Texas Interior Designer seal requirements: proper sizing, signing and sealing of documents

Texas Interior Designer seal

Board

Texas Board of Architectural Examiners

Seal requirements

Tex. Occ. Code §§ 1053.058, 1053.160; 22 TAC §§ 5.111-5.115

Legend

“Registered Interior Designer, State of Texas”

Diameter

A minimum only: "The diameter of the seal shall be no smaller than one and one-half (1.5) inches." No maximum is stated.

Expiration date

Section 1053.058(b) fixes the design as the board's design with the substituted words, and 22 TAC § 5.112(b) allows only the name and registration number to be substituted on the sample seal. Neither adds an expiration or renewal date.(Tex. Occ. Code § 1053.058(b); 22 TAC § 5.112(b))

Signature date

22 TAC § 5.113(a)(1)(C) requires "the date of signing (including the month, day, and year)" on every Construction Document, affixed before the document is issued; the date sits on the document beside or across the seal, not inside the seal image.(22 TAC § 5.113(a)(1)(C))

City on seal

No city, address or place of business is required in the seal; 22 TAC § 5.112(b) permits only the name and registration number to differ from the board's sample seal.(22 TAC § 5.112(b))

• "The board shall prescribe and approve the seal to be used by an interior designer. The design of the seal must be the same as the design used by the board, except that the words 'Registered Interior Designer, State of Texas' must be used instead of 'Texas Board of Architectural Examiners.'"(Tex. Occ. Code § 1053.058)
• "The design of a Registered Interior Designer's seal shall be the same as the design of the sample seal shown in this Subsection except that the name of the Registered Interior Designer and the Registered Interior Designer's registration number shall be substituted for the name and registration number shown on the sample seal. The diameter of the seal shall be no smaller than one and one-half (1.5) inches."(22 TAC § 5.112(b))
• "An interior designer shall maintain a seal described by Section 1053.058 and shall stamp or impress the seal on each drawing or specification issued from the interior designer's office for use in this state."(Tex. Occ. Code § 1053.160(a))
• On every Construction Document prepared by or under the registrant's supervision and control the registrant must affix the seal, the signature "across the face of the seal's image or directly under or adjacent to the seal's image," and "the date of signing (including the month, day, and year) before the Construction Document is issued."(22 TAC § 5.113(a)(1))
• "The Registered Interior Designer's signature and the date may not conceal or obscure the name or registration number on the seal."(22 TAC § 5.113(a)(2))
• Documents requiring a seal, signature and date include each sheet of drawings or its electronic equivalent, each specification (with a bound grouping sealed in at least one conspicuous location), each title sheet, table of contents or index, and each drawing and specification in an addendum, change order, construction change directive or other supplemental document.(22 TAC § 5.113(a)(3))
• "A document regulated by this subchapter may be issued electronically ... A Registered Interior Designer's seal and signature and the date of signing may be affixed electronically or through any other means selected by the Registered Interior Designer as long as the seal, signature, and date will produce a clearly visible and legible image on any copy or reproduction of the document to which they are affixed."(22 TAC § 5.112(c))
• Documents issued for purposes other than regulatory approval, permitting or construction must instead bear the registrant's name, the date of issue, and the statement "Not for regulatory approval, permitting, or construction" in a conspicuous location.(22 TAC § 5.113(b)(1))
• "A Registered Interior Designer may not affix or authorize the affixation of his/her seal to any document unless the document was prepared by the Registered Interior Designer or under the Registered Interior Designer's Supervision and Control."(22 TAC § 5.114(a))
• "Once a Construction Document bearing a Registered Interior Designer's seal is issued, the seal may not be removed."(22 TAC § 5.114(e))
• "For a minimum of ten (10) years from the date of signature on each Construction Document sealed by or under the authority of a Registered Interior Designer, the sealing Registered Interior Designer shall be responsible for the maintenance of the sealed, signed, and dated original document or a copy ..."(22 TAC § 5.113(c))

Texas interior designer seal questions