A Nebraska engineer's seal has to name the discipline the license was issued in, and no diameter is stipulated anywhere. Four items go on the face: the words Architect or Professional (discipline) Engineer, your name as licensed, your license number, and State of Nebraska. Legibility, not dimension, is the test the rule applies. This page covers the wording, the device question, placement and what to supply when ordering.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-3437.01(1) and the Board of Engineers and Architects. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| When the seal is used | On technical submissions and calculations put before a client or before any public or governmental agency. | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-3437.01(3), (4) |
| State line | State of Nebraska. | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-3437.01(1) |
| Name and number | Your name as licensed, together with your license number. | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-3437.01(1) |
| Title line | The words Architect or Professional (discipline) Engineer, naming the engineering discipline the license was issued in. | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-3437.01(1) |
| Size | None stipulated. The Board publishes no diameter for the seal. | Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects, Licensee Seals and Technical Submissions guidance |
| Shape | Not stated in the sources read. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Devices allowed | Device neutral. An embossing seal, a computer generated one, or another type may all be used, provided the result is legible. | 110 Neb. Admin. Code ch. 6, rule 6.1.3 |
| Signing and dating | Governed by the statute, which is not worded identically to the board rule. Read the two together. | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-3437.01(2) |
| Electronic seals | Permitted. No technology is named on either side of the question. | 110 Neb. Admin. Code ch. 6, rule 6.1.8 |
| Use once a license lapses | Not addressed in the cited provisions. | Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 81-3437.01(3), (5), 81-8,121 |
Nebraska is one row in our professional engineer seal requirements by state table, which sets each jurisdiction's rule side by side.
When does Nebraska require the seal on your work?
When technical submissions and calculations are put before a client or before a public or governmental agency. The trigger is the act of presenting the work rather than the stage the design has reached.
That covers a great deal of what leaves an engineering office, which is why the placement rules below matter more here than any question about the die itself. The Nebraska engineering seal rules in full set out the same duty from the licensee's side.
What has to appear on the face of the seal?
Four items, set by statute. Three are straightforward and the fourth is where Nebraska seals go wrong most often.
- The words Architect or Professional (discipline) Engineer
- Your name as licensed
- Your license number
- State of Nebraska
Nothing in that list is optional, and nothing in it depends on the size of the die. The Nebraska engineering seal requirements set out step by step covers how the four lines are arranged.
Does the discipline really have to be named?
Yes, where the license was issued in a specific discipline. The statute frames the title line as Professional (discipline) Engineer, so the parenthetical is a slot to be filled rather than a formatting convention to be copied.
A Nebraska die reading only Professional Engineer has left out a required element. Check the discipline against your license record before ordering, not against what a previous employer's seal happened to say.
What size and shape does Nebraska set?
Neither. No size or diameter is stipulated by the Board of Engineers and Architects, and the sources read state no shape either. Nebraska is one of a small number of states that leaves both open.
That freedom has one practical boundary, which is legibility. Four lines of text, one of them a discipline name, need enough room to stay readable after a drawing is printed at reduced scale, so most Nebraska engineers land near the sizes used in neighboring states for reasons of print quality rather than law.
Which devices may apply the seal?
An embossing seal, a computer generated one, or another type. Rule 6.1.3 is written around the result rather than the mechanism: what it requires is a legible seal, whichever device produced it.
Legibility is where an embosser struggles, because a raised impression carries no ink and tends to vanish from a copy or a scan. An inked or self inking stamp for paper, with a matching image for issued files, keeps you inside the standard the rule actually applies.
How are the signature and the date handled?
Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-3437.01(2), and with care, because the statute and the board rule are not worded identically on this point. Read them together rather than relying on either one alone.
Design the seal so that a signature and a date can sit with it without covering the lines the statute requires. A face crowded to its edges leaves nowhere for either to go.
Where does the seal go on a drawing set?
On each sheet of original drawings under rule 6.1.4. Specifications, reports, studies and other documents are treated differently under rule 6.1.5, which reaches the title page and first page as well as the final page.
Plan the title block for that, since the seal, a signature and a date all have to share it. The criteria behind Nebraska PE stamp requirements covers the placement question in more detail.
Is there relief for a long specification with several licensees?
Yes. Rule 6.1.5.1 allows a bulky multiple licensee specification to be handled with separate sheets placed at the front and the back, each listing the sections that licensee prepared, rather than sealing throughout.
The relief is about volume rather than responsibility. Each licensee still identifies the portions of the work that belong to them.
Are electronic seals recognized in Nebraska?
Yes, under rule 6.1.8, and the rule stays neutral about how. No technology is named on either side of the question, which leaves the legibility standard doing the work.
Because nothing is prescribed, keep the electronic version of your seal identical in content to the physical one. Four lines that match across both formats is the defensible position when a reviewer compares a printed sheet against an issued file.
Can the seal be used after a license lapses?
The cited provisions do not address it. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 81-3437.01(3), (5) and 81-8,121 are the sections read for this page, and none of them speaks to a lapse.
Silence is not permission. Sealing certifies work done under a current license, so keeping the credential in good standing is the sound reading of the duty rather than an optional extra. What the Nebraska licensing board oversees gives the wider background.
What should I supply when ordering a Nebraska seal?
Four lines of text, copied from your license record. No dimension needs specifying, because none is required, so the size question becomes a print quality decision instead.
- Your name as licensed
- Your license number
- Your engineering discipline, spelled as the license carries it
- Whether you want an inked stamp, an embosser, or both
Read the discipline back before the die is cut, since that is the line most often wrong. Why a Nebraska professional engineer stamp matters on a submittal covers what the impression certifies.
For the geologist side of practice in Nebraska, read what a Nebraska geologist seal requires.
Frequently asked questions
What size should I order if no size is required?
Order for legibility rather than for a rule. A face that holds four lines cleanly at the scale your drawings print at is the working standard, since the rule tests whether the impression can be read.
My seal says Professional Engineer with no discipline. Is that a problem?
Where the license was issued in a specific discipline, the title line is meant to name it. A die without it has dropped one of the four statutory elements and should be replaced.
Can I use an embosser on its own?
The rule is device neutral, so an embossing seal is among the types it allows. The condition attached to all of them is legibility, and a raised impression with no ink rarely survives copying or scanning.
Does the seal need a border or a particular outline?
No shape is stated in the sources read. Borders are a design question in Nebraska rather than a compliance one, so choose whatever keeps the four required lines readable.
Do I seal every page of a report?
Rule 6.1.5 reaches the title page and first page along with the final page of specifications, reports and studies. Original drawings are handled differently, with each sheet sealed under rule 6.1.4.
Does a name change mean a new die?
Your name as licensed is one of the four required lines, so once the licensed name changes the old impression no longer matches the record. Update the record first, then order from it.
Order from your license record rather than from an old drawing, and see the Nebraska engineer stamps and seals when your four lines are settled.
