Connecticut does not print the design of a professional engineer seal in its regulation; the Board prescribes it. The face, and the size that comes with it, therefore follow the Board's specification rather than a published figure. The rule does fix which documents carry the seal. This page covers what is prescribed, what is left open, and what to have ready before you order.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(a) and the Board of Examiners for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes. The regulation puts the seal on the documents a licensee submits to a client. | Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(a), (b) |
| Face of the seal | The regulation specifies nothing here. Design is what the Board prescribes. | Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(a) |
| Size | No dimension is printed. Size travels with the design the Board prescribes. | Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(a) |
| Shape | Not stated. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Device you may use | The cited subsections do not settle which type of device a licensee buys. | Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(b), (c) |
| Signature on paper | The regulation speaks of "a handwritten signature and live seal on paper documents", which treats a wet signature as the paper norm. | Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(b), (c), (f) |
| Date beside the seal | No dating instruction appears in the cited subsections. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Work prepared by others | Where a licensee seals documents prepared by others, both the seal and the signature have to be affixed. | Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(b), (c), (f) |
| What gets sealed | Every plan, map, survey, sketch, drawing, specification and document relating to a project that the licensee submits to a client. | Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(a), (b) |
| Electronic sealing | Permitted, and the regulation goes as far as naming a technology, which most states do not do. | Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 20-300-10(c), (d), (e) |
To compare Connecticut with every other jurisdiction, see our table of professional engineer seal requirements by state.
Does Connecticut require a seal on engineering documents?
Yes. The regulation attaches the seal to the work a licensee hands over, covering every plan, map, survey, sketch, drawing, specification and document that relates to a project submitted to the client.
Read the trigger carefully, because it is the submission to the client that pulls the seal in. That is a wider net than a filing rule, since plenty of engineering output reaches a client without ever reaching a public authority.
What has to appear on the face of the seal?
The regulation does not say. Section 20-300-10(a) leaves the design to the Board, and the design itself is not printed in the regulation, so there is no published list of elements to work from.
That is unusual, and it changes the order of operations. In a state that prints its legend and its license number placement, you can build artwork from the rule text. In Connecticut the Board's prescribed design is the reference, and anything else is a guess. Work from what the Board prescribed for you rather than from a layout copied out of another state. The Connecticut PE stamp requirements in full is the place to start if you are assembling that reference.
What size is a Connecticut PE seal?
No dimension is printed in the regulation. Size is part of what the Board prescribes along with the rest of the design, so the figure comes from the Board's specification rather than from a rule you can point a reviewer at.
Shape is not stated either. Anyone quoting you a Connecticut diameter as though the state published one is quoting a house convention, so treat a supplier's standard size as a production choice and check it against the design you were given. Our read of the Connecticut PE stamp guidelines goes over the same ground for buyers comparing proofs.
Do the rules tell you which device to buy?
Not in the subsections read here. Whether you carry an embosser, an inked stamp or something else is not settled by the cited text, which addresses the seal as a requirement rather than as a product.
Pick on practical grounds instead. Connecticut engineering documents get copied, scanned and passed along, and an imprint that reproduces cleanly is worth more downstream than one that has to be held at an angle to read. Anyone weighing a press against an inked die will want what the rules mean for Connecticut PE embossers before deciding.
Does the signature have to be handwritten?
On paper, yes, in the sense the regulation assumes. Its own phrase is "a handwritten signature and live seal on paper documents", which treats a wet signature over a live impression as the paper baseline.
Nothing in the cited subsections tells you to run the signature across the impression or to keep it clear of the face. That placement question is simply not answered, so the safe habit is the one that keeps both legible.
Is a date required next to the seal?
No dating instruction appears in the subsections read here. The rule is silent on whether a date belongs beside the impression and on what form it would take.
Many engineers date sealed sheets anyway as a matter of practice, and nothing in the cited text prohibits it. Treat it as a professional habit rather than as a Connecticut requirement.
What happens when you seal work prepared by someone else?
Subsection (b) reaches this case directly: where a licensee seals documents prepared by others, the licensee's seal and signature both have to be affixed. The signature is not optional there.
That pairing is the part people miss when a set arrives from a subconsultant. The seal alone does not satisfy the subsection, and neither does a signature on a cover sheet with the impression somewhere else in the package.
Can a Connecticut engineer seal electronically?
Yes, electronic sealing is permitted, and Connecticut goes further than most states by naming a technology rather than only stating criteria. The detail sits in subsections (c), (d) and (e).
Because the state named a technology, an electronic workflow assembled around a different one is worth checking against the subsections before it becomes your standard. More on the Connecticut professional engineer stamp covers how the paper and electronic routes sit alongside each other.
What do the rules say about renewal and a lapsed license?
Renewal and lapse are dealt with at sections 20-300-11, 20-300-3b(d) and 20-300-10(g). What those provisions do not do is state what happens if a seal is applied after a license has lapsed, so that question is left open.
The prudent reading is the conservative one: a seal represents a current credential, and the regulation gives no permission to use one past that point. Keep your renewal dates and your sealing schedule in the same calendar.
What should you have ready before ordering?
The design the Board prescribed for you, your name and license number exactly as they appear on your credential, and a decision about the device. Those three cover everything the rules leave to you.
If you are still assembling your paperwork, our walk through the Connecticut PE stamp application lines up what the Board issues with what a supplier needs. Sending a proof that differs from the prescribed design is the one mistake that is expensive to unwind, because the device has to be recut.
How do you check an impression before you use it?
Print it on ordinary white paper, hold it beside the prescribed design and compare line by line rather than at a glance. Spelling of your name, the digits of your license number and the spacing of the legend are what to read closely.
Then copy the sheet. An impression that closes up, fills in or fades on a photocopy will do the same on the reproductions your client and their reviewers actually work from, and a set carrying an unreadable seal is a set that comes back.
Frequently asked questions
Why can a supplier not just quote me the Connecticut seal size?
Because no dimension is printed in the regulation. Size belongs to the design the Board prescribes, so any figure a supplier offers is their production standard rather than a state specification.
Does a seal have to go on documents that never reach a public authority?
The rule is written around submission to the client, and it covers every plan, map, survey, sketch, drawing, specification and document relating to the project. A public filing is not what triggers it.
Is a stamp acceptable instead of an embosser?
The cited subsections do not settle the device question either way, so the choice is not made for you. Reproducibility is the practical test to apply.
Does the signature have to cross the seal in Connecticut?
Nothing in the cited subsections says so. Placement of the signature relative to the impression is not addressed, which is different from a rule permitting any placement.
Can I keep sealing while my renewal is pending?
Renewal and lapse are covered at sections 20-300-11, 20-300-3b(d) and 20-300-10(g), but use of the seal after a lapse is not addressed. Treat a current license as the condition for sealing.
Do I need a separate device for electronic work?
Electronic sealing is permitted on its own terms in subsections (c), (d) and (e), and the regulation names a technology there. A paper device and an electronic method are two different things, and holding one does not supply the other.
Have the Board's prescribed design in front of you, then match it on a device from our Connecticut engineer stamps and seals so the face you approve is the face the Board specified.
