Indiana · Engineer seal requirements
Indiana PE seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
Indiana prescribes a separate seal design by rule for each profession — 864 IAC 1.1-7-2 for engineers, 804 IAC 1.1-2-7 for architects and 865 IAC 1-7-1 for land surveyors — and all three set an outside diameter of 1⅝ to 1⅞ inches, the engineer rule phrasing it as a seal that shall "generally" be between those figures. Each incorporated design is a circle with a milled edge, or two concentric circles corresponding with the respective edges of the milling, carrying the registrant's name across the top of the outer band and the profession across the bottom: "PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER", "ARCHITECT" or "LAND SURVEYOR". Inside the inner circle sit "REGISTERED", "No." above a rule line for the registration number, "STATE OF" and "INDIANA". IC 25-31-1-16(a) fixes the engineer's legend as "professional engineer"; "P.E." appears nowhere on the design, and under 864 IAC 1.1-7-3(b) the signature and the date go directly adjacent to the seal but not across it.
Indiana splits the three professions across three boards, all administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency: engineers under 864 IAC 1.1, architects and landscape architects under 804 IAC 1.1, and surveyors under 865 IAC 1. Each of the three seal rules prescribes its design by incorporating a picture rather than by listing words, so the wording has to be read off the figure: all three figures carry "REGISTERED", "No." above a rule line, "STATE OF" and "INDIANA" inside the inner circle in addition to the profession wording in the outer band. The legend recorded here for each profession is the profession wording its own source fixes — "professional engineer" by statute for engineers, "registered architect" by statute for architects, and "LAND SURVEYOR" from the figure for surveyors, whose statute prescribes no wording at all. Only the surveyor rule regulates electronic signatures in detail — 865 IAC 1-7-4(c) demands unique identification, verifiability, direct control and a retained permanent digital copy — while the engineer rule accepts an electronic signature with no such conditions and the architect rule still speaks of the person's "original signature" beside the seal. Because 864 IAC 1.1-7-2, 1.1-7-3 and 1.1-7-4 were renumbered by the Legislative Services Agency as 865 IAC 1-7-1, 1-7-2 and 1-7-3 when surveyors were separated from the engineers' title, older material citing "864 IAC 1.1-7" for a surveyor's seal now points at the engineer rule; the code's chapter heading at IC 25-21.5-2 likewise still reads "State Board of Registration for Land Surveyors" even though IC 25-21.5-2-1 establishes the state board of registration for professional surveyors. Rule text here was read in the 2026 Edition of the Indiana Administrative Code and in the 2026 Indiana Code.
Indiana Engineer seal
- Legend
- “PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER”
- Diameter
- The engineer seal shall generally be between 1⅝ inches and 1⅞ inches in outside diameter. Plans containing an engineer seal of specified size may be reduced as long as the seal remains legible.
- Expiration date
- The statute fixes the impression's contents as the name, the registration number and the legend "professional engineer", and the rule's design adds only "REGISTERED", "No." and "STATE OF INDIANA". The date placed beside the seal is the date the seal is affixed, not an expiry.(IC 25-31-1-16(a); 864 IAC 1.1-7-2(a), (c); 864 IAC 1.1-7-3(b))
- Signature date
- The signature and the date the seal is being affixed go directly adjacent to the seal, but not across it.(864 IAC 1.1-7-3(b))
- City on seal
- The rule does not require a city on the seal.(864 IAC 1.1-7-2(a), (c); IC 25-31-1-16(a))
- Registration extends to the registrant the authority to use a seal of a design approved by the board bearing the registrant's name, registration number, and the legend "professional engineer".(IC 25-31-1-16(a))
- The design incorporated by the rule places the registrant's name across the top of the outer band and "PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER" across the bottom, with "REGISTERED", "No." above a rule line for the registration number, "STATE OF" and "INDIANA" stacked inside the inner circle.(864 IAC 1.1-7-2(a))
- The seal may be embossed, electronically applied to a drawing, or applied by a rubber stamp, in conformance with the incorporated design. It may have a milled edge, as shown, or two concentric circles with the outer and inner circles corresponding with the respective edges of the milling.(864 IAC 1.1-7-2(b))
- The name and registration number inscribed on the seal shall correspond to the name and certificate number inscribed on the certificate of registration, except that the letters "PE" may be excluded from the certificate number.(864 IAC 1.1-7-2(c))
- Whenever a registrant affixes the seal, the registrant's original handwritten, electronic or other signature recognized under Indiana law and the date the seal is being affixed shall appear directly adjacent to the seal, but not across the seal. "Electronic signature" means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign it; the engineer rule imposes no verification, control or retention conditions beyond that.(864 IAC 1.1-7-3(b))
- A registrant in responsible charge of engineering work whose specifications, plans and drawings must be submitted for review by the state building commissioner or another governmental body shall apply the seal in the full manner required by the rule on each page of all drawings or plans and on the title page of all specifications.(864 IAC 1.1-7-3(c))
- A registrant who is not in responsible charge of the entire work seals every page of plans or drawings on which the registrant's work appears, and the title pages of the specifications in which it appears, denoting the registrant's part by inserting below the signature and date language similar to "COVERING _____________________ DESIGN."(864 IAC 1.1-7-3(d), (e))
- The seal may be affixed only while the certificate of registration is current and has not been suspended or revoked, and only to documents prepared by the registrant or by regularly employed and directly supervised subordinates. The registrant is responsible for seeing that the seal, however affixed, and the signature are legible on the document.(864 IAC 1.1-7-3(a))
Indiana engineer seal questions
Do Indiana engineers, surveyors and architects follow the same seal signature rule?▾
The three professions do not share one signature rule. An engineer places the signature and the date the seal is affixed directly adjacent to the seal, not across it, with no option to put them elsewhere. A land surveyor places the same two items adjacent, but may instead put them at another location on the sheet if the sheet is otherwise properly certified. An architect's rule calls for the original signature adjacent and does not call for a date at all, and permits the signature elsewhere on the sheet provided it is inscribed "This document is certified by _____". (864 IAC 1.1-7-3(b); 865 IAC 1-7-2(b), (c); 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(h))
Can an Indiana seal be a plain single ring?▾
A plain single ring is not the prescribed design. The rules incorporate a seal with a milled edge, and the only permitted alternative is two concentric circles whose outer and inner circles correspond with the respective edges of that milling. (864 IAC 1.1-7-2(b); 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(b); 865 IAC 1-7-1(b))
Can an Indiana PE seal say "P.E."?▾
"P.E." is not a legend on the Indiana engineer seal. The statutory legend is "professional engineer" and the incorporated design spells that out across the bottom of the outer band; the only place the letters "PE" can appear is inside the certificate number, and the rule expressly permits them to be excluded even there. (IC 25-31-1-16(a); 864 IAC 1.1-7-2(a), (c))
Is the sample seal on the Indiana engineering board's page an engineer seal?▾
The "Sample Seal" link on the engineering board's own web page serves a file named sample_seal_arch.gif whose outer band reads "LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT" — it is the landscape architect design from 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(d), not an engineer's seal. The authoritative engineer design is the image incorporated into 864 IAC 1.1-7-2(a). (864 IAC 1.1-7-2(a); 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(d); PLA engineering board page, "Sample Seal")
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