Iowa · Architect seal requirements
Iowa Architect seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
Architects in Iowa seal under Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—1064.1(7) (Seal and certificate of responsibility); Iowa Code § 544A.28, administered by the Architectural Examining Board, Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing. The seal reads “Licensed Architect”. An outside circle with a diameter of approximately 1¾ inches. This is the only diameter prescribed anywhere in Iowa's seal rules.
Iowa renumbered these rules in 2026. Both boards now sit within the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (Iowa Code §§ 542B.3, 544A.1(2)), and the Iowa Administrative Code recorded the move as an editorial change in IAC Supplement 6/24/26: the Engineering and Land Surveying Examining Board's rules were transferred out of 193C to 481—Chapters 1045 through 1057, so the seal rule long cited as 193C—6.1(542B) is now 481—1050.1(542B), and the architects' rules moved from 193B Chapter 4 to 481—Chapter 1064. The operative text is unchanged — 481—1050.1 still carries ARC 7669C (effective 4/10/24) and 481—1064.1 still carries ARC 7759C (effective 5/22/24) — but both boards' own web pages still link the superseded 193C and 193B chapter listings, so a licensee following the board's own links lands on the old numbering.
Iowa Architect seal
- Seal rule
- Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—1064.1(7) (Seal and certificate of responsibility); Iowa Code § 544A.28
- Legend
- “Licensed Architect”
- Diameter
- An outside circle with a diameter of approximately 1¾ inches. This is the only diameter prescribed anywhere in Iowa's seal rules.
- Expiration date
- Not on the seal face: the information block, which displays the seal, substantially conforms to a sample carrying "My license renewal date is June 30, ______" — June 30, where engineers and surveyors use December 31.(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"c")
- Signature date
- The information block sample carries Signature and Date lines, and the statute requires a consultant's sealed portions to show signature and date of issuance.(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"c"; Iowa Code § 544A.28(2)"b")
- City on seal
- The seal includes the name, the words "Licensed Architect", the Iowa license number and the word "Iowa".(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a")
- Architects answer to the Architectural Examining Board under Iowa Code chapter 544A and 481—Chapter 1064, not to the engineering board or to chapter 542B. An architect shall procure a seal of a design, content, and size designated by the board.(Iowa Code §§ 544A.1(2), 544A.28(1))
- The seal carries the name of the licensed architect and the words "Licensed Architect", together with the Iowa license number and the word "Iowa".(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(2), (3))
- The seal will substantially conform to the samples printed in the rule. The rule prints two acceptable layouts: one arcs the title around the top of the outer band with a star at each lower side, "IOWA" across the bottom and the name and license number in the center; the other arcs the architect's name around the top and the title around the bottom, with the license number and "IOWA" in the center.(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(4))
- A legible rubber stamp, electronic image or other facsimile of the seal may be used.(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"b")
- Each technical submission to a client or any public agency carries an information block on its first page or an attached cover sheet, substantially conforming to the sample: "I hereby certify that the portion of this technical submission described below was prepared by me or under my direct supervision and responsible charge. I am a duly licensed architect under the laws of the state of Iowa," with signature, date, printed or typed name, license number, "My license renewal date is June 30, ______" and the pages or sheets covered by the seal.(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"c")
- The seal and original signature will be applied only to a final technical submission, and each consultant contributing to it applies a seal to an information block of their own.(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"c"; Iowa Code § 544A.28(2)"b")
- The information in each information block must be typed or legibly printed in permanent ink or bear a secure electronic signature. An electronic signature under Iowa Code chapter 554D suffices only if protected by a security procedure as defined in Iowa Code § 554D.103(14) that verifies the signer and detects post-signature changes.(IAC 481—1064.1(7)"d")
- A public official enforcing the state, municipal or county building code shall not accept or approve technical submissions involving the practice of architecture unless they are stamped with the architect's seal, and a building permit issued on submissions that do not conform is invalid.(Iowa Code § 544A.28(3))
Iowa architect seal questions
Does an Iowa architect seal read "Licensed Architect" or "Registered Architect"?▾
The architect's seal reads "Licensed Architect", not "Registered Architect". One of the two sample images printed in the rule is lettered "LICENSED PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECT", but the operative text at 1064.1(7)"a"(2) prescribes the words "Licensed Architect". (IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(2), 1064.1(7)"a"(4))
Does an Iowa architect's seal say "Registered Architect"?▾
No. IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(2) prescribes the name of the licensed architect and the words "Licensed Architect", and Iowa Code chapter 544A is captioned Licensed Architects; the board's rule offers no "registered" form at all. "Registered" is a live memory rather than an invention — Iowa Code § 544A.30 provides that a person registered as an architect on July 1, 2017 is deemed licensed, and seals cut before that changeover are still in drawers. There is a third wording in circulation too, and it comes from the rule itself: one of the two sample seals printed at "a"(4) is lettered "LICENSED PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECT". The operative text controls over the illustration, so the words to put on the seal are the ones in "a"(2). (IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(2), (4); Iowa Code ch. 544A; Iowa Code § 544A.30)
Is there one required layout for an Iowa architect's seal?▾
No. IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(4) asks only that the seal "substantially conform" to the samples the rule prints, and it prints two arranged differently: one arcs the title around the top of the outer band with a star at each lower side, "IOWA" across the bottom and the name and license number in the center; the other arcs the architect's name around the top and the title around the bottom, with the license number and "IOWA" in the center. What is actually fixed is the content list in "a"(1) through "a"(3), not where each element sits. (IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(1)–(4))
Does an Iowa architect's seal have to say "State of Iowa"?▾
The rule asks for the word "Iowa", not "State of Iowa". IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(3) lists the contents as "The Iowa license number and the word 'Iowa'", and in both sample seals printed at "a"(4) the word stands alone — in a band across the bottom in one layout and in the center in the other. Nothing in the rule or in Iowa Code § 544A.28 calls for the longer form. (IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(3), (4); Iowa Code § 544A.28(1))
What diameter does Iowa prescribe for an architect's seal?▾
One figure, stated as an approximation, and only for the outside circle: "An outside circle with a diameter of approximately 1¾ inches." There is no minimum, no maximum and no inner-circle dimension. Iowa Code § 544A.28(1) leaves design, content and size to the board, and this is the only diameter the board has designated — it is also the only diameter anywhere in Iowa's seal rules, since the engineering and land surveying board's rule at 481—1050.1 states none. (IAC 481—1064.1(7)"a"(1); Iowa Code § 544A.28(1); IAC 481—1050.1)
Is an Iowa architect's seal enough on its own on a technical submission?▾
No. IAC 481—1064.1(7)"c" also requires an information block on the first page or an attached cover sheet of each technical submission going to a client or any public agency, carrying the prescribed certification wording, signature and date, printed or typed name, license number, the line "My license renewal date is June 30, ______" — June 30, where the engineering and land surveying board's block reads December 31 — and the pages or sheets covered by the seal. Each professional consultant contributing applies a seal to an information block of their own, and the seal and original signature go only on a final technical submission. (IAC 481—1064.1(7)"c"; Iowa Code § 544A.28(2)"b")
Generate a Iowa Architect seal to this specification
Board approved
Your Iowa Architect seal from pedigitalstamps.com meets every requirement on this page — the required wording, the layout and the diameter set out in Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—1064.1(7) (Seal and certificate of responsibility); Iowa Code § 544A.28. Fill in your details and download it in seconds.
Every format you need is included — PNG, PDF, SVG and CAD — ready to place in Bluebeam, Acrobat or AutoCAD.