North Dakota · Engineer seal requirements
North Dakota PE seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02 fixes the engineer and land surveyor seal exactly: two concentric circles, the outer 1¾ inches [44.45 millimeters] in diameter and the inner 1¼ inches [31.75 millimeters], with "Registered Professional Engineer", "Registered Professional Land Surveyor" or "Registered Professional Engineer & Land Surveyor" across the upper portion of the annular space and the inscription "North Dakota" — not "State of North Dakota" — at the bottom. The inner circle carries the registrant's name, the registration number and the literal word "Date". Architects answer to a different board under a different rule: N.D. Admin. Code § 8-06-01-02 gives them a stamp of no less than 1½ and no more than 2 inches reading "LICENSED ARCHITECT - STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA", and § 8-06-01-03(5) requires that documents carrying a digital stamp, signature and date have a wet signature and date written over them when they are submitted for building permitting.
Two boards, two rules and two seals that look nothing alike. Engineers and land surveyors are registered by the North Dakota State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors under N.D. Admin. Code ch. 28-02.1-08; architects and landscape architects are licensed by the North Dakota State Board of Architecture and Landscape Architecture under ch. 8-06-01. Landscape architects use the same stamp as architects with the legend "LICENSED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT - STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA". Section 8-06-01-02(1) also preserves an older, non-circular stamp — a North Dakota outline carrying a certification statement with date and license number lines — for persons licensed before the current rules took effect, but the published rule leaves the date of those earlier rules blank. The statute and the rule state the engineering legend differently: N.D.C.C. § 43-19.1-21 gives it in lower case as "registered professional engineer" or "registered professional land surveyor" and offers no combined form, while the board's seal design rule capitalizes the phrases and adds "Registered Professional Engineer & Land Surveyor" for dual registrants. The rule governs the design of the seal, so its capitalization and its combined form are what a seal should follow. Section 28-02.1-08-02 was last amended effective October 1, 2021 and § 28-02.1-08-03 effective January 1, 2024; the architect provisions have been effective since January 1, 2014.
North Dakota Engineer seal
- Seal rule
- N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02 (Seals); § 28-02.1-08-03 (Use of seals); N.D.C.C. § 43-19.1-21
- Legend (any one)
- “Registered Professional Engineer” · “Registered Professional Engineer & Land Surveyor”
- Diameter
- Two concentric circles, the outer circle one and three-fourth inches [44.45 millimeters] in diameter and the inner circle one and one-fourth inches [31.75 millimeters]. The specification governs seals prepared after July 1, 2005.
- Expiration date
- The inner circle carries the name, the registration number and the literal word "Date" — a field for the date of signing, not a license expiration date. Nothing on or beside the seal states when the registration expires.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1))
- Signature date
- "The signature and seal must also be dated." Documents must receive a seal, date and signature, and the seal's own inner circle provides the "Date" field for it.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(3); § 28-02.1-08-03(1))
- City on seal
- The only inscriptions are the registration legend at the top of the annular space, "North Dakota" at the bottom, and the name, number and word "Date" inside. No place of business.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1))
- The upper portion between the two circles shall bear whichever phrase applies to the registrant: "Registered Professional Engineer", "Registered Professional Land Surveyor", or "Registered Professional Engineer & Land Surveyor" — the ampersand form is the one the rule gives for dual registration.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1))
- At the bottom of the annular space between the two circles shall appear the inscription "North Dakota".(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1))
- The inner circle shall contain the name of the registrant, the registration number, and the word "Date" — North Dakota puts a date field inside the seal itself.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1))
- The registration number should be centered in the inner area of the seal in the space occupied by the word "NUMBER" and the size of the numbers should not be larger than the word "NAME". The words and parentheses "(NUMBER)" and "(NAME)" should not appear on the seal.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1))
- Seals may be of rubber stamp, metal impression type, computer-generated, or electronically generated; the rule calls the last two an "electronic seal". The seal authorized for registrants is of the crimp type or rubber stamp, or electronic.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1) and (2))
- A registrant shall apply the registrant's signature across the face of the seal for a nonelectronic signature, meaning a handwritten identification containing the name of the person who applied it. An electronic signature must be unique to and under the sole control of the person using it, must be capable of verification, and must be linked to the document so that it is invalidated if any data on the document is changed; it is not required to be across the face of the seal. A rubber stamp or facsimile signature is not allowed, and the signature and seal must also be dated.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(3))
- Every sheet or drawing in an original set of engineering plans must receive a seal and signature, while studies, reports and project specifications need the seal and signature only on a single introductory sheet. Where seals or signatures are computer-generated on documents combined into a single file, they may be applied to all required documents by one computer action.(N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-03(1)(a), (b) and (c))
- Final engineering drawings, specifications, maps, plats, reports or other documents, when presented to a client, contractor, subconsultant or any public agency, must be signed, dated, and stamped with the seal or facsimile of the seal. A working drawing or unfinished document must instead contain a statement to the effect that it is preliminary and not for construction, recording purposes, or implementation.(N.D.C.C. § 43-19.1-21; N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-03(11))
North Dakota engineer seal questions
Does a North Dakota engineer seal say "State of North Dakota"?▾
"State of North Dakota" belongs on the architect stamp, not the engineer or surveyor seal. Those seals carry the inscription "North Dakota" alone, and it sits at the bottom of the annular space — the top is occupied by the registration legend. (N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1); § 8-06-01-02(1))
Should "(NAME)" and "(NUMBER)" appear on a North Dakota engineer seal?▾
The placeholder wording in the board's illustration is not part of the seal. The words and parentheses "(NUMBER)" and "(NAME)" should not appear on it, and the registration number should be centered in the space the word "NUMBER" occupies at a size no larger than the word "NAME". (N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(1))
Can a North Dakota engineer use a rubber stamp seal and signature?▾
A rubber stamp seal is allowed but a rubber stamp signature is not. Subsection (2) permits a seal of rubber stamp or metal impression type, and subsection (3) then flatly prohibits a rubber stamp or facsimile signature, so the signature must be either handwritten across the face of the seal or a conforming electronic signature. (N.D. Admin. Code § 28-02.1-08-02(2) and (3))
Generate a North Dakota Engineer seal to this specification
Board approved
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