A Virginia landscape architect seal is two inches in diameter and has to match the design illustrated in the regulation. Inside it sit your name, a "Lic. No." line carrying the last six digits of your license number, and two arc legends. Your signature and the date go next to the impression. This page covers the design, the sealing duty and the electronic alternative.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against 18VAC10-20-760 B and F and the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers, and Landscape Architects. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes, and never on its own. The regulation pairs the impression with your signature and the date every time it speaks about sealing. | 18VAC10-20-760 A, B and C |
| Required elements | Your name, a Lic. No. line with the last six digits of your license number, plus two arc legends reading COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA and LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. | 18VAC10-20-760 B and F |
| Signature and date placement | Both sit adjacent to the seal rather than inside it. | 18VAC10-20-760 B and F |
| Size | Two inches in diameter. | 18VAC10-20-760 F |
| Shape and design | Circular, and the original seal conforms in detail and size to the design illustrated in the subsection. | 18VAC10-20-760 F |
| Devices allowed | No device type is prescribed and none is prohibited. | 18VAC10-20-760 C and F |
| Electronic seal | Permitted in place of the original set when it identifies you uniquely, can be verified, and stays under your direct control. | 18VAC10-20-760 C |
| Documents covered | Final documents. Every individual sheet of plans, plats or drawings is named, and so is the cover sheet carrying plans, plats, documents, drawings, technical reports and specifications. | 18VAC10-20-760 B, D and E |
| License cycle | Two years, counted from the final day of the issuing month, which staggers expiration dates from one licensee to the next. | 18VAC10-20-87 A |
| Sealing after a lapse | Not addressed in the cited rules. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
Virginia is one row in our landscape architect seal requirements by state table, which sets each jurisdiction's rule side by side.
What has to appear inside a Virginia landscape architect seal?
Four elements. Your name, a Lic. No. line carrying the last six digits of your license number, and two arc legends: COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA and LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. The regulation fixes those and illustrates the arrangement.
The number is the last six digits, not the whole license number, which is the detail suppliers get wrong most often. Our post on Virginia landscape architect stamp requirements lists the same elements in short form.
How big is a Virginia landscape architect seal?
Two inches in diameter. The regulation ties size and design together: the original seal conforms in detail and in size to the illustrated design, so the diameter is not a range and there is no reduced version.
That rules out the smaller diameters common in other states and in general purpose stamp catalogs. A crowded title block is not a reason to shrink it. More on layout sits in our notes on Virginia landscape architect stamp design options.
Where do the signature and the date go?
Adjacent to the seal. The regulation treats the three as a single act and never refers to the impression on its own, so a sealed sheet carrying no date, or no signature, is incomplete on the face of the rule.
Nothing in the cited subsections asks you to sign across the impression. Leave room beside the seal for both marks when you set up a title block.
Which documents and which sheets have to be sealed?
Final documents. Every individual sheet of plans, plats or drawings is named, and so is the cover sheet carrying plans, plats, documents, drawings, technical reports and specifications.
The per sheet duty is the part that decides which device you buy. A set running to dozens of sheets is a high cycle job, and an occasional use stamp will not hold up across it.
Which device types are allowed?
All of them, in the sense that the regulation prescribes no device type and prohibits none. An inked stamp, an embossed impression and an electronic set are each open to you.
For sheets that go to local reviewers as copies, an inked impression is the safer choice, because a raised mark with no pigment does not reproduce. Our summary of Virginia landscape architect stamp guidelines covers the trade-off.
What makes an electronic seal acceptable in Virginia?
Three tests, all in subsection C. The electronic seal, signature and date have to identify you uniquely, allow verification, and remain under your direct control. Meet those and the electronic set stands in for the original one.
No technology, certificate provider or file format is named, so the rule is about properties rather than products. Every other requirement of the section still applies, including the two inch design.
Does renewal force a new seal?
No element on the face of the seal is tied to the renewal cycle. A license runs two years, counted from the final day of the issuing month, and nothing in the element list is a date.
Because issuing months differ, expiration falls on a different day for each licensee rather than on one common date. The practical result is that a Virginia landscape architect buys one two inch device and keeps using it.
What does the rule say about sealing after a lapse?
Nothing. The cited subsections carry no clause on using the seal once a license has lapsed, and no surrender or destruction duty appears in them either.
That silence sits in the seal rule. It is not a statement that sealing during a lapse is acceptable, since the authority to practice comes from elsewhere in the regulations.
What should you send when ordering a Virginia landscape architect seal?
Your name as licensed and the last six digits of your license number. We set those into the two inch circular design with the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA and LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT arcs in their published positions.
Say whether you need an inked impression, an embosser or both. Our longer write up of Virginia landscape architect stamp requirements goes through the ordering detail, and what the Virginia landscape architect stamp signifies covers why the board ties seal, signature and date together.
How do you check an impression before using it?
Measure the diameter first. Two inches is the one figure a reviewer can check with a rule, and an impression that measures 1-5/8 inches is a general catalog size rather than a Virginia one.
Then read the arcs and the Lic. No. line at arm's length, and copy the test page. Six digits that close up into a blur on a photocopy will do the same on a submitted sheet.
Frequently asked questions
Does the whole license number go on the seal?
No. The rule calls for a Lic. No. line carrying the last six digits, so a seal built around the full number does not follow the illustrated design.
Can I use an architect or engineer seal design and change the wording?
The regulation illustrates the landscape architect design in subsection F, and its lower arc reads LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. Work from that illustration rather than adapting another profession's layout.
Is a smaller seal allowed on a crowded sheet?
No. Two inches is stated as the size, tied to the illustrated design, and the cited subsections give no reduced variant and no exception for space.
Does an electronic seal have to be two inches as well?
The electronic route replaces the original seal, signature and date without displacing the rest of the section, so the illustrated two inch design still governs what the seal looks like.
Does the cover sheet alone satisfy the rule?
No. The cover sheet is named, and so is each individual sheet of plans, plats or drawings, so both levels carry the seal, the signature and the date.
Do I need a new seal if my license is renewed?
Nothing on the face of the seal changes at renewal, because the element list holds no commission or expiration date. The seal carries your name, the Lic. No. line and the two arcs, and none of those is tied to the cycle.
Send your name as licensed and the last six digits of your license number and we will build the two inch design around them. Start in the Virginia stamps and seals collection.
