Minnesota Geologist seal requirements: proper sizing, signing and sealing of documents

Minnesota Geologist seal

Board

Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design

Seal requirements

Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2-3; Minn. R. 1800.4300; Minn. R. 1800.4200

Legend

“licensed professional geologist”

Diameter

No diameter is prescribed. Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2 states the seal's legend but no dimension, and Minn. R. 1800.4300 — the rule to which the statute delegates the geoscience legend — states no dimension either.

Expiration date

No license expiration or renewal date appears among the seal's contents. Minn. R. 1800.4300 lists only the licensee's name and the legend, and § 326.12, subd. 2 adds nothing further; the statute addresses expiration only by making it unlawful to stamp after a license has expired.(Minn. R. 1800.4300; Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2)

Signature date

The date is not required on the seal itself; it is required as part of the mandatory certification block — "the date on which the signature was affixed" — under Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3 and the Date field in Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 4. Minn. R. 1800.4300 imposes no date on the seal.(Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3; Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 4; Minn. R. 1800.4300)

City on seal

No city, county or business address is required. Minn. R. 1800.4300 prescribes the licensee's name and the legend only, and the certification language in Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 4 calls for signature, printed name, date and license number.(Minn. R. 1800.4300; Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 4)

• "Each person may, upon licensure or certification, also obtain a seal bearing the licensee's or certificate holder's name and the legend, licensed architect, licensed professional engineer, licensed land surveyor, licensed landscape architect, licensed professional geologist, licensed professional soil scientist, or certified interior designer." For a geologist the legend is "licensed professional geologist"; the seal carries the licensee's name and that legend.(Minn. R. 1800.4300)
• The statute delegates the geoscience wording to the Board: the seal bears the licensee's name and "the appropriate licensed professional geoscientist legend as defined by the board." Minn. R. 1800.4300 supplies that definition.(Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2)
• "Plans, specifications, plats, reports, and other documents prepared by a licensee or certificate holder may be stamped with the seal during the life of a licensee's license ... if it remains unrevoked, has not expired, or has not been suspended. The stamped seal may be used on documents in addition to the 'signed and dated certification' required under part 1800.4200."(Minn. R. 1800.4300)
• "A rubber stamp facsimile thereof may be used in lieu of the seal on tracings from which prints are to be made or on papers which would be damaged by the regular seal."(Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2)
• "It shall be unlawful for any one to stamp or seal any document with the stamp or seal after the license or certificate has expired, been revoked or suspended, unless said license or certificate shall have been renewed or reissued."(Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2)
• The mandatory item is the certified signature, not the seal: each plan, drawing, specification, plat, report or other document prepared by a licensed geoscientist must bear the signature of the licensed person who prepared it or under whose direct supervision it was prepared, and "Each signature shall be accompanied by a certification that the signer is licensed or certified under sections 326.02 to 326.15, by the person's license or certificate number, and by the date on which the signature was affixed."(Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3)
• "The required signature and certification must appear on all pages of plans and drawings that must be signed, but only on the first page of specifications, plats, reports, or other documents that must be signed."(Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3)
• "A stamp, printed signature, or electronically created signature has the same force and effect as an actual signature if it creates an accurate depiction of the licensed or certified professional's actual signature."(Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3)
• The prescribed certification language for a geologist is: "I hereby certify that this plan, document, or report was prepared by me or under my direct supervision and that I am a duly Licensed Professional Geologist under the laws of the state of Minnesota," followed by fields for Signature, Typed or Printed Name, Date and Lic. No.(Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 4)
• "The certification by each of the professions responsible for the preparation of bound specifications, plats, reports, or other documents must be shown on the title sheet, first sheets, or certification page."(Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 3)
• "A licensee or certificate holder shall not affix a signature or certification to any plan or document not prepared under the licensee's or certificate holder's responsible charge," and shall sign and certify only work within the licensee's area of licensure.(Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 1a)
• "When a document has been certified with the signature of the design professional as specified in subparts 1 to 4, that signature becomes a permanent part of that document and must not be removed at a later date for any reason."(Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 5)
• Minnesota's exemption from the signature requirement: it "shall not apply to any plans, drawings, specifications, plats, reports, or other documents of an intraoffice or intracompany nature or that are considered to be drafts or of a preliminary, schematic, or design development nature."(Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3)

Minnesota geologist seal questions