Every map, plat or survey that a U.S. Virgin Islands land surveyor prepares and issues for filing with public authorities must be signed and stamped with a seal bearing the surveyor's name and the legend Land Surveyor, in the design the Board authorizes. Chapter 8 sets no size, shape or license number. Civil engineering graduates also fall within surveying practice. Below: wording, plats, devices, lapse, residency and ordering details.
Engineer Seal Stamps compliance desk. Checked against 27 V.I.C. § 286 and the Virgin Islands Board of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors. Sources read September 2026.
| Requirement | What the rule says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Legend | Land Surveyor, together with your name. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| Board design | Required. None is published, and no rulebook from the Board could be located. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b); no board rules located |
| Device choice | Chapter 8 names none; documents are simply stamped. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| What gets sealed | Maps, plats, surveys and other documents you prepare, when you file them with a public authority. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| License number or date | Neither is prescribed, and neither is the territory name. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| Size | No diameter or shape is prescribed. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b); no board rules located |
| Date on the sheet | No dating rule in chapter 8. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| Survey standards and plat wording | None in chapter 8: no monumentation rule, plat note or certificate language. | Not addressed in the cited rules |
| Electronic plats | Each agency decides what electronic records and signatures it accepts. | 11 V.I.C. §§ 107, 118 |
| Term and residency | Valid one year, on DLCA's September 1 to August 31 cycle; leaving the Virgin Islands invalidates it. | 27 V.I.C. § 287(a), (b); DLCA requirements page |
To compare the U.S. Virgin Islands with every other jurisdiction, see our table of land surveyor seal requirements by state. Before any of this applies you need the USVI license itself; how to become a licensed land surveyor covers the routes, the FS and PS exams and any state exam.
What does the seal have to show?
Two things: your name, and Land Surveyor as the legend, laid out in the design the Board authorizes. Section 286(b) lists nothing beyond those two items, so a license number, territory name or expiration date is not prescribed.
Neither Professional Land Surveyor nor Registered Land Surveyor appears in chapter 8 as a legend. A layout built around PLS initials would add wording the statute does not call for.
Which surveying documents need the seal?
Maps, plats and surveys you prepare, along with plans, specifications, reports and other documents of yours, whenever they are issued for filing with public authorities. Section 286(b) makes filing the trigger, and each document is signed as well as stamped.
Chapter 8 contains no dating rule, so a date next to your signature is up to you.
Does chapter 8 set survey standards or plat wording?
No. Chapter 8 is silent on how a survey is performed and what a plat must say: it has no technical minimums, no monumentation rule, no mandatory plat note and no set certificate language. No Board rules filling those gaps were located.
The territory's recording statutes are a separate body of law and were not reviewed for this page, so any recording office requirements for a plat are outside what is stated here.
What size, shape and device should the seal be?
Chapter 8 does not say. It sets no diameter, no shape and no device rule; § 286(b) says documents are stamped with the seal but neither demands an embosser nor excludes one, and no Board design was found.
Until the Board's design says otherwise, any size or device you choose is your own decision rather than a statutory requirement.
Where do civil engineers fit into Virgin Islands surveying?
Inside it. Section 282(f) places every graduate civil engineer of a recognized college or university within land surveying practice, and § 291(7) also saves surveying work that an engineer does incidental to engineering. A plat may therefore carry an Engineer legend.
The engineer's seal follows its own license, as our Virgin Islands engineer seal rules explain. For architects, § 291(6) preserves land surveying an architect does incidental to architecture; see our Virgin Islands architect seal rules.
Can a plat be sealed digitally?
It depends on the agency taking the plat. The territory's electronic transactions act, 11 V.I.C. §§ 107, 118, gives electronic records and signatures legal effect but lets each agency choose whether to accept them and in what form. No Board standard could be found.
Confirm the file and signature format with the receiving office before you send a digitally sealed plat.
When must you stop using the seal?
Once your license expires. Section 286(b) bars a licensee from affixing the seal after expiration or letting someone else affix it, and the license itself lasts one year. DLCA, the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, dates permanent licenses from September 1 to August 31.
The Board's secretary is to notify you of the expiration date at least a month in advance. Chapter 8 attaches no continuing education requirement to renewal.
Does leaving the territory affect your license?
Yes. Departure alone voids it: § 287(b) makes the license invalid automatically once you leave the Virgin Islands. To restore it you provide an affidavit, sworn before an authorized official, stating that you live in the territory again.
Plan any extended work off island with that rule in mind.
How do land surveying firms practice?
Through licensed, personally liable individuals rather than a firm certificate. Chapter 8 creates no certificate of authorization, and § 291(4) permits practice through a partnership or corporation when each person working on its behalf holds a license and bears personal liability.
DLCA's Land Surveying Firm license is a separate credential, and 27 V.I.C. §§ 301 and 302 add a business license on top.
What should you have ready before ordering?
Your name as licensed, the legend Land Surveyor, and the Board's authorized design, obtained in writing. Chapter 8 supplies the first two; the design, and any size or device it specifies, can only come from the Board.
The land surveyor seals we show are made to the specification you supply, and we hold no Board-approved Virgin Islands design. When your seal arrives, stamp a test sheet and check the name and legend against your license before it touches a plat.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as land surveying under chapter 8?
Section 282(h) covers describing and determining areas for conveyance; fixing corners, lines, boundaries and monuments; and platting land and subdivisions, which reaches topography, grading, drainage and utility extensions, plus the associated records.
Must a land surveyor be a U.S. citizen?
Yes. Under § 283 an applicant must be a U.S. citizen, at least twenty-one years old, and a Virgin Islands resident for the year before applying.
Can I call myself a land surveyor without a Virgin Islands license?
No. Section 289 makes it a misdemeanor to use a title suggesting you are licensed in the territory when you are not. The same section covers practicing land surveying unlicensed, using another person's license or seal, and using an expired, suspended or revoked license.
Has the Board issued its own rules for land surveyors?
None could be located, and whether the Board has promulgated rules at all is unconfirmed. That is why the seal design and any device preference remain open questions for the Board to answer.
Which board licenses land surveyors, and does it cover notaries?
The Virgin Islands Board of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors, which 27 V.I.C. § 282a reestablished within DLCA, licenses land surveyors along with architects and engineers. Notaries are outside its remit; see our U.S. Virgin Islands notary stamp rules.
When the Board's design is confirmed, choose your device from our land surveyor stamps and seals and send the design with your order.
