District of Columbia · Architect seal requirements
District of Columbia Architect seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
Architects in District of Columbia seal under 17 DCMR § 3413 (Seal of an Architect), administered by the District of Columbia Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture. The seal reads “LICENSED ARCHITECT-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA”. No numeric diameter is stated. The seal must comply in all respects, including size and format, with the specimen printed in the rule.
The "typically 1¾ inches" figure repeated for the District has no source in DC law; § 1516.4 states no dimension. DCRA, whose URLs still circulate for this board, ceased to exist on October 1, 2022 when it was split into the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection and the Department of Buildings. Chapter 17-23 is not the engineering chapter.
District of Columbia Architect seal
- Legend
- “LICENSED ARCHITECT-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA”
- Diameter
- No numeric diameter is stated. The seal must comply in all respects, including size and format, with the specimen printed in the rule.
- Expiration date
- The seal contains the name, the license number and the words LICENSED ARCHITECT-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.(17 DCMR § 3413.1)
- Signature date
- § 3413.7 requires the name signed across the printed image of the seal; neither § 3413 nor the conduct rule § 3411 requires a date.(17 DCMR § 3413.7)
- City on seal
- The rule does not require a city on the seal.(17 DCMR § 3413.1)
- The seal contains the name of the licensed architect, the license number, and the words LICENSED ARCHITECT-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The District does not use "Registered Architect".(17 DCMR § 3413.1)
- The architect affixes their name, by manual or electronic signature, across the printed image of the seal.(17 DCMR § 3413.7)
- An electronic signature must be unique to the architect, verifiable, under sole control, and linked to the document so that it is invalidated if any data in the document changes.(17 DCMR § 3413.7)
District of Columbia architect seal questions
Does the DC engineering board set the architect's seal rules?▾
No. Architects answer to the Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture, and the seal provision is 17 DCMR § 3413 in Chapter 17-34. The Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors and its seal rule, 17 DCMR § 1516 in Chapter 17-15, govern engineers and surveyors and say nothing about architects — so an architect who follows the § 1516 list ends up with the wrong words on the seal. (17 DCMR § 3413; 17 DCMR § 1516)
Does a District of Columbia architect's seal say "Registered Architect"?▾
No. 17 DCMR § 3413.1 fixes the wording as LICENSED ARCHITECT-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA — one hyphenated phrase, not two elements — together with the name of the licensed architect and the license number. The section states no diameter; the seal "shall comply in all respects, including size and format, with the specimen shown below", so the printed specimen rather than a number is the standard to match. (17 DCMR § 3413.1)
Where does a District of Columbia architect sign in relation to the seal?▾
Across it. 17 DCMR § 3413.7 requires the licensed architect, when affixing the seal to any technical submission or other instrument of service, to affix their name by manual or electronic signature across the printed image of the seal. The engineering rule is the looser one — 17 DCMR § 1516.9 lets an engineer or surveyor sign adjacent to or across the seal — but the architect's rule offers no adjacent option. (17 DCMR § 3413.7)
Does a DC architect seal every drawing or only the cover sheet?▾
Every drawing. 17 DCMR § 3413.2 imprints the seal on each design and each drawing, on the cover and index pages identifying each set of specifications, and on the cover page and index of all other technical submissions. § 3413.8 adds a requirement that is easy to overlook: all technical submissions or other instruments of service shall be identified as architecture documents. (17 DCMR § 3413.2, § 3413.8)
May a DC architect keep sealing after a license suspension?▾
No. 17 DCMR § 3413.6 provides that the seal shall not be used for any purpose after a revocation or suspension takes effect — the same section that gives the architect thirty days to surrender the seal to the secretary of the Board. A seal image sitting in a template or a CAD block is no exception; the bar is on use, whatever form the seal takes. Where a suspension runs for a fixed period, the seal is returned when that period expires. (17 DCMR § 3413.6)
Generate a District of Columbia Architect seal to this specification
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