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

Yes, and it is the element out-of-state templates leave off. R.11-11(C) places the name of only one architect, the business location, and the registration number within the inner circle, while the annular space carries "State of South Carolina" at the top and "Registered Architect" at the bottom. The statute independently requires it: § 40-3-280(A) says every architect and firm practicing in this State shall have a seal containing the name, the place of business, and the words "Registered Architect, State of South Carolina". Only one architect may be named on an individual seal — a two-partner device is not permitted — and the firm's seal is a separate one under R.11-11(D) carrying the firm's name, business location and license number and reading "Registered Architects" in the plural. (S.C. Code Regs. R.11-11(C)-(D); S.C. Code Ann. § 40-3-280(A))

Exactly 1¾ inches in diameter, circular, with a concentric circle 1 3/16 inches in diameter. That is a fixed dimension, not a minimum and not a range: the 1½-inch figure quoted for South Carolina belongs to R.49-207(A)(1), the engineers' and surveyors' rule, where it is a floor with no ceiling stated. R.11-11(E)(4) closes the escape route for electronic use — the graphic image of the electronic seal and signature shall contain the same words and have substantially the same graphic appearance and size as the seal required above when the image of the electronically transmitted document is viewed at the same time as the document in its original form. (S.C. Code Regs. R.11-11(C), (E)(4))

Yes, and the firm's seal alone will not do. R.11-11(A) requires the seal and signature of the architect in responsible charge and the architectural firm's seal on all architectural documents to be filed for public record, and says in terms that a firm seal alone is insufficient — documents shall be signed and sealed by the architect in responsible charge, and record documents used for obtaining building permits shall be so signed and dated. The statute says the same from the other direction: under § 40-3-280(B) the seal of the individual architect in responsible charge, as well as the seal of the firm, must appear on the documents offered to secure a building permit and on one record set for use on the construction site. (S.C. Code Regs. R.11-11(A); S.C. Code Ann. § 40-3-280(B))

The regulation and the statute are hard to square here, so read both before deciding. R.11-11(A) ends with "The signing and sealing of the index sheet(s) or the title page of specifications shall be considered adequate." Section 40-3-280(B) requires that the seals "must appear on each print of the drawings and the index sheet, or sheets, of each set of specifications offered to secure a building permit and one record set for use on the construction site." The two do not say the same thing, and the statute is the more demanding of the two. Engineers and surveyors get only a narrower version of the shortcut: R.49-207(C)(3) lets the title or index sheet stand for more than one page bound together in one volume of documents, specifications or reports, but its closing sentence pulls design drawings and construction plans back out, and R.49-207(C)(2) requires each sheet of those, and of maps, plats and charts, to be sealed and signed. (S.C. Code Regs. R.11-11(A); S.C. Code Ann. § 40-3-280(B); cf. S.C. Code Regs. R.49-207(C)(2)-(3))

Yes, and the duty is triggered by the sealing. Under R.11-12(B)(4), on a project where a building permit has been issued and the sealing architect and the firm of record have not been engaged to perform at least the minimum construction administration services defined in R.11-12(B)(5), the sealing architect and firm must report to the permitting authority and the building owner that they have not been so engaged. The provision sits in the Code of Professional Ethics rather than in the seal rule, which is exactly why it is missed by anyone reading only R.11-11. (S.C. Code Regs. R.11-12(B)(4)-(5))