Virginia · Land Surveyor seal requirements
Virginia Land Surveyor seal requirements: size, wording, and the rule that sets them
As of
Land surveyors in Virginia seal under 18VAC10-20-760 (Use of seal), administered by the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects. The seal reads “LAND SURVEYOR”. Two inches in diameter, the same fixed size as every other seal illustrated in the rule.
18VAC10-20-740 is "Professional responsibility", not the seal rule, and 18VAC10-20-750 is repealed; the seal provision is 18VAC10-20-760. The APELSCIDLA board's general review of 18VAC10-20 took effect May 1, 2026 (Virginia Register Vol. 42, Issue 16), which also repealed 18VAC10-20-780 and added 18VAC10-20-785. Any copy of the chapter dated before that is stale.
Virginia Land Surveyor seal
- Seal rule
- 18VAC10-20-760 (Use of seal)
- Legend
- “LAND SURVEYOR”
- Diameter
- Two inches in diameter, the same fixed size as every other seal illustrated in the rule.
- Expiration date
- The land surveyor design carries "COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA", the name, "Lic. No." with the last six digits, and "LAND SURVEYOR" — a Land Surveyor B adds a "-B" suffix to the number. No date.(18VAC10-20-760 F)
- Signature date
- Same sealing, signing and dating provisions as every other profession the board licenses.(18VAC10-20-760 A, B 1)
- City on seal
- The address requirement in B 1 attaches to the final document, not to the seal.(18VAC10-20-760 B 1, F)
- The illustrated land surveyor design carries "COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA" on the top arc, the professional's name and "Lic. No." with the number in the center, and "LAND SURVEYOR" on the bottom arc.(18VAC10-20-760 F)
- A Land Surveyor B uses the same "LAND SURVEYOR" legend, with a "–B" suffix on the license number in the center of the seal.(18VAC10-20-760 F)
- The same board licenses surveyor photogrammetrists, whose illustrated seal reads "SURVEYOR PHOTOGRAMMETRIST".(18VAC10-20-760 F)
Virginia land surveyor seal questions
Does a Virginia land surveyor's seal say "Professional Land Surveyor"?▾
No — the bottom arc of the illustrated design reads "LAND SURVEYOR", two words, with "COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA" above it and the name over "Lic. No." and the number in the center. A Land Surveyor B uses that same legend; what marks the B license is a "–B" appended to the number in the center of the seal, not a different word on the arc. (18VAC10-20-760 F)
Does a Virginia surveyor photogrammetrist use the land surveyor seal?▾
No. The same board licenses surveyor photogrammetrists and illustrates a separate design for them — identical in layout, but reading "SURVEYOR PHOTOGRAMMETRIST" on the bottom arc. Virginia prescribes a distinct seal for each license the board issues, and the seal used is the one that matches the license the work is done under. (18VAC10-20-760 F)
What does sealing a Virginia land boundary survey certify?▾
More than authorship. Applying the professional's seal, signature and date to a land boundary survey is evidence that the survey is correct to the best of the professional's knowledge, information and belief and that it complies with the minimum standards and procedures set out in the chapter — the standards are pulled in by the act of sealing. The seal, signature and date are also an itemized requirement of the plat or map itself. (18VAC10-20-370 A, F 2 v)
Does exempt work need a Virginia land surveyor's seal?▾
Yes, when a licensed surveyor performs it. All work performed by a professional licensed or certified by this board, including work that is exempt from licensure under § 54.1-402 of the Code of Virginia, must be sealed, signed and dated in the same way as any other final document. (18VAC10-20-760 E, B)
Can a Virginia land surveyor's seal be smaller than 2 inches?▾
No. The original seal must conform in detail and size to the illustrated design and must be two inches in diameter — one fixed dimension for every profession the board licenses, with no range around it. A stamp scaled down to fit a plat title block no longer conforms, and the designs as printed in the rule are expressly not shown to scale, so measuring the illustration is no guide. (18VAC10-20-760 F)
Generate a Virginia Land Surveyor seal to this specification
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