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

The Washington State Board for Architects, administered through the Department of Licensing — not the engineers' board. Architects are registered under chapter 18.08 RCW and seal under WAC 308-12-081, while chapter 196-23 WAC opens by reaching only "individuals licensed in accordance with chapter 18.43 RCW", the engineering and land surveying chapter. Nothing in the engineers' rule crosses over: not its "registered professional engineer" legend, not its illustrated designs, and not its requirement that every final document carry a date of signature. (RCW 18.08.370(2); WAC 308-12-081; WAC 196-23-010)

No. RCW 18.08.370(2) fixes the wording as the legend "Registered Architect" together with the name of this state, and the board's rule prints it as one string: the seal bears the registrant's name, license number and the legend "Registered architect, state of Washington." The rule adds that an example of the board-authorized seal appears in it and that "Deviations are not allowed", so dropping "Registered" or substituting "Licensed" leaves the authorized design. What the rule does not fix is the diameter — no figure appears in WAC 308-12-081 or anywhere in chapter 18.08 RCW, so any inch measurement quoted for a Washington architect seal comes from somewhere other than the rule. (RCW 18.08.370(2); WAC 308-12-081)

The architect's own provisions never ask for a date. RCW 18.08.370(2) requires technical submissions filed with public authorities to be "sealed and signed by the architect", and WAC 308-12-081 requires signing and sealing, defines what counts as a signature, and directs that the handwritten or digital identification be "[p]laced across the seal/stamp of the licensee" — with no dating requirement in either. The date licensees remember belongs to the engineers' and land surveyors' rule, WAC 196-23-020(1), which is a different board's chapter. An authority having jurisdiction can still ask for a date as a condition of its own approval. (RCW 18.08.370(2); WAC 308-12-081(4); WAC 196-23-020(1))

Yes, if it goes to a public authority. WAC 308-12-081 states that "Without exception, these stamping requirements apply to all work filed with public authorities you prepare or review, or that is prepared under your personal supervision by persons under your direction and control, regardless whether the work is exempt from the licensing requirements found in RCW 18.08.410." The exemption decides whether an architect was required for the project, not whether an architect who prepared or reviewed the work signs and seals it. (WAC 308-12-081; RCW 18.08.410)

Yes, and the rule names the three ways. WAC 308-12-081 lets you sign and seal drawings prepared by your regularly employed subordinates and reviewed by you; by an individual or firm under direct subcontract with you, where you have reviewed and coordinated the preparation of the work or integrated it into your own technical submissions; or in collaboration with an architect licensed in a jurisdiction the board recognizes, where a contractual agreement exists between you. The price is stated in the same breath — by signing and sealing you become the architect of record and are responsible to the same extent as if you had prepared the submissions yourself. Prototypical documents run on a separate track: RCW 18.08.370(3)(b) requires written permission from the architect who prepared or sealed them and from the legal owner before you adapt them. (WAC 308-12-081; RCW 18.08.370(3))