Louisiana Architect seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them

Yes. LAC 46:I.1303.B requires the architect's seal or stamp to contain the state emblem in addition to the words, and settles what that means in the rule itself: "For purposes of this rule, the state emblem is the pelican." It is a required graphic element, not decoration — and it is unique to architects here, since the engineering and land surveying board's design at LAC 46:LXI.2701.A.2.a lists only words and numbers. (LAC 46:I.1303.B; LAC 46:LXI.2701.A.2.a)

Registered — on a seal that also carries a license number. LAC 46:I.1303.A requires the name of the architect, the architect's license number, and the words "Registered Architect, State of Louisiana". The engineering and land surveying board moved the other way for its licensees: LAC 46:LXI.2701.A.2.a lets seals issued before its rules were promulgated keep the word "registered" but requires any replacement seal to use "licensed" instead. That transition is not the architects' rule, and "Registered Architect, State of Louisiana" is the current architect wording. (LAC 46:I.1303.A; LAC 46:LXI.2701.A.2.a)

No. The 1-5/8 inch pocket seal and 2 inch desk seal are the engineering and land surveying board's two acceptable sizes at LAC 46:LXI.2701.A.2.c. The architects' rule gives one shape and one size: LAC 46:I.1303.B requires the seal or stamp to be circular in shape and to measure approximately 1 3/4 inches in diameter — an approximation of a single figure, not a range and not a choice between two. (LAC 46:I.1303.B; LAC 46:LXI.2701.A.2.c)

The Louisiana State Board of Architectural Examiners, whose rules are LAC Title 46, Part I — a different board and a different Part of the Administrative Code from the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board's Part LXI. The separation runs through the sealing rule too: under LAC 46:I.1305.A, contract drawings and specifications prepared by a consulting electrical, mechanical, structural or other engineer are sealed or stamped only by the consulting engineer, and the architect identifies which specification sections are the architect's own. (LAC 46:I.1303; LAC 46:I.1305.A, B; LAC 46:LXI.2701)

The Board's rules do not require it. LAC 46:I.1303 prescribes what the seal contains, and LAC 46:I.1305 prescribes where to affix it — on all contract drawings and specifications requiring an architect's services, and on either each specification section, page or sheet or the appropriate portion of a seals/stamp page — but neither asks for a signature or a date to accompany it. The rule that requires the licensee's signature and date adjacent to or across the seal, LAC 46:LXI.2701.A.2.f, belongs to the engineering and land surveying board and governs its licensees. (LAC 46:I.1303; LAC 46:I.1305; LAC 46:LXI.2701.A.2.f)