Oregon · Land Surveyor seal requirements
Oregon Land Surveyor seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
Land surveyors in Oregon seal under OAR 820-025-0005 (Official Seal), administered by the Oregon State Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying. The seal reads “REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR”. At least 2 inches from point to point. Reduced or enlarged seals are not permitted on final documents.
OAR 820-025-0005 was renumbered from OAR 820-010-0620 by BEELS 7-2015; the old number is still widely cited and no longer exists. The "at least 2 inches from point to point" wording came in with BEELS 3-2024, effective September 11, 2024, and replaced an older sentence that allowed a 1/4" tolerance against Exhibit 1. The board's Exhibit 1 handout on its website is dated April 26, 2017 and still reprints that superseded tolerance language.
Oregon Land Surveyor seal
- Seal rule
- OAR 820-025-0005 (Official Seal)
- Legend
- “REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR”
- Diameter
- At least 2 inches from point to point. Reduced or enlarged seals are not permitted on final documents.
- Expiration date
- Same rule as the engineer: the expiration or renewal date is either part of the seal or handwritten in permanent ink after "Expires" or "Renews". The seal separately carries the date of registration.(OAR 820-025-0005(2), Exhibit 1-c)
- Signature date
- The registrant signs through the middle of the seal or in the place indicated for signature; no date of signing is imposed by the seal rule or the final-documents rule.(OAR 820-025-0005(4); OAR 820-025-0015(1))
- City on seal
- The Exhibit 1-c device carries the legend, "OREGON", the date of registration, the registrant's name and the certificate number. No place of business.(OAR 820-025-0005(1) and (2))
- Registered professional land surveyors use the seal shown in Exhibit 1-c, which is a rounded rectangle rather than the engineer's device.(OAR 820-025-0005(2)(c))
- It carries "REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR", "OREGON", the date of registration, the registrant's name and the certificate number.(OAR 820-025-0005(1))
Oregon land surveyor seal questions
What shape is an Oregon land surveyor's seal?▾
Not a circle. The rule sends registered professional land surveyors to the seal shown in Exhibit 1-c — a rounded rectangle, and its own device rather than the one professional engineers use at Exhibit 1-a. Because it is not round it has no diameter, which is why any diameter quoted for an Oregon surveyor stamp is wrong: the rule's only measurement is at least 2 inches from point to point, and the design and content must be an exact replica, in style, of the exhibit for the profession or branch the registrant is licensed in. (OAR 820-025-0005(2) and (2)(c), Exhibit 1-c)
Which dates belong on an Oregon land surveyor's seal?▾
Two, and neither is the date of signing. The date of registration is one of the four contents the seal itself must carry, alongside the printed name, the certificate number and the professional title — a requirement almost no other jurisdiction imposes and the one most often left off. The expiration or renewal date is the second: it may be made part of the seal, and if it is not, it must be handwritten in permanent ink after the word "Expires" or "Renews". A date of signing is not required by either the seal rule or the final-documents rule, which asks only that final documents bear the seal and signature of the registrant under whose supervision and control they were prepared. (OAR 820-025-0005(1) and (2); OAR 820-025-0015(1))
Does an Oregon land surveyor's seal say "Professional Land Surveyor"?▾
Not on its own — the legend is "REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR", and "REGISTERED" is part of it, as it is on the Oregon engineer's seal. The rule also gives each registration its own device rather than letting a registrant add wording to one seal: professional traffic engineers use Exhibit 1-f, photogrammetrists Exhibit 1-d, registered water right examiners Exhibit 1-e. A surveyor who also holds one of those uses that exhibit's seal for that work; there is no combined Oregon seal. (OAR 820-025-0005(1), (2)(b), (c), (d) and (e), Exhibit 1)
Can an Oregon surveyor shrink the seal to fit a plat?▾
No. Reduced or enlarged seals are not permitted on final documents, and the 2-inch point-to-point minimum is not satisfied by a stamp that measures 2 inches in the drawing file but prints smaller: the computer-generated image of the seal must be at least 2 inches from point to point when the page is printed. On a crowded plat title block, scaling the seal down to make it fit is the natural move and it is the one the rule forecloses. (OAR 820-025-0005(2); OAR 820-025-0010(3)(f) and (g))
Generate a Oregon Land Surveyor seal to this specification
Board approved
Your Oregon Land Surveyor seal from pedigitalstamps.com meets every requirement on this page — the required wording, the layout and the diameter set out in OAR 820-025-0005 (Official Seal). Fill in your details and download it in seconds.
Every format you need is included — PNG, PDF, SVG and CAD — ready to place in Bluebeam, Acrobat or AutoCAD.