South Dakota Landscape Architect seal requirements: proper sizing, signing and sealing of documents

South Dakota Landscape Architect seal

Board

South Dakota Board of Technical Professions

Seal requirements

SDCL 36-18A-44, 36-18A-45, 36-18A-45.1; ARSD 20:38:37:01

Legend (any one)

“Landscape Architect” · “Licensed Landscape Architect” · “Registered Landscape Architect”

Diameter

The outer circle must have a diameter of at least one inch and no greater than two inches, and the inner circle a diameter of five-eighths of the outer circle's diameter.

Expiration date

SDCL 36-18A-44 enumerates the four items the seal shall contain and no expiration or renewal date is among them; ARSD 20:38:37:01, the Board's only seal rule, adds no element to the seal face.(SDCL 36-18A-44; ARSD 20:38:37:01)

Signature date

"The licensee's signature and the date shall be adjacent to or across the seal," and the seal, signature and date together constitute the licensee's certification of the work.(SDCL 36-18A-44; SDCL 36-18A-45)

City on seal

The statutory list of seal contents names only "South Dakota", the licensee's name, the license number and the title; no city or address is required.(SDCL 36-18A-44)

• "Any licensed professional engineer, architect, land surveyor, and landscape architect shall use an appropriate seal. The seal shall contain the following information: (1) The name, South Dakota; (2) Licensee's name; (3) License number; and (4) The appropriate title or combination of titles: Professional Engineer, Architect, Land Surveyor, Landscape Architect."(SDCL 36-18A-44)
• "The seal shall be legible and shall have an outer circle with a diameter measuring at least one inch and no greater than two inches and an inner circle with a diameter measuring five-eighths of the diameter of the outer circle. Titles may be prefixed with the words, Licensed or Registered."(SDCL 36-18A-44)
• "The seal may be an embossed seal, a rubber stamp, a computer-generated seal, or other facsimile found acceptable to the board. The licensee's signature and the date shall be adjacent to or across the seal."(SDCL 36-18A-44)
• "The application of the licensee's seal and signature and the date constitutes certification that the work on which it was applied was done by the licensee or under the licensee's responsible charge." The seal, signature and date must be legibly reproducible on all originals, copies, tracings, electronic submittals or other reproductions of final drawings, specifications, reports, plats, plans, land surveys, design information and calculations presented to a client or any public or governmental agency.(SDCL 36-18A-45(1))
• "Preliminary work shall contain a note that the submittal is Not for Construction, Preliminary, or other such explanation that it is not final."(SDCL 36-18A-45(2))
• On projects involving licensees of more than one technical profession, the title or index sheet must be sealed, signed and dated by the prime professional in responsible charge of coordinating the professions involved, and each sheet must be sealed, signed and dated by the licensee or licensees who prepared it or are in responsible charge of it.(SDCL 36-18A-45(3))
• A drawing, report or document signed and sealed using a digital signature must have an electronic authentication process attached to or logically associated with it. Use of a digital signature is optional; if used it must be unique to the licensee, capable of verification, under the licensee's sole control, and linked to the document so that the signature is invalidated if any data changes. Any hard copy printed from the transmitted file must bear the facsimile of the signature and seal, confirming the file was not altered after signing.(SDCL 36-18A-45.1)
• "The seal shall be used on all final documents, including plats, reports, plans, and specifications. The seal implies responsibility for the entire submission unless the area of responsibility is clearly identified in the information accompanying the seal. Drawings prepared by a licensed professional shall have the seal and license number with a signature of the licensee who is in responsible charge on each sheet of those drawings."(ARSD 20:38:37:01)
• "Review drafts or presentation documents, such as renderings or drawings used to communicate conceptual information only, are not required to be signed and sealed." Work performed during construction administration must be signed and sealed if it affects the intent of the project or changes its life safety aspects.(ARSD 20:38:37:01)

South Dakota landscape architect seal questions