Idaho does not spell out what a professional engineer's seal must contain; the design is whatever the board has adopted, and the statute names the devices that may carry it. A rubber stamp, a crimp and an electronically generated image are all acceptable. Final work presented to a client or a public agency carries the seal, signature and date. This page covers the design, the devices and the sealing duty.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Idaho Code § 54-1215(3)(e) and the Board of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes, on all final plans, drawings, plats, land surveys, specifications, reports, design information and calculations that are presented to a client or to any public or governmental agency. | Idaho Code § 54-1215(3)(b), (c) |
| Seal contents | Neither the statute nor a rule specifies them. The design is the one the board has adopted. | Idaho Code § 54-1215(3)(e) |
| Dual licensee | The board-adopted seal that shows licensure both as a Professional Engineer and as a Land Surveyor. | Idaho Code § 54-1215(3)(e) |
| Devices allowed | Three, named in the statute itself: a rubber stamp, a crimp, or an electronically generated image. | Idaho Code § 54-1215(3)(a) |
| CAD generated seals | The Board has determined that a seal produced by a CAD system satisfies the law, on the same footing as a rubber stamp or a crimp. | Idaho Code § 54-1215(3)(a), with the board's Ethics and Professional Practice Manual |
| Diameter | No size is published. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Shape | Not stated. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Signature and date | The statute is permissive on placement and strict on reproduction. | Idaho Code § 54-1215(3)(a), (c) |
| Electronic seals | Permitted. The rule permits them without naming a technology or requiring board approval. | Idaho Code § 54-1215(3)(a), (c) |
| Sealing after a lapse | Affixing your seal and signature, or permitting them to be affixed, is unlawful once a license has expired, retired, been suspended or been revoked, unless it has since been renewed, reinstated or reissued. | Idaho Code §§ 54-1215(3), 54-1216 |
To compare Idaho with every other jurisdiction, see our table of professional engineer seal requirements by state.
What does Idaho require on a professional engineer's seal?
The contents are not specified by statute or by rule. Section 54-1215(3)(e) leaves the design to the form the board has adopted, so the reference point is the board's own seal rather than a list of elements in the code.
That is unusual enough to be worth saying plainly. Where most states enumerate a name, a number and a legend, Idaho points at an adopted design and stops. Order from that design, and treat any layout a supplier offers as something to be checked against it rather than trusted. Our article on the Idaho PE stamp regulations in plain terms works through the same point.
Which devices can carry the seal?
Three, and the statute names them: a rubber stamp, a crimp, or an electronically generated image. Section 54-1215(3)(a) puts all three on the same footing, so none of them is a fallback for the others.
The choice is therefore practical rather than legal. A crimp gives a raised impression on originals, an inked stamp survives copying, and an electronic image travels with a file. Engineers who issue both paper and digital sets often keep two devices for that reason, and our page on the Idaho engineer embossing seal covers the crimp option in detail.
Does a seal generated in CAD count?
Yes. The board's Ethics and Professional Practice Manual answers the question directly, stating that a seal produced by a CAD system satisfies the law's requirement for a seal, on the same footing as a rubber stamp or a crimp.
That removes the argument some clients still raise about drawings that carry a plotted seal rather than an inked one. The device is not what gives the seal its authority; your license does.
What size is an Idaho engineer seal?
No diameter is published. Neither the statute nor a rule states a size, so there is no legal dimension to hit and none to fail.
What exists instead is a production standard. The Idaho professional engineer seal is commonly cut at 1-5/8 inches, and that figure comes from manufacturing practice rather than from the code. Use it as a default, not as a requirement, and keep legibility as the test that actually matters.
Where do the signature and date go?
The statute leaves placement to you. What it controls is reproduction, so the seal and signature that appear on the issued document have to be genuinely yours rather than a stand-in applied for convenience.
A workable habit is to sign clear of the seal face and date beside it, so that a scan or a print keeps all three readable. Our overview of how to apply your Idaho PE stamp sets out the sequence.
Which documents must be sealed?
Final plans, drawings, plats, land surveys, specifications, reports, design information and calculations, once they are presented to a client or to any public or governmental agency. Subsections (b) and (c) of section 54-1215(3) carry that list.
Note how far it reaches. Design information and calculations are named alongside drawings and plans, so a calculation package that leaves your office as a final product is inside the duty even though nobody builds from it directly.
How does electronic sealing work in Idaho?
It is permitted, and the statute stops there. No technology is named and no board approval process exists, which leaves the method of producing and applying the electronic seal to your own judgment.
That freedom carries its own risk. Without a prescribed technology, the burden of showing that a sealed file is yours falls on your own controls, so keep the seal image and any signing credential under your personal control rather than in a shared project folder.
What happens when a license expires or is suspended?
Sealing stops. Affixing your seal and signature, or permitting them to be affixed, is unlawful once a license has expired, retired, been suspended or been revoked, unless it has since been renewed, reinstated or reissued.
The clause about permitting is the one to watch in a firm. Leaving an electronic seal image where a colleague can place it does not shift responsibility, since the statute reaches the person who allowed the seal to be used as well as the person who applied it.
What should a dual licensee order?
A single board-adopted seal that shows licensure both as a Professional Engineer and as a Land Surveyor. Section 54-1215(3)(e) contemplates that combined form rather than two separate devices.
If you hold both credentials, say so at the point of order, because the combined design is not simply an engineer seal with extra wording. Our note on the Idaho engineering seal and what it represents covers the distinction.
How do you check the seal before you use it?
Compare the finished artwork against the board-adopted design element by element, then press or print a test on the paper you deliver and read it at arm's length.
Check the license number twice, since it is the one item a proofreader cannot sanity check by eye. For an electronic seal, open the exported file on a different machine and confirm the image survives at the resolution the recipient will use.
For the geologist side of practice in Idaho, read what an Idaho geologist seal requires.
Frequently asked questions
If the code lists no elements, what do you put on the seal?
You follow the design the board has adopted. The absence of a statutory list does not create freedom to design your own face; it moves the specification from the code to the board's adopted form.
Is a crimp on its own enough for a document that gets scanned?
Legally the three devices rank equally, so a crimp satisfies the statute. Practically an embossed impression can disappear in a scan, which is why engineers who issue copies often add an inked or plotted seal.
Does Idaho require board approval of an electronic seal method?
No. No approval process exists and no technology is named, so the statute neither blesses nor blocks any particular signing product.
Can a colleague place your seal on a drawing you reviewed?
The statute reaches permitting a seal to be affixed as well as affixing it yourself, and it applies that language to periods when a license is not in force. Keep control of the device in every case.
Is 1-5/8 inches a legal requirement?
No. It is a production size in common use for Idaho engineer seals. Nothing in the statute or the rules sets a diameter, so a different size does not put you out of compliance.
Do calculations really need a seal?
Calculations are named in the statute alongside plans and reports when they are final and presented to a client or a public or governmental agency. Internal working sheets that never leave the office are a different matter.
When your artwork matches the board-adopted design, put it into production. Start from the Idaho engineer seals and stamps we make and send your name and license number as they appear on your license.
