A Texas land surveyor seal must be no larger than two inches, and must carry the Board authorized design, your registration number and your name as the Board currently lists it. Seal, signature and date belong on final versions of professional surveying work, and none of them may obscure the identifiers. Electronic sealing is permitted. This page covers the rules and what to send a stamp maker.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Sources read September 2026: 22 Tex. Admin. Code § 138.31(b), (d), plus material from the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Updated 7 November 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Final versions of professional surveying work carry the surveyor's seal. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code § 138.33(b), (c), (e), (g), (h) |
| Maximum size | No larger than two inches. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code § 138.31(b) |
| Minimum size | None set. The rule fixes a ceiling only. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code § 138.31(b) |
| Shape | Not stated. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Name on the face | Your legal name as currently listed with the Board, a commonly accepted variation of that name, or an initial combination used with the surname. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code § 138.31(b), (d) |
| Registration number | Required on the seal. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code § 138.31(b), (d) |
| Design | The design the Board authorized, as the rule illustrates it. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code § 138.31(b), (d) |
| Devices allowed | Physical or electronic, with a permanence test applied to the physical device. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 138.31(c), 138.35(a) |
| Signature and date | Seal, signature and date together, with none of them obscuring the identifiers. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 138.33(f), 138.35(b) |
| Sealing after a lapse | Sealing while your registration is expired, inactive, suspended or revoked is named as misconduct. | 22 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 138.31(d), 138.37 |
For the same rule in the other 53 jurisdictions, read land surveyor seal requirements by state. Not yet licensed? The land surveyor licensing path by state lays out the steps Texas requires first.
What must a Texas land surveyor seal show?
Three items: the Board authorized design shown in the rule's illustration, your registration number, and your name as the Board currently lists it. That name can be your legal name, a variation of it that is commonly accepted, or an initial combination used with your surname.
Because the rule ties the face to the Board's current listing, your record governs the artwork. Take the spelling from the Board record rather than from a letterhead or a business card, and keep the two aligned over the life of the device. Our page on how the Texas seal guidelines read in practice works through the same three items with examples.
How large can the seal be, and what shape?
Two inches is the ceiling under section 138.31(b), and no minimum is set anywhere in the cited rules. Shape is not stated, so the Board authorized design carries the outline.
The dimension that matters is the finished die, not the printed impression on a given sheet. A die cut slightly over the limit still fails even when it reads cleanly, so confirm the measurement on the proof before production starts. Sizing questions come up most often when a firm standardizes artwork across staff, and we cover that in more depth under Texas surveyor stamp and seal specifications.
Which devices may a Texas surveyor use?
Physical and electronic devices are both allowed. The rules accept an embosser, a computer generated seal or a rubber stamp, and a physical device must pass a permanence test.
Permanence points at the mark you leave on the delivered document. A device that smudges, lifts or fades under handling is the failure the test is aimed at, which is why ink quality and die depth are worth specifying when you order rather than after the first set of plans goes out.
How do the seal, signature and date work together?
All three appear on the final document, and none of them may obscure the identifiers. Sections 138.33(f) and 138.35(b) treat the seal, your signature and the date as one block of evidence rather than three separate marks.
In practice that means placing the signature so the name and number on the seal face stay readable underneath it. If your usual signature sweeps wide, leave a margin around the die rather than signing across the middle of it.
Which documents must carry the seal?
Final versions of professional surveying work. Section 138.33 works through the categories in subsections (b), (c), (e), (g) and (h), and the duty attaches to the version you issue as final.
That framing decides most day to day questions about what gets sealed and when. A fuller walk through the sealing duty sits in our article on Texas stamp and seal rules for surveyors.
How does electronic sealing work in Texas?
It is permitted, and the rules are specific about how. Sections 138.33(d) and 138.35 set out two authorized methods and attach a security duty to the person whose seal it is.
The security duty is the part surveyors underestimate. Control of the file, the credential or the profile that produces your seal image stays with you, and handing a seal image to a drafter to place at will does not sit comfortably with that duty.
What happens if the registration lapses?
Using the seal while your registration sits expired, inactive, suspended or revoked is named as misconduct. Sections 138.31(d) and 138.37 treat it as a disciplinary matter, not an administrative slip to be fixed later.
Keep the device out of use while your status is anything other than active. Restoring the registration restores the authority to seal; backdating a seal to a period when the registration was down does not.
What should you supply when ordering a Texas surveyor seal?
Send the device type you want, your registration number and your name in the exact form the Board currently lists. Have the maker confirm that the finished die is two inches or less.
If you carry a variation of your legal name or an initial combination on the Board record, supply that form rather than the long version, because the rule points at the listing and not at your preference. Our overview of the Texas professional land surveyor stamp covers the ordering details in sequence.
How do you check an impression before you use it?
Print or press a test on the paper you actually deliver, then read the name and number at arm's length and measure the die across its widest point. Anything illegible or oversized goes back before the first sealed sheet leaves the office.
Check the Board authorized design against the figure in the rule at the same time, since an artwork error is cheapest to fix at proof stage. We set out a step by step review in our checklist for inspecting a new Texas surveyor seal.
Where do the Texas rules stay silent?
Shape is the clearest gap. The cited rules fix the maximum size, the name, the registration number and the design, and say nothing about the outline of the device beyond the illustrated design itself.
There is also no floor on size. Because only a ceiling exists, the single dimension you have to police is the top of the range, which is the opposite of the habit surveyors bring from states that publish a minimum diameter.
Frequently asked questions
Does legibility excuse an oversized die?
No. The two inch maximum in section 138.31(b) is a dimension, and the rule also expects the name and number to read clearly. A die that prints beautifully at two and a quarter inches still misses the size requirement.
Can you use initials instead of your full first name?
An initial combination with your surname is one of the permitted forms, provided it matches what the Board currently lists for you. The seal follows the Board record, so change the record first if the two differ.
Does the two inch limit reach an electronic seal image?
The rules set the ceiling without carving out an electronic version, and the device provisions treat physical and electronic seals alike. Size the image the same way you would size a die.
Do you need separate devices for paper and electronic work?
Not as a matter of rule, though many surveyors keep a physical stamp for paper sets and a seal image for electronic files. The same name, number and design requirements apply to each.
What happens to the seal if your name changes on the Board record?
The face has to show the name as currently listed, so a change on the record means new artwork. Order the replacement device before you seal anything under the updated name.
Is an embosser acceptable on its own?
Physical devices are allowed, and an embosser is one of them, subject to the permanence test that applies to physical devices. The practical question is whether the impression survives reproduction of the document you deliver.
When your Board record and your artwork agree, send the seal to production. Start from the Texas seals and stamps we make for surveyors and give us the name and registration number exactly as the Board lists them.
