An Oregon seal measures two inches at the smallest, and it carries your date of registration on its face. Your printed name has to match the Board's file exactly, alongside your certificate of registration number and your professional title. The expiration or renewal date is the one optional element. This page covers the face, the size, the signing rule and the electronic route.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against Or. Admin. R. 820-025-0005(1), (2) and the State Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| When the seal is used | On every final document a registrant issues. | OAR 820-025-0015, 820-025-0025 |
| Required text | Four items: your printed name exactly as the Board's file carries it, your date of registration, your certificate of registration number, and your professional title. | OAR 820-025-0005(1), (2) |
| Optional text | The expiration or renewal date may be included. | OAR 820-025-0005(1), (2) |
| Minimum size | Two inches at the smallest, measured point to point. | OAR 820-025-0005(2) |
| Shape | Not stated in the cited rules. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Devices allowed | Two: a rubber stamp applied to the document, or a seal generated by computer onto it. | OAR 820-025-0005(2), (3) |
| Signature | Mandatory across the seal. The registrant signs through its middle, or at the point marked for a signature, by hand and in permanent ink. | OAR 820-025-0005(4), (5) |
| Documents covered | Plans and drawings, designs and specifications, reports, narratives and maps, tied by OAR 820-025-0015(1) to the lists in the registration statutes. | OAR 820-025-0015, 820-025-0025 |
| Electronic seals | Permitted, and the rules name the technology rather than leaving it open. | OAR 820-025-0001, 820-025-0010 |
| Use once registration lapses | Prohibited. A registrant who is delinquent, retired, inactive, suspended or revoked has no authority to practice, and apart from one narrow exception may not hold out under the protected titles. | OAR 820-010-0505, 820-010-0520 |
For the same rule in the other 53 jurisdictions, read professional engineer seal requirements by state.
When must an Oregon document carry the seal?
On every final document a registrant issues. The duty is tied to the document reaching final status rather than to any particular recipient, which makes the definition of final the part worth reading closely.
Anything leaving your hands for a client, a customer or a public body should be treated as final unless it is clearly marked otherwise. The rules for using an Oregon engineer stamp work through that distinction.
What has to appear on the face of the seal?
Four items, and one of them is unusual enough that generic artwork rarely has room for it.
- Your professional title
- Your certificate of registration number
- Your date of registration
- Your printed name, exactly as the Board's file carries it
The date of registration is the one that catches people out, because it is the date you were registered rather than any renewal or expiration date. A template built for another state usually has no field for it. What the Oregon engineering seal stands for covers the background to those elements.
Is the expiration date required on the face?
No. The expiration or renewal date is the optional element, which means you can carry it on the seal or leave it off. Leaving it off is the more common choice, since a printed expiration date goes stale at every renewal.
Treat that as a design decision with a consequence attached. A seal without the date is durable across terms; a seal carrying it has to be reordered when the term turns over.
How large does the seal have to be?
Two inches at the smallest, measured point to point. That is a floor rather than a target, and it is one of the larger minimums in the country, so a die bought for a neighboring state will usually be undersized here.
Size it for the title block before the sheet layout is fixed. Two inches is a lot of space to find late in a drawing set, and the seal also has to leave room for a handwritten signature across it.
Does the rule set a shape?
No shape is stated in the cited rules. What is stated is the minimum measurement from point to point, which is the phrasing the rule uses and which is why the outline itself is left open.
Which devices may apply the seal?
Two. A rubber stamp can be applied to the document, or the seal can be generated by computer onto it. Both are named in the rule as ways of placing the impression.
A two inch rubber stamp is the straightforward buy for paper work, with a matching computer generated image for files issued electronically. The Oregon PE stamp requirements and guidelines cover how the two formats are usually kept in step.
How is an Oregon sealed document signed?
Across the seal, and that is mandatory rather than customary. The registrant signs through the middle of the impression, or at the point on it marked for a signature, by hand and in permanent ink.
Two things follow for the artwork. The face needs a clear signature path through the middle, and the ink used has to be permanent rather than whatever is nearest. A seal crowded edge to edge with text leaves no room for the signature the rule requires.
Which documents count as final?
OAR 820-025-0015(1) ties the answer to the lists in the registration statutes at ORS 672.020(2), 672.025(2) and 672.028(2). The categories named there are broad.
- Plans and drawings
- Designs and specifications
- Reports and narratives
- Maps
The list is about the kind of work rather than the medium it is delivered in, so a file and a printed sheet are treated the same way.
Are electronic seals allowed in Oregon?
Yes, and Oregon is more specific than most states about how. The rules name the technology at OAR 820-025-0001 and 820-025-0010 rather than leaving the method open to the registrant.
Read those two provisions before issuing anything electronically, because an image of a stamped sheet is not automatically the same thing as an electronically sealed document under rules written this way.
Can the seal be used if registration lapses?
No. A registrant who is delinquent, retired, inactive, suspended or revoked has no authority to practice, and apart from one narrow exception may not hold out under the protected titles. OAR 820-010-0505 and 820-010-0520 are the provisions on point.
That makes Oregon clearer than states that stay silent here. If the credential is not current, the seal stays in the drawer. A fuller handbook to Oregon PE stamp regulations covers the status categories.
What should I supply when ordering, and how do I check the result?
Four lines, taken from your Board record rather than from an old drawing, and a decision on the optional date.
- Your professional title
- Your certificate of registration number
- Your date of registration
- Your printed name exactly as the Board's file shows it
- Whether to include the expiration or renewal date
When the die arrives, stamp a sheet, measure the impression point to point, and confirm it clears two inches on paper rather than on the proof. Then sign through it in permanent ink to check the signature path actually works. Why the Oregon professional engineer stamp carries weight covers what that impression certifies.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 1 5/8 inch seal acceptable in Oregon?
No. The rule sets two inches as the minimum, measured point to point, so a smaller die falls short of the floor whatever the artwork on it says.
Which date goes on the face, registration or expiration?
The date of registration is the required one. The expiration or renewal date is optional, so the two are not interchangeable and a seal carrying only an expiration date is missing a required element.
Does my name have to match the Board's file exactly?
Yes. The printed name is tied to the name on file, so a middle initial the Board never recorded, or a change of name that was never filed, gives you a die that will not line up with the register.
Can I sign beside the seal instead of through it?
The rule puts the signature through the middle of the seal, or at the place on it marked for a signature. Signing beside the impression is not one of the positions the rule describes.
Can I print the signature rather than write it?
The requirement is handwriting in permanent ink. A printed reproduction of a signature is not what the rule asks for on a physically sealed document.
Does a computer generated seal have to meet the same size?
The measurement rule is written around the seal rather than the device, so plan on the same two inches when the page is printed at full size.
Order from your Board record with the registration date to hand, and see the Oregon engineer stamps and seals built to the two inch minimum.
