A Puerto Rico architect seal is a circle two inches in diameter showing your own name, the profession as Arquitecto, the serial number of your license, Puerto Rico, and the date the license expires. Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII bars any other information, emblem or shield on the face. Ley Núm. 173 de 1988 requires a handwritten signature and forbids stamping once the license expires. This page covers each rule.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII and the Junta Examinadora de Arquitectos y Arquitectos Paisajistas de Puerto Rico. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal duty | Every licensee keeps a seal of a special design the Junta authorizes and stamps it on professional work where required. | Ley Núm. 173 de 1988, Art. 16 |
| Name and profession | Your own name, with the profession written in Spanish as Arquitecto. | Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII |
| License number | The serial number of your license. | Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII |
| Jurisdiction and expiry | The words Puerto Rico and the date your license expires. | Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII |
| Nothing else | No further information, content, emblem or coat of arms may appear on the face. | Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII |
| Size and shape | A circle two inches across. | Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII |
| Device type | Not specified. Inked, embossed and electronic devices are neither named nor excluded. | Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII |
| Signature | In your own handwriting. Sealing and signing certify the work was yours or done under your control and supervision. | Ley Núm. 173 de 1988, Art. 16 |
| Electronic seals | The Act leaves it to the Junta to decide how cyber or digitized signatures and seals are accepted. | Ley Núm. 173 de 1988, Art. 16 (delegated to the Junta) |
| Expired, suspended or inactive license | No signing or stamping in any of those three states. | Ley Núm. 173 de 1988, Art. 16 |
Puerto Rico is one row in our architect seal requirements by state table, which sets each jurisdiction's rule side by side. The seal follows registration; the degree, experience and exam routes that lead to a Puerto Rico license are compared in how to become a licensed architect.
What must a Puerto Rico architect seal show?
Five items under Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII: your own name (nombre propio), Arquitecto as the name of your profession, the serial number of your license, Puerto Rico in words, and the date your license expires.
Art. 16 of Ley Núm. 173 de 1988 also calls for your condition as a licensee to appear alongside your name, profession, number and the Puerto Rico inscription. Order the wording in Spanish, as the rules give it: Arquitecto, not Architect.
What is barred from the face of the seal?
Everything not on that list. Art. XIII says the seal will hold no other information and no content, emblem or coat of arms (“ni contenido, emblema o escudo alguno”), so the face carries the required items and nothing more.
A firm logo, the CAAPPR emblem, an NCARB number and the Commonwealth seal all stay off. The Commonwealth seal belongs at the center of the Junta's own official seal, which the same article describes separately with the Junta's name around its edge.
What size and shape does the regulation set?
A circle two inches in diameter. Reglamento Núm. 7717, Art. XIII calls for a circular seal or stamp of “dos (2) pulgadas de diámetro” for each licensed professional, so the rule fixes both the shape and the size.
With size and shape settled, the variables on your order are the items on the face. Check the spelling of your name and every digit of the serial number against your license before ordering.
Does the regulation require a stamp or an embosser?
Neither. Art. XIII sets the dimension and the contents but is silent on whether the device is inked, embossed or electronic, so the article neither requires nor forbids any particular device type.
Whatever device you use, the impression has to be the two-inch circle carrying the required items and nothing else. Electronic seals raise a separate question that the Act hands to the Junta.
Are electronic or digitized seals accepted?
The Junta decides. Art. 16 of Ley Núm. 173 provides that the Junta will determine how cyber or digitized signatures and seals are accepted, and Art. XIII of the Reglamento supplies no electronic standard of its own.
Ask the Junta whether it has issued that determination before relying on an electronic seal. Art. 16 separately requires your signature to be in your own hand.
How must a Puerto Rico architect sign?
In your own handwriting. Art. 16 requires the professional to sign “con su puño y letra,” and sealing plus signing certifies that the work was done by you or under your control and supervision.
On plans, every sheet receives both the seal and the signature. A signature stamp or a printed signature does not meet a rule that calls for your own hand.
What does the expiration date mean at renewal?
The face carries a date that will pass. Because Art. XIII puts the license expiration date on the seal, a seal made for one license period shows an outdated date once the license renews, and Art. 16 bars stamping after expiry.
Plan for a new seal showing the current expiration date each renewal cycle, so the face always matches the license it represents.
Which documents need the seal?
All professional work, graphic or written, that you make or authorize. Art. 16 lists plans, designs, specifications, reports, surveys and similar documents, whether the client is the Government or private enterprise.
The duty is written as a general rule rather than a list of permit submittals, so written work is covered as fully as drawings.
How do firms and the Colegio fit in?
Puerto Rico puts neither a firm seal nor a firm certificate number on sealed work; the certificate of authorization system used on the mainland has no counterpart here. When a partnership or corporation issues the work, the individual professionals seal and sign it.
Each participating architect seals and signs their part, and the person responsible for the whole signs and seals the first page. Practice also depends on active membership in the Colegio de Arquitectos y Arquitectos Paisajistas de Puerto Rico under Art. 2, a compulsory professional college that sits alongside the license. Engineers and surveyors belong instead to the Colegio de Ingenieros y Agrimensores de Puerto Rico; see ordering the right Puerto Rico engineering seal and our page on Puerto Rico land surveyor seal rules.
Who licenses architects in Puerto Rico?
The Junta Examinadora de Arquitectos y Arquitectos Paisajistas de Puerto Rico, which sits within Puerto Rico's Departamento de Estado as an examining board. Under Ley Núm. 173 de 1988 the credential is arquitecto licenciado, not registered architect in the mainland sense.
The Act's title names engineers, architects, surveyors and landscape architects together. Our page on Puerto Rico landscape architect seal rules covers the other profession in this Junta's name, and the Puerto Rico notary seal page covers the separate notarial seal.
Frequently asked questions
Can a professional in training use a seal?
No. Reglamento Núm. 7717 states “Ningún profesional en entrenamiento podrá utilizar sello alguno,” meaning no professional in training may use any seal. The device is reserved for licensed architects.
Does a date have to appear beside my signature?
Art. 16 does not require one. The date the rules put on a Puerto Rico architect's work is the license expiration date, and it sits on the face of the seal rather than next to the signature.
Can I use my seal while my license is inactive or suspended?
No. Art. 16 of Ley Núm. 173 bars signing or stamping during suspension and during inactivity, just as it does after the license has expired.
Is my license serial number reissued, and what happens to the old seal?
The texts do not say. Neither Reglamento Núm. 7717 nor Art. 16 addresses reissuing the serial number, or whether a seal carrying an old expiration date must be surrendered or destroyed.
Which texts govern the Puerto Rico architect seal?
Ley Núm. 173 de 1988 and Reglamento Núm. 7717, both written and administered in Spanish. Work from those texts, since the required wording on the seal, such as Arquitecto, comes directly from them.
Order a two-inch circular seal lettered Arquitecto, with your license's expiration date, from our Puerto Rico stamps and seals collection.
