Wisconsin · Engineer seal requirements
Wisconsin PE seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(1) fixes both ends of the diameter — the overall seal may not be less than 1⅝ inches nor more than 2 inches — and requires the credential holder's name, credential number and city on the seal itself. The designs approved in § A-E 2.02(2) arc "WISCONSIN" across the top of the outer band and the profession across the bottom: "PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER", "ARCHITECT" or "LAND SURVEYOR", with the name, credential number, city and state inside the inner circle. Since CR 24-028 took effect on 1 June 2025 the seal may be an embossing seal, an ink stamp seal, a digitally printed seal or a seal digitally embedded in an electronic file, and § A-E 2.02(7)(b) sets out the three permitted ways to sign and date a sealed public document. All three professions seal under this one rule, but each is credentialed by its own section of the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers.
The seal rule did not move in the 2024–2025 rewrite of the A-E chapters; it is still Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02, and it is the only seal rule in the series — chs. A-E 3, A-E 4 and A-E 6, the registration chapters for architects, professional engineers and professional land surveyors, contain no seal provisions at all. What changed is its substance: CR 24-001 (Register July 2024 No. 823, effective 1 August 2024) added registered interior designers to the board, to its legal name and to the approved seal designs, and CR 24-028 (Register May 2025 No. 833, effective 1 June 2025) repealed and recreated § A-E 2.02(3), repealed § A-E 2.02(7)(a) outright and rewrote § A-E 2.02(7)(b). Separately, § A-E 2.02(8) lets plans prepared by an architect or professional engineer credentialed in another state be filed here only if a Wisconsin credential holder attaches a certificate — itself dated, signed and sealed — describing the review performed and accepting responsibility for supervision of construction; that route does not extend to land surveying. The section as published in Register June 2026 No. 846 still carries the 1⅝-to-2-inch diameter and the 1987 specimen artwork, and the only later change to ch. A-E 2 is CR 25-082, which created § A-E 2.03(5) on certificates of authorization effective 1 July 2026 and left § A-E 2.02 untouched.
Wisconsin Engineer seal
- Legend
- “WISCONSIN and PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER”
- Diameter
- The overall diameter may not be less than 1⅝ inches nor more than 2 inches. The rule sets a floor and a ceiling, so an oversized seal is as non-compliant as an undersized one.
- Expiration date
- The seal's required contents are the credential holder's name, credential number and city. Nothing in ch. A-E 2 or ch. 443 Stats. puts a license date on or beside the seal.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(1), (2))
- Signature date
- Each sheet shall be signed, sealed and dated, and every seal on a document filed as a public document must be signed and dated in one of the three manners set out in sub. (7)(b).(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(4), (7)(b))
- City on seal
- "Each seal shall include the credential holder's name, credential number and city." The approved designs in sub. (2) set the city and state inside the inner circle, under the name and credential number. The rule does not say which city.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(1), (2))
- Each professional engineer shall obtain a seal that complies with board specifications for registration seals, and each seal shall include the credential holder's name, credential number and city.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(1))
- The approved design arcs "WISCONSIN" across the top of the outer band and "PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER" across the bottom, with a five-pointed star at each side, and sets the name, credential number, city and state on separate lines inside the inner circle.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(2))
- The registration seal may be an embossing seal, an ink stamp seal, a digitally printed seal, or a seal digitally embedded in an electronic file.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(3))
- Each sheet of plans, drawings, documents, specifications and reports for professional engineering practice shall be signed, sealed and dated by the credential holder who prepared, or directed and controlled preparation of, the written material.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(4))
- Where more than one sheet is bound together in a volume, the credential holder may sign, seal and date only the title or index sheet, provided that sheet clearly identifies every other sheet in the volume and any sheet prepared under another credential holder's direction and control is signed, sealed and dated by that credential holder.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(5))
- An addition, deletion or other revision that affects public health and safety or any state or local code requirement may not be made unless it is signed, sealed and dated by the credential holder who made or directed and controlled the revision.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(6))
- A seal on a document to be filed as a public document must be signed and dated in one of three ways: physical placement of the seal with a handwritten signature in permanent ink, digital placement of the seal with a handwritten signature in permanent ink, or digital placement of the seal with an electronic signature. Each carries the name of the credential holder and the date.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(7)(b))
- No professional engineer may seal and sign plans, drawings, documents, specifications or reports that were not prepared by the credential holder or under his or her personal direction and control.(Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 8.10(1); Wis. Stat. § 443.17(1))
Wisconsin engineer seal questions
Does a Wisconsin seal read "State of Wisconsin"?▾
The outer band reads "WISCONSIN" on its own. None of the designs approved in § A-E 2.02(2) carries the words "State of Wisconsin". (Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(2))
Can a Wisconsin PE seal use "P.E." instead of the full legend?▾
The engineer's legend is spelled out in full as "PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER". The abbreviation "P.E." appears on no approved design, and neither does "Registered Professional Engineer". (Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(2))
Does a Wisconsin seal have to include the city, and which city?▾
The city belongs on the seal itself, not merely in the title block. The Department reads the rule's "city" as the city and state where the credential holder resides or is employed, matching the mailing address on file with the board office, so a licensee living out of state carries an out-of-state city on a Wisconsin seal. (Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(1); DSPS profession-page seal guidance (dsps.wi.gov))
Which part of my Wisconsin credential number goes on the seal?▾
Wisconsin credential numbers are issued in the form 30666-006, and the Department directs that only the digits before the dash go on the seal. The lettered specimen numbers in the 1987 artwork, such as A-1234 on the architect design, are the old numbering rather than a template for a new seal. (DSPS profession-page seal guidance (dsps.wi.gov); Wis. Admin. Code § A-E 2.02(1))
Generate a Wisconsin Engineer seal to this specification
Board approved
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