An Arkansas engineer's seal is circular, between one and one quarter and two inches across, and carries the legend licensed professional engineer, your license number and your name as licensed. An embossed device needs a milled edge, and a rubber stamp needs two concentric circles. Every sealed page is signed and dated as well as stamped. This page covers the design, the devices and the lapse rule.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(a)(1), (d)(2) and the Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers & Professional Surveyors. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal wording | The legend licensed professional engineer, your license number, and your name as licensed. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(a)(1), (d)(2) |
| Border | An embossed die carries a milled edge; a rubber stamp carries two concentric circles. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(a)(1), (d)(2) |
| Shape and diameter | Circular, with a diameter from one and one quarter inches up to two inches. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(d)(2)(A), (B), (C) |
| Devices allowed | An embosser, an inked rubber stamp and electronic application are each permitted. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(d)(2), (d)(3)(B), (d)(5) |
| Signature and date | A sealed page is signed and dated too, not stamped alone. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(a)(2), (d)(5) |
| Pages carrying the seal | Each page of every final engineering document, drawings included, together with the specification cover sheet and the signature page of a written report. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(a)(2), (a)(4), (b)(2), (d)(3)(A) |
| Digital signature, control | Unique to the person who applied it and under that person's sole control. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(d)(5) |
| Digital signature, integrity | Capable of verification, and linked to the document so that altering any data invalidates the signature. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(d)(5) |
| Current license required | The seal may be applied only while your license certificate stands current and in good standing. | 17 Code Ark. R. § 285-602(d)(3)(A) |
| After expiration | Using the seal once a license has expired is unlawful, and so is helping another person evade the statutes and rules. | 17 Code Ark. R. §§ 285-602(a)(3), (d)(3)(A), 285-701 |
Arkansas is one row in our professional engineer seal requirements by state table, which sets each jurisdiction's rule side by side.
What must an Arkansas engineer's seal show?
Three pieces of text and a border. The legend licensed professional engineer, your license number, your name as licensed, and either a milled edge or two concentric circles, depending on the device.
The border is a named element rather than decoration, and the form it takes follows the device you choose. Take the name from the license record, since that is the version a reviewer checks against the roster.
What size and shape does the rule require?
Circular, measuring between one and one quarter inches and two inches across. The rule gives a working range rather than one fixed measurement, so both a compact die and a large one can comply.
Choose against your sheets. A two inch impression is easy to read on a large format drawing; the smaller end suits a crowded title block and a report signature page, where a wide die crowds the text around it.
Why does the border differ between an embosser and a rubber stamp?
Because the two devices make their marks differently. An embossed seal carries a milled edge, the ridged rim pressed into the paper, while a rubber stamp uses two concentric circles printed in ink to bound the wording.
The practical consequence is that artwork does not transfer between formats. A rubber stamp design cannot simply be handed to an embossing die maker, which is why we set up each device from the rule rather than from a shared file. The differences between the two are set out on the Arkansas engineer embosser and stamp compared.
Which devices may an Arkansas engineer use?
All three. The rule treats an embosser, an inked rubber stamp and electronic application as legal ways to affix the seal, so the choice turns on how your documents are issued rather than on any preference in the text.
Most licensees keep an inked stamp for issued paper because ink survives copying, and add an embosser where a raised mark on a retained original is wanted. Electronic application covers sets issued as files.
Which pages have to carry the seal?
Every page of a final engineering document, drawings included. Specifications are handled differently, with the seal going on the cover sheet, and a written report is sealed on its signature page.
Those three rules answer most of the questions that come up at issue time. A drawing set is sealed sheet by sheet, a specification book is not sealed on every page, and a report carries one sealed page at the signature block.
Does every sealed page need a signature and a date?
Yes. The rule has each sealed page signed and dated as well as stamped, so the impression on its own does not complete the certification on any page.
On a large drawing set that is real work at the end of a project, and it is the step most often abbreviated. Plan the title block so the signature and date fit beside the impression on every sheet.
What does the rule ask of a digital signature?
Three functional tests. The signature must be unique to the person who applied it and under that person's sole control, it must be capable of verification, and it must be linked to the document so that any alteration of the data invalidates it.
Those tests describe behavior rather than a named product, so the rule does not tie you to one method. A pasted image of a signature meets none of the three, which is the practical boundary the rule draws.
What happens when a license expires?
The seal stops. Section 285-602(d)(3)(A) allows the seal to be applied only while your license certificate stands current and in good standing, and section 285-602(a)(3) bars use from the moment that license expires.
The same provision makes it unlawful to aid another person in evading the statutes and rules, which reaches lending your device or sealing work you did not control. Arkansas is one of the states where the lapse rule is written out rather than implied.
When do Arkansas licenses renew?
On a biennial cycle. Every certificate expires on that two year term, whether it is held by a professional engineer, a professional surveyor or a dual registrant, and certificates of authority run on the same footing. The board mails a renewal notice at least one month ahead of expiration.
Because sealing is tied to a current certificate, that renewal date is also the date your device stops being usable if renewal does not go through. Keep the two linked in your own diary rather than relying on the mailed notice alone.
What do we need to make your Arkansas seal?
Your name as licensed, your license number, the diameter you want inside the one and one quarter to two inch range, and the device type, which decides whether the artwork carries a milled edge or two concentric circles.
We proof before cutting. Read the license number against your certificate, since a wrong digit on a sealed set is the kind of error that surfaces only when a reviewer checks the roster.
Arkansas geologists seal under a separate rule; see the Arkansas geologist seal and stamp requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Can I order one device and use it for both drawings and reports?
Yes, provided the diameter suits both. A two inch die reads well on drawings but crowds a report signature page, so licensees who do both often order a smaller stamp as well.
Does the legend have to read exactly licensed professional engineer?
That is the legend the rule names. A variation such as professional engineer alone departs from the wording the provision sets out.
Is an electronic seal allowed without a digital signature?
The rule treats electronic application as a legal way to affix the seal and sets separate criteria for digital signatures. Where you sign digitally, the three tests in section 285-602(d)(5)(A) apply to the signature.
What happens to my seal while a renewal is pending?
The permission to affix the seal runs with a certificate that is current and in good standing. If the certificate has expired, the rule bars use until that position changes.
How do I check an impression before sealing a set?
Stamp a test sheet and copy it. Read the name, the number, the legend and the border on the copy, because a border that closes up or a number that fills in will do the same on a sealed drawing.
Can another engineer seal work I prepared?
The provisions cited here bar use of the seal after a license expires and bar aiding another person in evading the statutes and rules. They set out no review or supervision route for sealing a second engineer's work, so nothing on this page supports that arrangement.
Send your licensed name, license number and preferred diameter and we will proof the artwork before cutting. Formats and sizes are on the Arkansas engineer stamps and seals page.
