A Florida PE seal is circular, at least 1-7/8 inches across, and it goes over your signature rather than next to it. The face carries four items and the signature underneath has to be made by hand on each sealed page. Sealing after a license expires is expressly unlawful. This page covers the design, the devices, the signing rules and what happens to the seal when a license ends.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Fla. Admin. Code r. 61G15-23.002(2)(a) through (d) (designs prescribed by illustration) and the Board of Professional Engineers. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes. A final document going on public record, or to the owner, is signed, dated and sealed before it leaves you. | § 471.025(1), Fla. Stat |
| Required elements | Your license number, your name as licensed, and the words Professional Engineer and State of Florida. | Fla. Admin. Code r. 61G15-23.002(2)(a) through (d) |
| Diameter | At least 1-7/8 inches across. | Fla. Admin. Code r. 61G15-23.002(2) |
| Outline | Circular, following the designs the rule sets out in illustrations. | Fla. Admin. Code r. 61G15-23.002(2) |
| Devices allowed | Three named forms are legal: an embossing seal, a digitally created seal and a wet seal. | Fla. Admin. Code r. 61G15-23.003(2) |
| Signing and dating | Sign by hand in wet ink, then set the impression over that signature rather than alongside it. Dating is named as its own step. | Fla. Admin. Code r. 61G15-23.003(1) and (2) |
| Documents covered | Final plans, drawings, reports, specifications or documents that go on public record, together with every final document handed to the owner, or to that owner's representative. | § 471.025(1), Fla. Stat |
| Electronic seal | Two separate electronic routes exist, each with its own rule, and a submission follows one of them rather than a blend. | Fla. Admin. Code r. 61G15-23.004 and r. 61G15-23.005, both effective in 2025 |
| Sealing after a license ends | Sealing or digitally signing once a license has expired, been revoked or been suspended is unlawful until it is reinstated or reissued. | § 471.025(1) and (2), Fla. Stat |
| Surrender on revocation or suspension | The seal goes to the board's executive director within 30 days of the revocation or suspension taking effect, with confirmation that the digital signature has been cancelled. | § 471.025(1) and (2), Fla. Stat |
For the same rule in the other 53 jurisdictions, read professional engineer seal requirements by state.
What has to appear on a Florida PE seal?
Four items: your license number, your name as licensed, and the words Professional Engineer and State of Florida. The board sets the designs out as illustrations, so the typography and ring layout come from published artwork rather than from rule text.
That matters when a supplier offers to build the seal from a description. The rule sets the designs out as illustrations at paragraphs (a) through (d), and an illustration does not survive a text reading of the rule. Our post on Florida PE stamp design covers how the artwork is set out.
How large does a Florida engineer seal have to be?
At least 1-7/8 inches across. That figure is a floor rather than a target, and it applies to the circular designs the rule illustrates, so a smaller impression carried over from another state does not qualify.
The size rule catches out engineers moving from a jurisdiction that publishes no diameter or sets a smaller one. Check the impression with a rule before the first submission, not after a reviewer measures it.
Which devices are legal in Florida?
Three, and the rule names each one: an embossing seal, a wet seal and a digitally created seal. Any of the three settles the device question for the pages it is applied to.
For paper work an inked wet seal is the straightforward buy, since the seal has to overlap a hand signature and stay readable over it. An embossed impression is legal, and a raised mark with no pigment is hard to read on a copy. More on the options sits in our rundown of Florida PE stamp regulations.
How do the signature, seal and date go together?
Florida wants a genuine wet signature on paper and then puts the seal on top of that signature rather than alongside it. The date is a third element, named separately from the signing and the sealing.
So the order of operations is fixed: sign the page by hand, then set the impression over the signature, then date it. Position the impression so both marks stay readable, because a reviewer takes them as a set. Our post on Florida PE seal guidelines in practice walks through placement.
Which documents have to be sealed?
Final plans, drawings, reports, specifications or documents that go on public record, plus every final document handed to the owner or the owner's representative. Both halves of that duty carry weight.
The second half is the one engineers miss. A final document handed to a client is covered even when nothing is filed with a public body. Work that is not final and not issued sits outside the duty.
What are the rules for an electronic Florida seal?
Florida operates two separate electronic routes and each has its own rule, with its own 2025 effective date. An electronic submission is built to one of them rather than to a blend of both.
Before setting up an electronic workflow, confirm with the receiving agency which route it accepts. Our breakdown of Florida PE stamp requirements sets the two alongside the paper route.
Can you seal after a license expires?
No. Sealing or digitally signing a document once a license has expired, been revoked or been suspended is unlawful, and that stays true until the license is reinstated or reissued.
This is one of the few states that says so in the statute rather than leaving it to a general practice provision. Treat the expiration date as a hard stop on the device, not a paperwork detail.
What happens to the seal on revocation or suspension?
It goes back. Within 30 days of a revocation or suspension taking effect, the licensee surrenders the seal to the board's executive director and confirms that the digital signature has been cancelled.
Both steps are required, so an engineer who holds a physical seal and an electronic one deals with each. The statute also lets a licensee register the seal electronically with the board.
Does your license number change when you are reinstated?
Nothing in the statute changes the license number on reinstatement. The number on your seal is the number you had, which means a reinstated engineer is not automatically buying a redesigned device.
What a reinstated engineer does need is a seal, since the original one was surrendered. Order it against the same four items and the same minimum diameter.
What should you send when ordering a Florida PE stamp?
Your name exactly as licensed and your license number, plus the board form you are working from. We set the artwork at or above the 1-7/8 inch floor and against the illustrated design rather than a reconstruction of it.
Say which sheet sizes you seal as well. A seal that reads cleanly on a D sheet and one chosen for a letter sized report are different practical choices, even at the same diameter. There is more in our longer write up of Florida PE seal requirements.
How do you check an impression before using it?
Measure it first, because the diameter is the one Florida requirement a reviewer can check with a rule. Then sign a test page by hand and set the impression over the signature the way you would on a live sheet.
Read both back: all four seal items legible, your signature still readable beneath the impression, the date clear of both. Copy the page and check it again before the first submission.
Frequently asked questions
Can a stamped signature stand in for signing by hand?
No. The signing step calls for a genuine wet signature on the paper, so a reproduced signature does not satisfy it however good the reproduction is.
Is 1-7/8 inches an exact size or a floor?
A floor. Larger is permitted, and anything under it fails whether the seal is an embossed impression, a wet one or a digitally created image.
Does the duty apply when a client never files the drawing?
Yes. A final document handed to the owner, or to the owner's representative, carries the same duty as one that goes on public record.
Can I build the seal artwork from the wording in the rule?
The designs are prescribed by illustration, so the wording alone does not give you the layout. Work from the board's published artwork and match the four items to it.
Do I hand the seal back if my license simply expires?
The surrender step in the statute is tied to revocation or suspension. An expired license instead triggers the prohibition on sealing, which applies until the license is reinstated or reissued.
Is an embosser enough on its own for a plan set?
It is one of the three legal forms. The practical difficulty is that the impression sits over a wet signature and both have to survive copying, which an uninked raised mark rarely manages.
Send your name as licensed and your license number and we will build the artwork to the illustrated design at the full minimum diameter. Start in the Florida stamps and seals collection.
