A South Dakota professional engineer must use a seal, and the statute sizes it by ratio rather than by one fixed number. The outer circle runs from 1 inch to 2 inches across, and the inner circle has to be exactly five-eighths of that outer measurement. Four text lines are required, and the seal, signature and date all have to reproduce legibly. This page takes them in order.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against SDCL 36-18A-44 and the State Board of Technical Professions. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal mandate | Yes. Final work put in front of a client or an agency carries the seal. | SDCL 36-18A-45, 36-18A-71 |
| Wording on the die | Your name as licensee; your license number; South Dakota; plus the title, or the combination of titles, that matches the license held: Land Surveyor, Landscape Architect, Architect or Professional Engineer. | SDCL 36-18A-44 |
| Device types | A rubber stamp, an embossed seal, a computer generated seal, or another facsimile the board finds acceptable. | SDCL 36-18A-44 |
| Circle sizing | Circular. The outer ring measures between 1 and 2 inches across, and the inner ring is exactly five-eighths of whatever outer diameter you choose. | SDCL 36-18A-44 |
| Documents in scope | Final drawings, plans, plats, specifications, reports, land surveys, design information and calculations, in originals as well as copies, tracings, electronic submittals and other reproductions, once the work reaches a client or an agency, public or governmental. | SDCL 36-18A-45, 36-18A-71 |
| Signing and dating | Placement is permissive. The two sit across the seal or beside it, and signing through the die is not required. | SDCL 36-18A-44, 36-18A-45.1 |
| Custody of the seal | The licensee answers for keeping the seal secure and for using it properly. | ARSD 20:38:37:01 |
| Grounds for discipline | Improper use of the seal, or failing to sign and seal final work. | ARSD 20:38:37:01 |
| Electronic use | Permitted. The standard is functional rather than proprietary. | SDCL 36-18A-45(1), 36-18A-45.1 |
| After a lapse | Not addressed. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
To compare South Dakota with every other jurisdiction, see our table of professional engineer seal requirements by state.
Does South Dakota require a seal on engineering work?
Yes. Final work that reaches a client or a public or governmental agency carries the seal, together with the signature and the date. The three travel as a set, and the rules treat the set rather than the stamp alone as the compliance unit.
That framing matters when you buy. A die that produces a crisp seal but sits where a signature cannot cross or sit beside it has solved half the problem. Our South Dakota PE seal guide covers the device end in more detail.
What has to be engraved on the seal?
Four text items. The statute lists them, and there is no discretion about which appear, only about which title a dual-licensed professional shows.
- South Dakota, the state name.
- Your name as licensee.
- Your license number.
- The title, or combination of titles, that matches the license held: Professional Engineer, Land Surveyor, Architect or Landscape Architect.
Someone holding more than one South Dakota license can carry a combination of titles on a single die. Anyone holding one license shows one title. The license number belongs on the artwork, not just on the certificate in your file.
How is the seal sized, and why does the inner circle move?
By a range and a ratio instead of a single dimension. The outer circle may measure anywhere from 1 inch to 2 inches across, and the inner circle then has to be exactly five-eighths of that chosen outer diameter.
The two measurements are locked together, so changing one changes the other. Pick a 2 inch outer ring and the inner ring works out to 1.25 inches. Pick a 1 inch outer ring and the inner ring is 0.625 inches. A concentric blank cut for another state usually holds a different proportion, and the outer dimension can look legal while the inner ring quietly is not.
A die with an outer circle and no inner circle has nothing to measure the ratio against, which is the failure mode worth checking on a proof.
Which devices may a South Dakota licensee use?
Four are named outright, and the board may accept a further facsimile beyond them: a rubber stamp, an embossed seal, a computer generated seal, or another facsimile the board finds acceptable.
A rubber or self-inking die is the practical pick. The seal, the signature and the date have to sit where all three can be reproduced legibly, and one seal has to hold up across originals, copies, tracings and electronic submittals alike. Size it so the inner ring stays crisp at working pressure, and keep an embosser for supplementary use rather than as the impression a reviewer reads.
Where do the signature and the date go?
Placement is permissive. The signature and the date sit across the seal or immediately beside it, so South Dakota does not make you sign through the die the way several neighboring states do.
What the rule does insist on is that all three reproduce legibly. Leave clear space next to the impression on your title block if you plan to sign beside rather than across, and keep the date in the same hand and the same ink as the signature.
Which documents have to be sealed?
Final work, in every form it travels in. That covers drawings, plans, plats, specifications, reports, land surveys, design information and calculations, once they are presented to a client or to a public or governmental agency.
The rule reaches reproductions as well as originals, naming copies, tracings, electronic submittals and other reproductions. A sealed original that gets reissued electronically is still within scope, which is the reason the legibility condition is written the way it is.
What does the rule expect of an electronic seal?
Electronic seals are permitted, and the standard set for them is functional rather than proprietary. The statute describes what the result has to do instead of naming a format or a supplier you have to buy from.
The working consequence is that the same legibility test follows your seal onto an electronic submittal. If you are moving work into electronic delivery, our notes on taking a South Dakota seal electronic are worth reading first.
Who answers if the seal is misused?
The licensee does. Board rule ARSD 20:38:37:01 places responsibility for the security of the seal and for its proper use on the person it was issued to, which is why a shared die is a bad idea in practice.
Two failures are named as grounds for disciplinary action: improper use of the seal, and failing to sign and seal final work. The second catches people who finish a project and leave the last step undone. There is more on staying inside the rules in our summary of South Dakota engineering compliance obligations.
What do the rules say about using a seal after a license lapses?
Nothing. Use after a lapse is not addressed in the sources read for this page, so there is no stated allowance and no stated prohibition to point to.
The provisions that are stated still apply. Sealing final work is the act that certifies it, and the licensee carries responsibility for proper use of the seal, so a die used outside a live license is running against those provisions rather than against a rule written for the situation.
What should you have ready when you order?
Your license certificate, for the name spelling and the license number, plus a decision on which title the die shows if you hold more than one South Dakota license.
Then pick the outer diameter, because that choice sets the inner ring. Anything from 1 to 2 inches is allowed, and a mid-range die is usually easier to land cleanly in a title block. The background on the credential itself is in our piece on how South Dakota engineering certification works.
How do you check a South Dakota impression before it goes on a submittal?
Press a test impression on plain paper and measure both rings. The inner ring should come out at five-eighths of the outer, and both circles should be complete rather than broken at the edges.
Then read the four text items back and copy the sheet. If the inner ring fills in or the license number closes up on the copy, the die is either over-inked or cut too small for the amount of text on it.
Frequently asked questions
What inner diameter does a 2 inch outer circle need?
1.25 inches, since the inner ring is five-eighths of the outer. A 1 inch outer circle works out to 0.625 inches by the same arithmetic.
Can the die have only an outer circle?
No. The sizing rule describes two circles in a fixed relationship, so a single-ring die gives the five-eighths measurement nothing to apply to.
Is an embosser acceptable on its own?
The embossed seal is one of the named devices, so it is not excluded. The condition that governs is legible reproduction across copies and electronic submittals, which an inked impression meets more reliably.
Does the signature have to cross the seal?
No. Across the seal and beside it are both acceptable in South Dakota, provided the seal, signature and date all reproduce legibly.
Do calculations need the seal, or only drawings?
Calculations are named in the same breath as reports, plats, plans, specifications, drawings, land surveys and design information. Once the work is final and presented to a client or an agency, it is in scope.
Does an electronic seal require a particular product?
No product is named. The standard is functional, so what matters is that the electronic result does what the statute describes rather than which tool produced it.
Decide your outer diameter and have the license number and title to hand, then order from our South Dakota stamps and seals collection.
