A Maryland land surveyor's seal must carry one of two statutory legends, the holder's name and a design set by the Board. Plans, plats, reports and specifications you issue to a client or hand to a public authority get your name plus the seal or a facsimile. No date or diameter is set. This page covers the face, the device, the documents and the gaps.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-501(b) and the State Board for Professional Land Surveyors. Sources read September 2026. Updated 8 November 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| When the seal is used | The surveyor who prepared a plan, plat, report or specification endorses it ahead of delivery to a client or a public authority. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-502 |
| Legend | One of two titles, licensed property line surveyor or professional land surveyor, matching your license. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-501(b) |
| Name | Yours, as the licensee the seal belongs to. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-501(b) |
| Design | Whatever the Board determines; the statute does not draw it. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-501(b) |
| License number | Not one of the listed elements. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-501(b) |
| Dimensions | Neither section gives a diameter or a shape, and COMAR 09.13 has no chapter on seals. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-501 (no provision) |
| Impression or facsimile | The statute accepts the seal itself or a facsimile of it. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-502(a) |
| Date | The endorsement is your name and the seal. No date is called for. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-502(a) |
| Electronic or digital seal | No provision in the statute or in COMAR 09.13, and no definition of a digital signature. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. §§ 15-501, 15-502 (no provision) |
| Use after a lapse | Not addressed. The seal is tied to its holder by name. | Md. Code Ann., Bus. Occ. & Prof. § 15-501(b) |
To compare Maryland with every other jurisdiction, see our table of land surveyor seal requirements by state. Not yet licensed? The land surveyor licensing path by state lays out the steps Maryland requires first.
Which documents have to carry the seal?
Any plan, plat, report or specification you issue to a client or submit to a public authority. The endorsement comes from the surveyor who prepared the document, which keeps responsibility with the person who did the work.
Either trigger is enough on its own. A report that only goes to the client needs the endorsement, and so does a plat that only goes to a public office. Using the Maryland land surveyor seal on finished work has more on applying it day to day.
What must a Maryland land surveyor's seal show?
Three elements, all drawn from § 15-501(b): a legend naming your title, your name as the licensee who owns the seal, and whatever design the Board determines. The statute lists nothing beyond those three, so they are the whole of the legal face.
Because the Board sets the design, its version is the reference for layout, not a template from another license or another state. Our guide to understanding the Maryland land surveyor seal has more on each element.
Which legend belongs on your seal?
The one that matches the title on your license. Section 15-501(b) offers two legends, professional land surveyor and licensed property line surveyor, and they name two different titles. Order the wording your own license carries, spelled out in full.
The legend is what tells a reviewer which of the two titles stands behind the impression. A proof showing the other title should be corrected before production, because the error would repeat on every sheet you seal. A longer walk through the Maryland seal guidelines goes into the guidelines in more depth.
Does the seal need a license number?
Not under the statute. The elements in § 15-501(b) are the legend, the holder's name and the Board's design, and a license number is not among them. If a number appears on a Maryland surveyor seal, it arrived through the design rather than the statute's list.
That keeps the Maryland face lean. Before approving artwork, compare it with the three statutory elements and the Board's design, and question any line that neither source supplies.
What goes on the document along with the seal?
Your name. Under § 15-502(a), the endorsement is your name together with the seal or its facsimile, and the section stops there. No date is part of that endorsement.
Keep your name legible next to the impression, since it is half of what the section asks for. If your office dates every sheet, treat that as your own practice rather than something § 15-502(a) demands.
Is an electronic or digital seal addressed?
No. The sealing sections say nothing about an electronic or digital seal, neither one defines a digital signature, and none of the eight chapters in COMAR 09.13 deals with sealing. Maryland's surveyor rules are silent on the point.
Silence is neither a written permission nor a ban. A facsimile of the seal is acceptable under the statute, which says nothing about how an electronic file should be signed, verified or protected against later edits.
What size and shape does Maryland require?
Neither one is fixed. No diameter or shape appears in either sealing section, and COMAR 09.13 contains no seal chapter. A Maryland measurement quoted by a supplier is a production choice, not a legal specification you can point a reviewer to.
Legibility becomes the working test. Choose a size that keeps the legend and your name readable at the scale your plats and reports are printed and copied, and keep it the same across every device you own. For layout ideas within those limits, see custom Maryland land surveyor stamp designs.
Can you use a facsimile instead of the seal itself?
Yes. Section 15-502(a) lets the endorsement carry either the seal or a facsimile of it, so the statute treats both as valid ways to put your seal on a document. It does not name a particular device type beyond that pairing.
With no device picked for you, the choice turns on how your documents travel. Plats and reports are often copied and scanned after they leave the office, and an inked impression tends to survive that better than a raised mark with no ink. Our Maryland professional land surveyor stamp guide has more on stamp formats.
What happens to the seal if your license lapses?
The statute does not say. Neither sealing section speaks to use after a lapse. What the law does settle, at § 15-501(b)(2)(ii), is that the seal belongs to a named person, because the holder's own name has to appear on it.
That link to a named holder is the practical guide. A seal made for you carries your name, so it belongs only on work you prepared and endorse yourself. Keep it stored where no one else can pick it up.
What should you have ready when you order?
Four decisions: the legend that matches your license, your name as it should read, the Board's design, and the device you want. With those settled, the proof can be checked against the statute line by line before anything is made.
Write the legend out in full rather than abbreviating it, so there is no doubt which title belongs on the face. Tell us which device you want, an inked stamp, an embosser or both, and the size you prefer, since the rules leave size to you.
How do you check the first impression?
Stamp a test sheet before the device touches a real plat. Confirm the legend matches your title, your name is spelled correctly, the layout follows the Board's design, and the impression still reads after a photocopy or a scan.
Repeat the check whenever a device is replaced. A worn die that blurs your name undercuts an endorsement built on exactly two things, your name and your seal.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Board's design come from?
From the State Board for Professional Land Surveyors. Section 15-501(b) hands the design to the Board, so the Board's version is the one to build from, rather than a layout copied from another license type.
Does renewing mean ordering a new seal?
Not because of anything on the face. The listed elements are the legend, your name and the Board's design, with no date or number that could go stale, so renewal by itself leaves those elements accurate.
Who endorses a document that several people worked on?
Section 15-502(a) puts the endorsement on the surveyor who prepared the document. Your name and seal go on work you prepared, not on sheets another licensee produced.
Is a facsimile acceptable on reports as well as plats?
Yes. The same endorsement applies to plans, plats, reports and specifications alike, and that endorsement accepts either the seal or a facsimile, whatever the document type.
Can I place a seal image on a PDF plat?
The statute accepts a facsimile but contains no electronic seal provision and no digital signature definition. It therefore gives no method for applying or verifying a seal in a file.
Once your legend and the Board's design are confirmed, choose your device from our Maryland surveyor seals and stamps and have the proof checked against the three statutory elements.
