A Maine professional land surveyor must sign and seal final plans, maps and similar documents, and officials may not accept or approve that work unless it carries both. No seal size or shape is prescribed, 32 M.R.S. § 18226 names no device, and no date requirement is stated. This page covers what the law asks for, where it is silent, and how our Maine die is laid out.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against 32 M.R.S. § 18226(1)(A), (1)(B) and the State Board of Licensure for Professional Land Surveyors. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal and signature | Final plans, maps and comparable documents leave your office both signed and sealed. | 32 M.R.S. § 18226(1)(A), (1)(B) |
| Official acceptance | Officials cannot accept or approve a covered plan or document unless the surveyor in responsible charge sealed and signed it. | 32 M.R.S. §§ 18203, 18226(1)(A), (1)(C) |
| Competence and supervision | You may not seal work outside your competence, or work produced without your personal supervision and direct control. | 32 M.R.S. §§ 18203, 18226(1)(A), (1)(C) |
| Date | No date requirement is stated. | 32 M.R.S. § 18226(1)(A), (1)(B) |
| Face wording and layout | The rules read give no face layout. The Maine face we make follows production artwork. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Size and shape | No size is prescribed and no shape is stated. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Device | The section names no device of any kind. | 32 M.R.S. § 18226 (no device named) |
| Electronic or digital seal | No provision, and no technology, certificate authority or verification standard is named. | 32 M.R.S. § 18226 (no electronic seal provision) |
| Use after a lapse | No seal provision covers it. | 32 M.R.S. §§ 18214, 18225, 18228 |
| Renewal and discipline | Renewal, continuing education, and denial or discipline each have their own section. | 32 M.R.S. §§ 18214, 18225, 18228 |
To compare Maine with every other jurisdiction, see our table of land surveyor seal requirements by state. The seal follows the license; the education routes and exams that lead to a Maine license are compared in how to become a licensed land surveyor.
What does Maine require on a finished survey document?
Your signature and your seal, together. Final documents such as plans and maps go out signed and sealed by the issuing surveyor under 32 M.R.S. § 18226(1)(A), and officials may not accept or approve covered work that lacks either one.
The acceptance bar is what gives the rule its force. It is aimed at the official receiving the plan, so a sheet that arrives without the seal and signature of the surveyor in responsible charge is not one they can accept. Our earlier post on Maine land surveyor seal requirements gives more background.
Which Maine documents need your seal and signature?
Final plans, maps and comparable documents, and by extension any plan or document that falls under the meaning and intent of chapter 141. Each one carries the seal and signature of the surveyor who had responsible charge of it.
Responsible charge decides whose seal goes on the sheet. Officials may not accept or approve the document unless that surveyor sealed and signed it, a rule drawn from 32 M.R.S. §§ 18203, 18226(1)(A), (1)(C). For a closer look at the device itself, see our guide to the Maine professional land surveyor stamp.
What limits apply to the work you seal in Maine?
Two. Under 02-360 C.M.R. ch. 90 s. 2(2), you cannot sign or seal work on subject matter you lack the competence for, and you cannot seal work that was not produced under your personal supervision and direct control.
Both limits turn on your own involvement. The subject has to sit within your competence, and the work has to have been produced while you supervised it and kept control of it. Meeting one test does not excuse the other.
Can a Maine surveyor use an embosser, a rubber stamp or a printed seal?
Section 18226 does not say. It speaks only of documents being sealed and signed. Embossed, electronic, facsimile, rubber stamp, computer generated: none of these terms appears anywhere in the section, per 32 M.R.S. § 18226 (no device named).
Because the statute neither names nor excludes a device, the choice is not fixed by Maine law. You can weigh a raised seal against an inked one on practical grounds; our post on the Maine land surveyor seal embosser covers the embosser option.
What appears on the face of the seal we make for Maine?
The rules read for this page set out no face layout, so the design below is what we manufacture for Maine, drawn from production artwork. Treat it as our product specification, not as wording the law dictates.
- STATE OF MAINE along the top arc
- PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR along the bottom arc
- a five-pointed star on the left and right, dividing the two arcs
- your name at the center, with your license number set underneath as plain digits (0000 style) and nothing in front of it
- a dotted ring framing the center, all inside a serrated edge built from fine radial ticks
The number format is the detail to watch: the Maine die prints the digits alone, without a "No." label. More layout choices are covered in our post on Maine surveyor seal design options.
How large should a Maine land surveyor seal be?
Maine prescribes no size and states no shape, so there is no diameter to quote from a rule. The dimensions of our Maine die come from production artwork, which records what we manufacture rather than a figure set by law.
For an order, that means size is not something you need to match against a regulation. What the statute does care about is that each final document carries the impression and your signature, so choose a device that prints cleanly on the sheets you issue.
Does a Maine surveyor have to date the seal?
No date requirement is stated. 32 M.R.S. § 18226(1)(A), (1)(B) asks for final documents to be signed and sealed, and the requirement as read for this page ends there, with no date attached.
If your office dates every sheet, that is a practice choice rather than a condition the section imposes. The signature is the part you cannot leave off, since it is paired with the seal throughout.
Does Maine recognize an electronic or digital surveyor seal?
The statute is silent. Section 18226 says nothing about electronic or digital seals, and it identifies no signing technology, no certificate authority and no standard for verifying a seal. This rests on 02-360 C.M.R. ch. 90, read in full, and a scanned copy of ch. 20.
With no electronic format described, the law gives you no specification to build a digital seal image against. The requirement that final documents be signed and sealed still applies to whatever you issue.
What happens to a Maine seal when a license lapses?
No seal provision covers use after a lapse. Three other sections govern license status instead: § 18228 for renewal, § 18225 together with 02-360 C.M.R. ch. 70 for continuing education, and § 18214 for denial, non-renewal and disciplinary action.
None of the sources read for this page states whether the seal may be used after a license lapses, or what becomes of the device. This page does not fill that gap with a rule the law does not state.
What should you send when ordering a Maine land surveyor seal?
Your name as it should appear at the center and your license number in plain digits. The state name, the professional title, the stars and the border come built into the Maine die from production artwork, so you confirm them rather than supply them.
Then choose the device. Section 18226 names none, so an embosser and an inked stamp are both open to you. Our reference guide to the Maine professional land surveyor stamp has more on the product.
How do you check a Maine seal impression before first use?
Stamp a test sheet and read every element: STATE OF MAINE on top, PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR below, your name in the center and your number beneath it with no prefix. Then sign beside it, as you would on a final document.
Look at the dotted ring and the serrated edge all the way around; both should print evenly. Confirm the spelling of your name and each digit of your number before the device goes into use on real work.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Maine official accept a plan that is sealed but unsigned?
No. Officials may not accept or approve a covered plan or document unless the surveyor in responsible charge both sealed and signed it, so a seal on its own does not meet the rule.
Can I seal only my part of a larger project?
Yes. 02-360 C.M.R. ch. 90 s. 2(2) allows a seal on a portion of a bigger project, such as one or more of its aspects, provided you identify the part you are answering for.
Why does the Maine number print without "No." in front of it?
That is how the Maine die is produced from production artwork: the digits sit alone under your name. It reflects our manufacturing format, not a wording rule.
Does section 18226 rule out an embosser?
No. It names no device at all, so it neither lists nor excludes an embosser, a rubber stamp or any other method of applying the seal.
Do I need a separate seal for electronic files?
Maine law does not provide for an electronic seal, so it sets no separate requirement for one. The statute's duty to sign and seal final documents is the rule on record.
Have your name and license number ready, then order from our Maine stamps and seals collection and check the proof against the face layout above before you approve it.
