements in place that cover ownership and portfolio rights, approvals and custom orders, and the boundaries of the designer's role. Then we stay on as counsel as the studio grows.
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Attorney advertising. The information in this article is for information and educational purposes only and does not establish an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be legal or tax advice. You should contact an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation.