South Dakota · Engineer seal requirements
South Dakota PE seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
South Dakota puts the seal requirements in a statute rather than a board rule: SDCL § 36-18A-44. The seal contains the name, South Dakota, the licensee's name, the license number, and the title "Professional Engineer", which may be prefixed with "Licensed" or "Registered". The size is a range with a fixed geometry — an outer circle at least one inch and no greater than two inches in diameter, and an inner circle measuring five-eighths of the outer diameter. One board licenses engineers, architects, land surveyors and landscape architects, and a licensee holding more than one of those may put the combination of titles on a single seal.
The seal contents and dimensions live in SDCL § 36-18A-44. ARSD 20:38:37:01, the administrative rule usually cited for South Dakota seals, governs use of the seal and states neither contents nor size. The board's Blue Book on dlr.sd.gov is still the 2020 edition, though its § 36-18A-44 text matches the current statute.
South Dakota Engineer seal
- Legend (any one)
- “Professional Engineer” · “Licensed Professional Engineer” · “Registered Professional Engineer”
- Diameter
- 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.
- Expiration date
- The statute lists four contents: the name, South Dakota; the licensee's name; the license number; and the title. No license date on or beside the seal.(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- Signature date
- "The licensee's signature and the date shall be adjacent to or across the seal." The seal, signature and date must be legibly reproducible on all final documents.(SDCL § 36-18A-44; § 36-18A-45)
- City on seal
- The four statutory contents are exhaustive; no place of business.(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- The seal shall contain four things: the name, South Dakota; the licensee's name; the license number; and the appropriate title or combination of titles.(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- The statute requires the words "South Dakota" and prescribes no placement for them.(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- The inner circle is mandatory and its diameter is fixed at five-eighths of the outer diameter — a 1.6-inch outer circle takes a 1.0-inch inner circle.(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- The title may be prefixed with the words Licensed or Registered. A licensee holding more than one license may show the combination of titles.(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, and shall be legible.(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- The licensee's signature and the date shall be adjacent to or across the seal.(SDCL § 36-18A-44)
- Drawings shall carry the seal and license number with the signature of the licensee in responsible charge on each sheet. Review drafts and presentation documents conveying conceptual information only are not required to be signed and sealed.(ARSD 20:38:37:01)
- A digital signature is optional. If used it must be unique to the licensee, capable of verification, under the sole control of the licensee, and linked to the document so that it is invalidated if any data in the document changes.(SDCL § 36-18A-45.1)
South Dakota engineer seal questions
Does a South Dakota seal need an inner circle, and how big is it?▾
The inner circle is not decoration. Its diameter is fixed by statute at five-eighths of the outer diameter, and a seal without it does not meet § 36-18A-44. (SDCL § 36-18A-44)
Does a South Dakota seal say "State of South Dakota"?▾
The statute says "The name, South Dakota" — the words "State of South Dakota" are not what it prescribes, and no placement is required for them. (SDCL § 36-18A-44)
Is a South Dakota seal 1⅝ inches in diameter?▾
The 1⅝-inch diameter widely quoted for South Dakota appears nowhere in the statute or the administrative rules. The governing dimension is the one-to-two-inch range. (SDCL § 36-18A-44)
Does every sheet of South Dakota drawings need the seal and signature?▾
The signature and the date belong adjacent to or across the seal, and the seal, license number and signature go on each sheet of drawings — not on the title sheet alone. (SDCL § 36-18A-44; ARSD 20:38:37:01)
Generate a South Dakota Engineer seal to this specification
Board approved
Your South Dakota Professional Engineer seal from pedigitalstamps.com meets every requirement on this page — the required wording, the layout and the diameter set out in SDCL § 36-18A-44 (Seal of licensees—Contents—Signature); ARSD 20:38:37:01 (Seals). Fill in your details and download it in seconds.
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