A Virginia geologist seal is two inches in diameter, follows the design the regulation prints, and shows your name with the last four digits of your certificate number. Every seal imprint on a final document has to be signed. The regulation names a rubber stamp and a preprinted seal, and says nothing about electronic sealing. This page covers the design, the devices and the signing duty.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against 18VAC145-40-60. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Wording and artwork | Your name, the four-digit number, the published design, and a signature on each imprint that goes on a final document. | 18VAC145-40-60 |
| Which digits | Only the final four of your certificate number, not the whole figure. | 18VAC145-40-60 |
| Artwork | The die follows the design the subdivision illustrates. | 18VAC145-40-60 |
| Diameter | Two inches for the original seal. | 18VAC145-40-60 |
| Shape | Circular. | 18VAC145-40-60 |
| Permitted devices | Two are named, a rubber stamp and a preprinted seal. | 18VAC145-40-60 |
| Signing | Required on each imprint. The rule states that "all seal imprints on final documents must be signed." | 18VAC145-40-60 |
| Dating | Not called for. The seal provision sets nothing about a date. | 18VAC145-40-60 (date requirement not addressed) |
| Sheets that carry it | Cover sheets that are final and complete, plus each original sheet of drawings or plans the regulant either prepared or else reviewed and approved. | 18VAC145-40-60 |
| Electronic sealing | Not addressed. There is no electronic sealing provision, and no criteria of the kind the architects and engineers chapter carries. | 18VAC145-40 (no electronic seal provision) |
What must a Virginia geologist seal carry?
Four things, and one of them is not engraved. The device shows your name, the number and the published design; the fourth item is a signature you add to every imprint that goes on a final document.
- Your name
- The four-digit number, taken from the end of your certificate number
- The seal design the regulation illustrates
- Your signature, on each imprint used on a final document
Because the regulation prints the artwork, the layout is not a matter of preference. A supplier who has the illustration in front of them can cut the die correctly the first time, which is why the design reference belongs on the order. A closer look at the Virginia geologist stamp and seal covers how that artwork is reproduced.
Which digits of your certificate number go on the seal?
The last four, not the whole figure. The regulation states plainly which digits the die carries, taking the final four from your certificate number, so a die showing more than that is not following the design.
This is the single most reliable way to get a Virginia geologist seal wrong, because a supplier who mainly serves Virginia engineers and architects works from a different chapter with a different digit count. Give the four digits on the order form rather than the whole certificate number and the ambiguity disappears.
What size and shape does the rule set?
Two inches in diameter, circular. The regulation states the measurement for the original seal and ties it to the illustrated design, so the size and the artwork are settled together rather than separately.
Two inches is a large die by the standards of other professions, and it needs room on the sheet. Plan the title block or the signature area around the impression rather than squeezing the impression into what is left.
Which devices does the regulation name?
Two: a rubber stamp and a preprinted seal. Those are the instruments the text identifies, and neither is preferred over the other.
A preprinted seal is the seal image printed onto the sheet itself. A rubber stamp therefore suits one-off reports and occasional cover sheets, while a printed design suits an office running large document sets through its own presses. The choices open to Virginia geologists on stamp format goes into how the two compare in daily use.
When does a seal imprint have to be signed?
Every time it appears on a final document. The regulation puts it in one line, that "all seal imprints on final documents must be signed." There is no exception for a duplicate set or an internal copy that later goes out.
The signature is what carries the responsibility, which is why an unsigned imprint is worse than no imprint at all. How the professional geologist stamp is used in Virginia puts that duty in the context of a working report.
Does the rule ask for a date?
No. A date requirement is not addressed in the seal provision. The regulation requires the signature on every imprint and stops there.
That silence is not a prohibition. Clients, agencies and contract terms frequently ask for a date beside the seal, and adding one puts you at no disadvantage under the regulation. What matters for compliance is that the signature is present.
Which sheets does the seal go on?
Cover sheets that are final and complete, plus each original sheet of drawings or plans the regulant prepared, or else reviewed and approved. Two points follow from that wording.
The first is that the duty reaches original sheets rather than copies, so the seal belongs on the set you issue. The second is that reviewing and approving work brings a sheet inside the rule just as preparing it does, which matters for a senior geologist signing off on a junior's drawings.
Can you seal electronically in Virginia?
The regulation does not address it. It authorizes a rubber stamp or a preprinted seal, and carries no provision on electronic or digital sealing at all.
Nothing comparable to the criteria in the architects and engineers chapter appears anywhere in the geologist regulations. The safe course is a physical impression or a printed design on the issued sheet, with any electronic workflow treated as a delivery method rather than as a substitute for the named devices.
What happens when the credential lapses?
Expiration, renewal and reinstatement are handled by their own sections, with a further section addressing your status in the period before reinstatement. The seal provision itself says nothing about the device during that period.
So there is no stated duty to surrender or destroy a die, and no stated procedure for retiring one. What the sections do establish is that your standing to issue sealed work follows the credential rather than the stamp. What Virginia geologist certification involves covers the credential side.
What should you have in front of you before ordering?
Your certificate, so you can read the last four digits off it, and your name in the form the certificate gives. The design and the two-inch diameter come from the regulation, so those are fixed.
Confirm the four digits by reading them aloud from the document rather than copying them from an old drawing or an email. A transposed digit produces a die that looks right and identifies the wrong certificate. How Virginia geologists go about obtaining a seal is worth a read before you order.
How do you check an impression before use?
Stamp a test impression on the paper you issue on, measure the diameter, and compare the layout against the illustrated design element by element.
Then check the four digits one last time and sign the test sheet, because signing is part of what the regulation asks for and a cramped impression with nowhere to sign is a design problem worth finding early.
Licensed in more than one place? Our state by state table of geologist seal rules sets this state beside the other 53.
Frequently asked questions
Should the seal show six digits, as some Virginia suppliers assume?
No. The geologist regulation calls for the last four digits of the certificate number. A six-digit figure belongs to a different board's chapter and does not govern this seal.
Is an embosser one of the named devices?
No. The regulation names a rubber stamp and a preprinted seal. An embosser is not among the instruments it identifies.
Does a report without drawings need a seal?
The provision reaches cover sheets that are final and complete, as well as original drawing sheets, so a cover sheet is squarely within it.
Can the seal be smaller than two inches to fit a title block?
The regulation states two inches in diameter for the original seal, so the sheet should be planned around the impression rather than the impression around the sheet.
Does a reviewer who did not draw the sheet still seal it?
The wording covers sheets prepared by the regulant and sheets reviewed and approved by the regulant, so review and approval bring the sheet within the duty.
Is a digital signature acceptable on a sealed sheet?
The regulation requires that every seal imprint on a final document be signed and does not address electronic or digital methods, which leaves a handwritten signature as the course the text plainly supports.
Read the last four digits of your certificate number straight off the certificate, then order the two-inch circular design from the Virginia geologist stamps and seals collection.
