Stamp Out Confusion: What You Need to Know for Your Profession

To seal (verb) is the act of applying the physical (ink or crimp) or electronic seal (noun), your digital or physical signature, and the date to a final document. The Board Rules that govern when and which documents need to be sealed are found in 1.5(A)(2) and (3), 1.6(A)(2) and (3), or 1.7(A)(2) and (3), depending on your profession.

Your signature is either manual or electronic, and the Board Rule defining signatures is 1.2(B)(17) and covers all three professions.

The Board applies our governing statutes and rules to ensure the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the public. Broadly, this includes ensuring that documents used to construct a building, build a roadway, or document property boundaries are prepared by licensed individuals and that those documents are the final version intended for that purpose. This is indicated through sealing those documents. The “gold standard” has long been physical documents with a crimp or wet stamp and manual signature and date. As building departments first started accepting electronic documents for plan review, our professions adapted to this with the technology we likely were already using – scanning the image of our wet stamp and signature and inserting them into the documents. As Board Rules evolved, this process no longer met the requirements for electronic security of the documents and seals.

Board Rules cited above require the image of the seal and the date be applied to those final documents. The signature is where things got confusing. A digital facsimile or image of a manual signature is not equivalent to the requirements of an electronic signature. Many licensees believe it is good practice to include that digital image of the seal, signature and date on their documents, but it is not sealed until the electronic signature compliant with Board Rules is also applied.