Virginia · Geologist seal requirements
Virginia Geologist seal requirements: proper sizing, signing and sealing of documents
As of
Virginia prescribes the geologist's seal by picture rather than by sentence: 18VAC145-40-60 requires a seal two inches in diameter conforming to the design illustrated in the section, and that illustration carries "COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA" around the top, "CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGIST" around the bottom, and the holder's name over a number in the centre. Every seal imprint on a final document must be signed, and the section adds that the number on the seal is the last four digits of the certificate number. Nothing in the section requires a date, an expiration date, or a city.
18VAC10-20-740 is "Professional responsibility", not the seal rule, and 18VAC10-20-750 is repealed; the seal provision is 18VAC10-20-760. The APELSCIDLA board's general review of 18VAC10-20 took effect May 1, 2026 (Virginia Register Vol. 42, Issue 16), which also repealed 18VAC10-20-780 and added 18VAC10-20-785. Any copy of the chapter dated before that is stale. HB 1835 (2025) moved Virginia geologists from a voluntary certification programme to mandatory licensure effective 1 July 2025, and § 54.1-2208.1 now speaks of licensing professional geologists while exempting those certified before that date. The administrative chapter has not caught up: 18VAC145-40 is still styled "Regulations for the Geology Certification Program", and 18VAC145-40-60, as amended effective 1 November 2025 (42:2 Va. Register), still uses "certified professional geologist" and an illustration reading CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGIST. Chapter 22 of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia contains no seal provision of its own; 18VAC145-40-60 is the only seal rule.
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Virginia Geologist seal
- Seal requirements
- 18VAC145-40-60
- Legend
- “commonwealth of virginia, certified professional geologist”
- Diameter
- Two inches. 18VAC145-40-60(3) states that the original seal must be two inches in diameter and conform to the design illustrated in that subdivision.
- Expiration date
- 18VAC145-40-60 prescribes the seal's diameter and its illustrated design and says nothing about an expiration or renewal date; the illustration carries only the name and the number. No other section of 18VAC145-40 addresses the seal.(18VAC145-40-60(3))
- Signature date
- The section requires that seal imprints on final documents be signed but does not require the signature to be dated, and the illustrated design contains no date line.(18VAC145-40-60(1), (3))
- City on seal
- The illustrated design carries only the name and the certificate number inside the ring; no city or place of business appears in the section.(18VAC145-40-60(3))
- A certified professional geologist may apply a rubber stamp or preprinted seal to final and complete cover sheets and to each original sheet of plans or drawings prepared or reviewed and approved by the regulant. The seal may be applied to the cover sheet of technical reports and specifications prepared or reviewed and approved by the regulant.(18VAC145-40-60)
- All seal imprints on final documents must be signed.(18VAC145-40-60(1))
- Application of the seal and signature indicates acceptance of responsibility for work shown thereon.(18VAC145-40-60(2))
- The original seal must be two inches in diameter and conform to the design illustrated in this subdivision. The illustration published with the section shows a circular seal reading "COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA" on the upper arc and "CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGIST" on the lower arc, with "(YOUR NAME)" and "No.000" stacked in the centre.(18VAC145-40-60(3))
- The number on the seal is the last four digits of the certificate number.(18VAC145-40-60(3), note to the illustration)
Virginia geologist seal questions
Which digits of the certificate number go on the seal?▾
Is the number on a Virginia geologist seal the whole certificate number? No - 18VAC145-40-60(3) states the number on the seal is the last four digits of the certificate number. (18VAC145-40-60(3))
Should the seal read "certified" or "licensed"?▾
Does the seal say "licensed" now that Virginia licenses geologists? No - the regulation and its illustrated design both still read "certified professional geologist", even in the version that took effect 1 November 2025, after the July 2025 move to mandatory licensure. (18VAC145-40-60; § 54.1-2208.1 of the Code of Virginia)