A Tennessee geologist seal must show the name under which you are licensed, the legend “licensed professional geologist” and an identification of the state of Tennessee, in the design the department authorizes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 sets no size, shape or device, and it does not mention a license number. This page covers the wording, the design, signing, the documents covered and the points the statute leaves open.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 and the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | A licensed professional geologist obtains a seal once the certificate of licensure is issued. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 |
| Wording on the face | Your licensed name, the legend licensed professional geologist, and a line that identifies Tennessee. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 |
| Overall design | Whatever design the department authorizes; the statute prints no layout of its own. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 (design authorized by the department, no dimension stated) |
| Size and shape | No diameter, shape or tolerance is given anywhere in the section. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 (design authorized by the department, no dimension stated) |
| License number | Not mentioned. The section neither requires nor forbids one on the face. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 |
| Device | No device is listed; the text only says documents are “impressed” with the seal. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 |
| Signature | Each covered document is both signed and impressed, and the pair marks your responsibility for it. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 |
| Documents covered | Geologic drawings, reports and papers you prepare or approve, including work a subordinate does under your direction. | Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 62-36-104, 62-36-105, 62-36-106, 62-36-112 |
| Electronic sealing | Silent. Nothing addresses electronic seals, digital signatures or electronic delivery. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 (silent) |
| Suspension and reissue | The seal follows the certificate; suspension, revocation and reissue are handled in separate sections. | Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 62-36-112, 62-36-119, 62-36-120 |
What must a Tennessee geologist seal show?
Three items fixed by statute, set inside a design the department controls. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 the face carries the name under which you are licensed, the legend licensed professional geologist and an identification of the state of Tennessee, all within the department-authorized design.
Treat the legend as exact wording. Registered Geologist and Professional Geologist are phrases the section does not use, so a seal lettered either way does not match it. The section also leaves open whether the state appears as State of Tennessee or as Tennessee alone, a point the authorized design answers. To see how other jurisdictions word this seal, read our geologist seal rules for all 54 jurisdictions.
Does your license number belong on the seal?
Section 62-36-112 is silent on it. The section names your name, the legend and the state and stops there, while the architect and engineer statute, § 62-2-306(b), expressly puts a registration number on those professions' seals.
That difference is a good reason not to borrow a template from another Tennessee profession. Compare the Tennessee registered engineer seal and the Tennessee architecture stamp, which sit in that other chapter. For your own seal, ask the department whether its authorized design includes the number.
How large should the seal be, and what shape?
The statute does not say. Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 contains no measurement of any kind, whether diameter, shape or tolerance. Its one instruction on appearance is that the seal follow the design the department authorizes, so that design, not a number in the Code, governs how the seal looks.
Tennessee's rules for architect, engineer and landscape architect seals carry no dimension either, including the Tennessee landscape architect seal, so there is no in-state figure to copy. Request the authorized geologist design, or an approved sample, from the department's Division of Regulatory Boards.
Which devices can make a Tennessee geologist impression?
No device is named. The section requires covered documents to be “impressed” with the seal, a word that fits an embossed or an inked impression, yet it excludes nothing in terms and contains no list of permitted devices.
Rule 0120-02-.08(8)(a) lists four devices, from rubber stamps to electronically generated seals, but that rule serves architects and engineers. It does not extend to geologists licensed under Title 62, Chapter 36, so settle the device with the department along with the design.
How do the signature and the seal work together?
As a single act of responsibility. Section 62-36-112 requires each covered document to carry both the licensee's signature and the impression of the seal, and it provides that those two acts indicate the licensee's responsibility for the drawings, reports and other geologic documents.
A report that carries the impression without your signature, or your signature without the impression, completes only half of what the section asks. Keep the two together on every document the duty reaches.
Which geologic documents need the seal?
Drawings, reports and other geologic papers or documents involving geologic work that you prepare or approve, or that a subordinate employee prepares under your direction. The duty applies when the document goes to any person, is used by anyone, or becomes a public record in Tennessee.
Two features make this broader than a filing rule. Work you only approved is inside it, not just work you drafted, and a report handed to a private client counts as much as one filed with an agency. Practice limits and exemptions sit in §§ 62-36-104, 62-36-105 and 62-36-106.
Can a Tennessee geologist seal documents electronically?
The statute is silent. Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-36-112 makes no mention of electronic seals, digital signatures or electronic delivery, so it neither authorizes an electronic workflow nor rules one out in terms.
The digital signature test in rule 0120-02-.08(8)(b) applies to the architect and engineer chapter, not to geologists. Ask the department how it treats electronically sealed geologic documents before you rely on one.
What happens to the seal if a license is suspended or revoked?
The seal follows the certificate of licensure, because § 62-36-112 makes issuance of the certificate the point at which you obtain a seal. Section 62-36-119 deals with suspension, revocation and refusal to renew, and § 62-36-120 with reissuing a revoked license.
None of those sections says whether a license number survives reissue or whether an old seal must be destroyed or surrendered. The stamping prohibition that § 62-2-306(b) applies to architects and engineers is not repeated for geologists; their limit comes from the prohibited activities in § 62-36-104.
Does a geology firm need its own seal?
No firm seal appears in the statute. Section 62-36-107 addresses sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations, and § 62-36-105 allows geologic services to be contracted only with licensed geologists, yet neither section creates a firm seal or a firm number for reports.
The firm disclosure rules in chapter 0120-06 cover architectural, engineering and landscape architectural firms and do not reach geology. On a Tennessee geologic report, the individual licensee's seal and signature carry the responsibility.
What should you confirm before ordering a Tennessee geologist seal?
The department's authorized design comes first. Then check three lines against the statute: your name exactly as licensed, the legend word for word, and the line naming Tennessee. Also ask whether the department wants a license number on the face.
Set aside the architect diagram in rule 0120-02-.08(1); it serves a different chapter and a different credential. When the first impression arrives, lay it beside the authorized design and compare them before the seal goes on a report.
Frequently asked questions
Does my signature have to cross the seal?
Section 62-36-112 does not say. It requires the signature and the impression on the same documents but sets no placement. The rule that a signature cross the seal and run past its edge, 0120-02-.08(3), belongs to another chapter and another board.
Is a date required next to the signature?
The section is silent on dating. Section 62-36-112 does not say whether a date of signature must appear, and it ties your responsibility to the signature and the impression alone.
Do draft or preliminary reports need the seal?
The statute carves out no exception for them. Section 62-36-112 reaches geologic documents you prepare or approve and states no separate treatment for preliminary or draft work.
Does the seal change when I renew?
Nothing on the face is tied to a renewal date by statute. The items § 62-36-112 lists are your name, the legend and the state identification, with no expiration date among them, so ask whether the department's design adds anything.
Is there a Tennessee board of geology?
Not a full board. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance administers the Geologist Licensure Act of 2007 through its Division of Regulatory Boards, advised by a committee for geology under § 62-36-113, and the program's rules are chapter 0780-05-07. Tennessee's registered land surveyor seal and notary seal follow separate rules.
With the department's authorized design in hand, choose your device from our Tennessee stamps and seals and order the seal with the legend exactly as the statute states it.
