Minnesota makes the landscape architect seal optional but requires a signed certification block on documents that call for a signature. The block pairs the certification sentence prescribed for landscape architects with your signature, typed or printed name, license number and signing date. An optional seal shows your name and the legend "licensed landscape architect." This page covers both, plus devices, electronic signing and license status.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2 and 3 and the Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal status | Optional. The certification block, not the seal, is the mandatory item. | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2 and 3 |
| Certification sentence | The block carries the certification sentence prescribed for landscape architects. | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2 and 3 |
| Block entries | Your signature, your name typed or printed, the date and your license number. | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2 and 3 |
| Signature and date | The signature, the certification, the license number and the date of signing appear as a set. | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3 |
| Documents | Work you prepare under Minn. Stat. §§ 326.02 to 326.15 that needs a signature, from plans and drawings to specifications and reports. | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3 |
| Electronic form | The certification and signature may be electronic under the Minnesota Statutes, section 325L.02, paragraph (h) definition, or facsimile, or digital. | Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 1 |
| Seal wording | Your name plus the legend "licensed landscape architect." | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2 and 3 |
| Seal device | A regular seal. On tracings, or on paper that a regular seal would damage, a rubber stamp facsimile may stand in. | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2 and 3 |
| Seal dimensions | No dimension in Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2 or in Minn. R. 1800.4300, none published by the board, and no shape stated. | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2 |
| License status | Use is limited to a license that is current, unrevoked and unsuspended. After expiration, revocation or suspension, stamping is unlawful until renewal or reissue. | Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2 |
For the same rule in the other 53 jurisdictions, read landscape architect seal requirements by state.
Is a seal required for Minnesota landscape architects?
No. The Minnesota seal is optional. What the law does require is the certification block: a prescribed certification sentence, signed and dated, with your name typed or printed and your license number, on the documents that call for a signature.
Plan your order around the block. It is the item every signed document needs, and the seal is an addition you may choose afterward. Our post on Minnesota landscape architect stamp requirements covers the same distinction between the two.
What does the certification block have to contain?
Five items: the certification sentence prescribed for landscape architects, your signature, your name, typed or printed, the date and your license number. These come from Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2 and 3, and none of them is optional.
This page does not reproduce the sentence itself. Copy it word for word from the current rule text when you set up the block, because the wording is prescribed and a paraphrase is a different sentence. A block stamp can print the fixed parts and leave room for what you add each time you sign.
What goes on the optional Minnesota seal?
Two items: your name and the legend "licensed landscape architect." Those are the only seal elements the provisions list. Your license number is a block entry, not one of the seal's listed contents.
Keep the legend exactly as the rule gives it and spell your name consistently with your license. The seal does not replace any part of the block, so a sheet carrying a seal but no completed block is still missing the required item. Our post on Minnesota landscape architect seal design looks at layout choices for the optional seal.
Does Minnesota set a size or shape for the seal?
No. Neither Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2 nor Minn. R. 1800.4300 states a dimension, and the board has published none. No shape is stated either, so both are yours to decide for an optional seal.
Size the seal to your title block and to the length of the legend rather than to a legal figure. The review behind this page covered all of Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2, Minn. R. 1800.4300 and Minn. R. 1800.4200, and none of them gives a measurement for the seal.
Which device can apply the optional seal?
A regular seal is the default. Where the work is on tracings, or on paper that a regular seal would damage, a rubber stamp facsimile is permitted instead. The source is Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subds. 2 and 3.
This page keeps the rule's own term, regular seal, rather than guessing which device it means. What the rule does make plain is where the rubber stamp version applies: tracings, and papers a regular seal would damage. The certification block is a separate question, since its signature and certification may also take electronic, facsimile or digital form.
How do the signature, license number and date work together?
They go as one unit. Under Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3, your signature, the certification, your license number and the date you signed accompany one another, so none of them should appear on a document without the others.
The date is the day the signature went on, not the day the drawing was started or printed. Build the block so the date sits next to the signature, and make signing and dating a single step in your issue routine.
Which Minnesota documents need the certification?
Anything you prepare under Minn. Stat. §§ 326.02 to 326.15 that requires a signature, which takes in plans, drawings, specifications and reports along with other documents. The source is Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3.
The trigger is the signature requirement, not the document type, so start by asking whether a document needs your signature. If it does, it needs the certification with your signature, name, date and license number. Our post on obtaining the Minnesota professional landscape architect stamp covers the credential side.
Can the Minnesota certification and signature be electronic?
Yes. Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 1 allows the certification and signature in electronic form, as Minnesota Statutes, section 325L.02, paragraph (h) defines it, or in facsimile or digital form.
The definition it borrows comes from the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, not from a standard written for design professionals. If you sign files, set up the block so the electronic signature and the date appear with the certification sentence and license number, just as they would on paper.
When can you no longer use a Minnesota seal?
Once your license expires, is revoked or is suspended. Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2 confines use to the life of a current, unrevoked and unsuspended license, and it makes stamping after any of those events unlawful.
Keep the expiration date on your calendar, since the restriction starts the moment the license expires. Our post on the seal as a working tool for Minnesota landscape architects discusses the seal in day-to-day practice.
What should a Minnesota order include?
For the certification block stamp: the prescribed sentence copied from the rule, your name and your license number, with space for signature and date. For an optional seal: your name, the legend "licensed landscape architect" and the size and shape you want.
The block is the item your signed documents require; the seal is optional. If you add a seal, choose a regular seal or a rubber stamp facsimile based on whether you work on tracings or on paper a regular seal would harm. Our older post on applying for the Minnesota landscape architect stamp covers the request process.
How should you check a block stamp or seal before use?
Stamp a test sheet and read the certification sentence against the rule text word for word. Then confirm that your name, your license number and the spaces for signature and date are all legible and sit together as one block.
For an optional seal, check that the legend reads "licensed landscape architect" and that your name is spelled correctly. For an electronic block, print a page at issue size and confirm the signature and date sit with the certification and license number.
Minnesota geologists seal under a separate rule; see the Minnesota geologist seal and stamp requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Can I stamp again once my license is renewed or reissued?
Yes. The prohibition in Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2 applies after expiration, revocation or suspension unless the license has since been renewed or reissued, so renewal or reissue lifts it.
Is a typed name acceptable in the block?
Yes. The block calls for your name typed or printed, alongside your signature, the date and your license number.
Where does a report take the certification?
On its certification page. Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 4a names the certification page of each report expressly, so set that page up with the full block before the report is issued.
Who regulates Minnesota landscape architects?
The Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design. The size review for this page found that the board publishes no seal dimension.
Which provisions set these rules?
Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 2 covers the seal, its size silence and license status; Minn. Stat. § 326.12, subd. 3 covers the signature set and the documents. Minn. R. 1800.4200, subp. 1 covers electronic form, and Minn. R. 1800.4300 was read for size.
When the block wording and your license number are ready, order a certification block stamp, with an optional seal if you want one, from our Minnesota stamps and seals collection.
