A Guam land surveyor seals every final drawing, plan, metes and bounds description, computation sheet and report, and each one also carries a certification stamped under the seal. The seal follows 22 GCA § 32116(d): a Board-authorized design with name, registration number and designation, and no set size. A handwritten signature, the date and a short statement go beside it. This page takes each layer in turn.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against 22 GCA § 32116 and the Guam Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sealed documents | Final drawings, plans, metes and bounds descriptions of property, computation sheets, reports and any other final document involving land surveying. | 22 GCA § 32116(d)(10)(A) |
| What the seal shows | Name as registered, the registration number and your designation, all drawn from the general provision. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) |
| Design and size | The Board authorizes the design; the chapter gives no measurement for it. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) (no dimension) |
| Certification under the seal | A stamped statement on preparation or direct supervision, the field survey date, legal compliance, data accuracy and monument positions. | 22 GCA § 32116(d)(10)(A) |
| Beside the seal | Your written signature, the date and a short responsible control statement. | 22 GCA § 32116(d), (d)(10)(A) |
| Device | Any Board-approved image, imprint or other medium, if the mark it leaves is permanent. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) |
| Electronic seal and signature | An approved seal image can qualify; facsimile and computer-generated signatures and dates cannot. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) |
| Office staffing | A licensed professional land surveyor runs the office full time, with a 75 percent physical presence. | 22 GCA § 32116(d)(10)(A)(i) |
| Field reference point | The surveyor of record sets one, protects it through construction and notes it on the site plan. | 22 GCA § 32116(d)(10)(A) |
| Firm seal | None, and no firm number goes on the face of a survey. | 22 GCA § 32116(d)(10)(A)(i) |
For the same rule in the other 53 jurisdictions, read land surveyor seal requirements by state. The route to a Guam surveying license, from education through the exams, sits in the national table on land surveyor licensing requirements.
Which survey documents must carry the Guam seal?
Every document in final form that involves land surveying. 22 GCA § 32116(d)(10)(A) names the main types: drawings, plans, property metes and bounds descriptions, computation sheets and reports, with a catchall for other final documents.
Computation sheets appear on that list by name, so the calculations behind a survey are sealed along with the map. The paragraph ties the duty to documents in their final form.
What does the Guam surveyor seal itself show?
Your name as registered, your registration number and your designation, laid out in a design the Board authorizes. These come from the general provision of § 32116(d), not from the surveyor paragraph, whose own additions sit outside the seal.
The general provision also mentions an expiration date and a discipline, which are aimed at professional engineers; our Guam PE seal page covers those. Check the Board's authorized surveyor design before assuming either belongs on yours.
What certification is stamped under the seal?
A long statement that 22 GCA § 32116(d)(10)(A) requires on every document a professional land surveyor prepares and certifies. It is stamped beneath the seal, and in substance it certifies that:
- the map was prepared by you or under your “direct supervision”;
- it rests on a field survey made on a date you insert;
- the work follows all applicable laws and regulations;
- you answer for the accuracy of every piece of data and information on it; and
- each monument is of the character, and sits in the position, that the map indicates.
Take the exact text from (d)(10)(A) when you set up the certification. Because it runs to several clauses, it needs its own band of space on the sheet.
What goes beside the seal?
Three items: your written signature, the date, and a one-sentence certification that the work is yours or was done under your responsible control. The general provision of § 32116(d) places all three adjacent to the seal.
The statute has the long certification stamped, but the signature and date must be written. Facsimile signatures are not accepted, and computer-generated signatures and dates are refused.
Is there a required size for a Guam surveyor seal?
No. The chapter is silent on dimensions: 22 GCA ch. 32 gives no diameter, no outline shape and no minimum letter size, which leaves any measurement to the design the Board authorizes for land surveyors.
Plan the whole block rather than the seal alone. The certification needs room directly below the impression, and the signature, date and short statement need room beside it.
Which devices satisfy the permanence test?
Anything the Board has approved, whether image, imprint or other medium, that leaves a permanent mark. Read that way, § 32116(d) lets an inked rubber stamp, an embossed impression or a Board-approved seal image serve as the seal.
Board approval and permanence are the two conditions. Whichever form you choose, the long certification still goes under it.
Can a Guam survey be sealed and signed electronically?
Only the seal. An approved electronic seal image fits the statute's image, imprint or other medium wording, but the signature cannot be electronic, because the statute rejects facsimile signatures and any signature or date produced by a computer.
No certificate authority, cryptographic standard or verification method appears anywhere in the statute. Under the text as written, no Guam survey document can be both sealed and signed electronically.
What does the surveyor paragraph require of a survey office?
A licensed professional land surveyor in charge. Under 22 GCA § 32116(d)(10)(A)(i), any office offering land surveys must be run by one who is available on a full-time basis, keeps a 75 percent physical presence and fully controls the survey operation.
The paragraph provides no seal for firms, and nothing in it puts a firm number on a survey. Its office rule concerns who runs the operation, not what appears on the document.
What is the field reference point requirement?
The surveyor of record establishes a field reference point that building corners, setbacks and other key points can be measured from. Subsection (d)(10)(A) requires the point to be kept safe from damage for as long as construction lasts.
The point must also be shown as referenced on the site plan. Like the office rule, it is a practice duty placed in the seal section rather than a mark on the seal.
Does a lapsed registration affect the seal?
The chapter does not answer that. Section 32116(d) does not say how expiration, suspension or revocation affects the seal, and it offers no instruction on what to do with an old device once a registration ends.
Our companion pages apply the same shared provision to other professions: see how the rules work for Guam architects and how they work for Guam landscape architects. The Guam notary stamp and embosser page covers a separate seal.
Frequently asked questions
What date goes into the certification?
The date of the field survey the map rests on. The statutory statement leaves a blank for it, so each document gets the date of its own field survey, which is separate from the date you write beside the seal.
Do I still need the short statement if I stamp the long certification?
Yes. The certification under the seal comes from (d)(10)(A) and is in addition to the statement signed beside the seal under the general provision. A Guam survey document carries both.
Does the certification apply to reports as well as maps?
The requirement reaches all documents a professional land surveyor prepares and certifies, even though the statutory wording speaks of a map. Reports, descriptions and computation sheets in final form are on the seal list in (d)(10)(A).
Can I seal a survey done by someone else?
Only if it was prepared under your direct supervision. The certification under the seal states that the map was prepared by you or under your direct supervision, so work outside that description does not fit it.
What if the certification is left off?
Then the document falls short of (d)(10)(A), which calls for the statement to be stamped under the seal on everything a professional land surveyor prepares and certifies. Check for it at the same time you check the signature and date.
With the Board's authorized design confirmed and the certification wording taken from (d)(10)(A), place your order through our stamps and seals for Guam registrants.
