Wisconsin · Geologist seal requirements
Wisconsin Geologist seal requirements: proper sizing, signing and sealing of documents
As of
Wisconsin's seal rule for professional geologists is GHSS 1.03, which fixes the contents and the size but prints no legend: the seal must include the licensee's name, license or permit number and city, and its overall diameter may not be less than 1 5/8 inches nor more than 2 inches. Each sheet of plans, drawings, documents, specifications and reports must be signed, sealed and dated by the licensee who prepared or directed and controlled the work. Seals on drawings filed as public documents must be original - stickers and electronically scanned images are barred.
The seal rule did not move in the 2024–2025 rewrite of the A-E chapters; it is still Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02, and it is the only seal rule in the series — chs. A-E 3, A-E 4 and A-E 6, the registration chapters for architects, professional engineers and professional land surveyors, contain no seal provisions at all. What changed is its substance: CR 24-001 (Register July 2024 No. 823, effective 1 August 2024) added registered interior designers to the board, to its legal name and to the approved seal designs, and CR 24-028 (Register May 2025 No. 833, effective 1 June 2025) repealed and recreated § A-E 2.02(3), repealed § A-E 2.02(7)(a) outright and rewrote § A-E 2.02(7)(b). Separately, § A-E 2.02(8) lets plans prepared by an architect or professional engineer credentialed in another state be filed here only if a Wisconsin credential holder attaches a certificate — itself dated, signed and sealed — describing the review performed and accepting responsibility for supervision of construction; that route does not extend to land surveying. The section as published in Register June 2026 No. 846 still carries the 1⅝-to-2-inch diameter and the 1987 specimen artwork, and the only later change to ch. A-E 2 is CR 25-082, which created § A-E 2.03(5) on certificates of authorization effective 1 July 2026 and left § A-E 2.02 untouched. Wisconsin's geologist statute contains no seal provision: chapter 470 of the Wisconsin Statutes runs from § 470.01 to § 470.09 and addresses definitions, licensure, examination, renewal and discipline only. GHSS 1.03 is the whole of the seal law. Its subsection (2) is the one gap: the approved designs are not reproduced in the published code, which carries only a Legislative Reference Bureau note pointing to the design at s. A-E 2.02 (the design used by the architect, engineer, designer and land surveyor board). Because no wording is set out in the text, this entry records no prescribed legend.
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Wisconsin Geologist seal
- Seal requirements
- Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03
- Diameter
- Between 1 5/8 and 2 inches. GHSS 1.03(1) states that the overall diameter may not be less than 1 5/8 inches nor more than 2 inches.
- Expiration date
- GHSS 1.03(1) states the seal's contents in full - name, license or permit number and city - and imposes no expiration or renewal date; the dating requirements in subs. (4), (6) and (7) attach to the document, not to the seal.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1), (4))
- Signature date
- Each sheet must be signed, sealed and dated, and on drawings filed as public documents the signature and date must be in permanent ink contrasting with both the seal and the background.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(4), (7))
- City on seal
- The city is one of the three items the rule requires on the face of the seal, alongside the licensee's name and license or permit number.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1))
- Each professional geologist, hydrologist and soil scientist shall obtain a seal that complies with board specifications for licensure seals. The overall diameter may not be less than 1 5/8 inches nor more than 2 inches. Each seal shall include the licensee's name, license or permit number and city.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1))
- The rule reserves a subsection for approved seal designs, but the code prints none: GHSS 1.03(2) reads "The following designs for licensure seals have been approved:" followed by the editorial note "[Designs not included. See the seal design set forth at s. A-E 2.02]". No wording for the seal is prescribed anywhere in the text of the chapter.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(2))
- A rubber stamp, identical in size, design and content to a board-approved seal, may be used as a substitute for a licensure seal.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(3))
- Each sheet of plans, drawings, documents, specifications and reports for professional geology, hydrology and soil science practice shall be signed, sealed and dated by the licensee who prepared, or directed and controlled preparation of, the written material, except as specified in sub. (5).(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(4))
- If more than one sheet is bound together in a volume, the licensee who prepared or directed and controlled the preparation of the volume may sign, seal and date only the title or index sheet if the signed sheet identifies clearly all other sheets comprising the bound volume, and if any other sheets in the bound volume which are prepared by or under the direction and control of another licensee are signed, sealed and dated by the other licensee.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(5))
- Any addition, deletion or other revision to each sheet of plans, drawings, documents, specifications and reports which affects public health and safety or any state or local code requirements may not be made unless signed, sealed and dated by the licensee who made or directed and controlled the making of the revision.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(6))
- All seals or stamps affixed to drawings to be filed as public documents shall be original. No stickers or electronically scanned images may be used. All seals and stamps on drawings shall be signed and dated by the licensed professional in permanent ink contrasting with both the seal and the background.(Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(7))
Wisconsin geologist seal questions
May a scanned or sticker seal be used on public drawings?▾
Can a scanned seal go on a drawing filed as a public document? No - GHSS 1.03(7) requires such seals and stamps to be original and expressly bars stickers and electronically scanned images. (Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(7))
Must the seal carry the licensee's city?▾
Is the licensee's city optional? No - GHSS 1.03(1) makes the city a required element of the seal itself, alongside the name and license or permit number. (Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1))
What ink must the signature and date be in?▾
Does the ink colour matter? Yes - on drawings filed as public documents the signature and date must be in permanent ink contrasting with both the seal and the background. (Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(7))