A California architect stamp must be circular, between one and two inches across, and it must carry a means of indicating your renewal date. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(b) sets the five items on the face. Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 136 sets the shape, the size range and the two permitted forms. This page covers the face, the documents, and the line that ages.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(b). Sources read September 2026. Updated 7 November 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Your name as licensed. | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(b) |
| License number | Your license number appears on the face. | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(b) |
| Two legends | Two phrases: licensed architect and State of California. | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(b) |
| Renewal date | A means of showing when your license comes up for renewal. | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(b) |
| Shape and size | Circular. The diameter can run from one inch up to two inches. | Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 136(a) |
| Permitted forms | Only the two forms the rule names: a computer generated image or an inked stamp. | Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 136(a), (b) |
| Signature | The signature accompanies the stamp. The date shown on the face is a renewal date and not a signing date. | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(a) |
| Documents stamped | Instruments of service, plans and specifications you prepare for others. | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(a), (c) |
| Contracts | Signed. The stamp does not go on them. | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1(a), (c) |
| Electronic seal | The Board does not address electronic seals. | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 5536.1 |
To compare California with every other jurisdiction, see our table of architect seal requirements by state. The seal follows registration; the degree, experience and exam routes that lead to a California license are compared in how to become a licensed architect.
What must a California architect stamp show?
Five items, set by section 5536.1(b). Four of them are static and one of them changes: the renewal date indicator is the only line on a California face that has to keep pace with your credential.
- Your license number
- Your name, matching your license exactly
- The words State of California
- The words licensed architect
- A means of indicating your renewal date
The statute asks for a means of indicating the renewal date rather than a printed date, which is why California dies are often cut with the date handled separately from the fixed text. A plain summary of California architect stamp requirements is a useful second read on that distinction.
What does the renewal date line actually mean?
It means the face has to say when your license comes up for renewal, not when you signed the sheet. Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 136(c) puts the aging on that line: the renewal date is what changes, and the license number does not.
That separates a California stamp from a date stamp. The date on the die belongs to your credential, and a document you seal in March with a renewal date later in the year is showing the renewal date correctly. Architects tracking that cycle will want a longer walk through the California architect stamp regulations.
What size and shape does the Board require?
Circular. Its diameter may run from one inch up to two inches. Section 136(a) of title 16 states both ends of that range, so a die at seven eighths of an inch and a die at two and a half inches are both outside it.
The range is wide enough to matter. A one inch face keeps five items very tight, and the license number and the renewal date are the lines that suffer first when type is reduced. A two inch face is the safer choice for anything that gets photocopied or reduced before it reaches a plan checker.
Which forms of the stamp are permitted?
Two forms are named in Section 136: a computer generated image or an inked stamp. A raised impression from a desk press or hand press is not among them.
Practically, that makes California an ink and image state. The computer generated option is what covers a stamp placed into a drawing file before plotting, and the inked stamp covers everything applied to paper. Design options for a California architect stamp walks through how the same five items sit on each format.
Does the signature go with the stamp?
Yes. Under section 5536.1(a) the signature and the stamp travel together, and any date on the face does not record when you signed. The stamp identifies the license; the signature is what attaches your responsibility to the sheet.
Because the face date is a renewal date, a sheet that needs a signing date needs it written or applied separately. Treating the die as a dating device is the most common misreading of the California rule, and the California architect seal guidelines in detail set the two apart clearly.
Which documents get stamped, and which only get signed?
The stamp and the signature both go on instruments of service, plans and specifications you prepare for others. Under section 5536.1(a) and (c), contracts for that work take a signature only, with no stamp.
That split is easy to get backwards on a project where the agreement and the drawing set go out in the same package. The instrument of service carries the seal. The contract for producing it does not. How California architect stamp laws apply in practice is worth reading before a submission deadline rather than during one.
Are electronic seals addressed?
Not by the Board. Section 5536.1 contains no electronic seal provision, so there is no named technology, no approval route and no prescribed verification step for a California architect.
The computer generated image permitted under section 136 is a different thing from an electronic seal regime. It describes the form the stamp may take, not a system for authenticating a file, and nothing in the cited sources builds that second layer.
What happens to your stamp when your license renews?
The renewal date on the face is the part that ages. Section 136(c) is explicit that the license number is not what changes, so a renewal reaches one line rather than the whole die.
How that plays out depends on how your die was made. If the renewal date is carried on a separate line or a separate element, the fixed text stays correct across cycles and only the date has to keep up with your credential.
What do you need ready before ordering?
Your name exactly as licensed, your license number, and your current renewal date. Those three are taken from your license record, not from memory, because all three print on the face.
Then pick a diameter inside the one to two inch range. If your sheets are issued at reduced size or copied before review, choose toward the two inch end so the number and the date survive reproduction.
How do you test an impression before using it?
Stamp a test sheet on the stock you issue on, then read all five items against your license record. Check the number digit by digit and confirm the renewal date matches your current cycle.
Copy the test sheet and look at the copy rather than the original. If the renewal date or the license number fills in or drops out, the type is too small or the pad is over inked, and both are cheaper to correct before the die goes into service.
Frequently asked questions
Can a California architect use a raised embossed impression instead?
The forms named in section 136 are an inked stamp and a computer generated image. A raised impression is not one of them, so an embossed seal does not satisfy what the rule describes.
Does the date on the face record when I signed the drawing?
No. It indicates the renewal date of your license. A signing date, where a project needs one, is applied separately from the stamp.
Is a one inch stamp large enough to be compliant?
One inch is the lower limit of the permitted range, so it is compliant on size. Whether it is readable after copying is a separate question, and five items at that diameter leave very little margin.
Do I stamp the agreement I sign with my client?
No. Contracts for plans, specifications and instruments of service are signed but not stamped. The stamp belongs on the instruments themselves.
Does my license number change when I renew?
No. Section 136(c) points the aging at the renewal date rather than the number, so the identifier on the face stays constant across renewal cycles.
Is a stamp placed into a CAD file acceptable in California?
A computer generated image is one of the two permitted forms, so an image applied within a drawing file falls inside what section 136 describes. That is separate from any electronic seal system, which the Board does not address.
Pull your license record for the name, number and renewal date, decide on a diameter inside the permitted range, then order from the California architect stamps and seals collection.
