Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against the District of Columbia Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture and DCMR chapter 17-32 on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
The District of Columbia is one of the few jurisdictions that licenses interior designers, and its seal rule fixes the wording to the letter: the name, the license number, and the words LICENSED INTERIOR DESIGNER-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. DCMR § 17-3214.1 does not say a designer may obtain a seal. It says each licensed interior designer shall procure one. The regulator is the District of Columbia Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture, established by D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.06(a) to regulate architecture, interior design and landscape architecture together.
One part of the rule cannot be read as text, and it matters. After the wording, § 17-3214.1 continues that the seal shall comply in all respects, including size and format, with the specimen shown below. The specimen is a picture printed in the regulation, not a set of numbers, so the District does prescribe a size and format for this profession but does not state them in words. Ask the Board for the specimen before you commit to artwork. This page is a reading of public sources and is not legal advice.
District of Columbia interior designer seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | District of Columbia rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes. Each licensed interior designer shall procure a seal. | DCMR 17-3214.1 |
| Required elements | The name of the licensed interior designer, the license number, and the words LICENSED INTERIOR DESIGNER-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. | DCMR 17-3214.1 |
| Size and shape | Prescribed by a specimen printed in the rule. The seal shall comply in all respects, including size and format, with that specimen, which the rule shows as an image rather than in words. | DCMR 17-3214.1 |
| Device allowed | Not specified. The rule speaks of the printed image of the seal, so it contemplates a reproduced impression rather than a blind emboss. | DCMR 17-3214.6 |
| Signature and date | The name is affixed across the printed image of the seal, by manual or electronic signature, and sealed documents carry the date on which they were sealed. | DCMR 17-3214.6 and 17-3214.2 |
| What must be sealed | Interior design construction documents, including drawings, plans, specifications or reports, filed for public record with any jurisdiction or local building department to obtain a building permit. | DCMR 17-3214.2 |
| Electronic seal | No separate electronic seal standard. The rule allows an electronic signature across the printed image of the seal. | DCMR 17-3214.6; DCMR chapter 17-32 section list |
| Renewal and lapse | Licenses expire 31 October and renew in even numbered years. A revoked or suspended licensee surrenders the seal within thirty days. | DLCP Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture page; DCMR 17-3214.5 |
| Firm requirements | A firm offering interior design services needs a professional design firm license, and only a licensed professional may sign and stamp its design documents. | D.C. Official Code 47-2853.65 |
| Regulator | District of Columbia Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture, within the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. | D.C. Official Code 47-2853.06(a); DLCP board page |
Is a seal required in the District of Columbia?
Yes, and the obligation is unconditional. DCMR § 17-3214.1 says each licensed interior designer shall procure a seal. There is no threshold of project size, no exemption for residential work and no wording that makes it optional until something is filed. The District is unusual in this. Most states do not license interior designers at all, and several of those that do regulate only the title. Here the profession sits in D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.101, which defines the practice of interior design as consultations, preliminary studies, drawings, specifications or related services for the design analysis, programming, space planning or aesthetic planning of building interiors.
What must appear on the seal
Three things, and the third is a fixed string. DCMR § 17-3214.1 requires the name of the licensed interior designer, his or her license number, and the words LICENSED INTERIOR DESIGNER-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. That last element is worth reading character by character before you approve artwork. It is Licensed Interior Designer, not Registered or Certified. It carries District of Columbia in full, not DC. And the regulation prints it as one hyphenated construction, with the hyphen between DESIGNER and DISTRICT rather than a comma or a break.
Size and shape, and the specimen the rule points to
The District does prescribe a size here, and that sets interior designers apart from engineers and land surveyors, whose chapter prescribes none. DCMR § 17-3214.1 continues after the wording to say the seal shall comply in all respects, including size and format, with the specimen shown below. The specimen is an image printed in the regulation. The District publishes DCMR section text as downloadable files and the public text of this section carries the sentence but not the picture, so we will not put a diameter on this page that we have not read. Ask the Board for the specimen, and hold the artwork until you have it.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital file
The rule does not name an instrument, but its language points one way. DCMR § 17-3214.6 speaks of affixing the name across the printed image of the seal, which describes a mark that prints. A blind embosser leaves an impression with no ink, and there is nothing printed to sign across, so an embosser alone is a poor fit for this requirement. An inked stamp gives you an image to sign over on paper. A vector file gives you the same on a PDF. Whichever you use, the geometry in § 17-3214.6 assumes the seal and the signature overlap.
Signing and dating
Two subsections work together. DCMR § 17-3214.6 requires the licensed interior designer, when affixing the seal to plans, drawings, specifications or other instruments of services, to affix his or her name, by manual signature or electronic signature, across the printed image of the seal. DCMR § 17-3214.2 adds the date, requiring documents filed for public record to bear the signature and seal of the licensed interior designer who prepared or approved the document and the date on which they were sealed. So the signature goes across the seal, and the date records when the sealing happened.
Which documents must be sealed
DCMR § 17-3214.2 is specific about the trigger. Any interior design construction documents, including drawings, plans, specifications or reports prepared or issued by the licensed interior designer and being filed for public record with any jurisdiction or local building department for the purposes of obtaining a building permit, shall bear the signature and seal and the date. Two details deserve attention. The rule says any jurisdiction, not only the District, so a District licensee filing elsewhere is still inside its own board’s rule. And it reaches reports and specifications, not only drawings.
Identifying the documents as interior design documents
DCMR § 17-3214.7 adds a labeling duty that has nothing to do with the die and is easy to miss: all plans, drawings, specifications or other instruments of services shall be identified as interior design documents. That is a title block and cover sheet matter rather than a stamp matter, and it exists because a permit reviewer needs to know which discipline is speaking. Some designers solve it with a second, plain text stamp reading Interior Design Documents, which is a convenience rather than a requirement.
Competence and responsible supervisory control
Two prohibitions govern when the seal may go down. DCMR § 17-3214.3 says no licensed interior designer shall affix or permit to be affixed his or her seal or signature to any plan, specification, drawing or other document which depicts work which he or she is not competent to perform. DCMR § 17-3214.4 says no licensee shall affix a signature or seal to any plan, specification or other document not prepared by the licensee or under the licensee’s responsible supervisory control, or prepared by another interior designer and reviewed, approved, or modified and adopted under that control. Competence is a separate test from authorship, and both have to pass.
Electronic signatures
Chapter 17-32 has no separate electronic seal standard. Its section list runs from applicability through definitions with a single seal section, § 17-3214, and no digital signature section of the kind the engineering chapter carries at § 17-1516.10. What the rule does allow is plain: § 17-3214.6 permits the name to be affixed by manual signature or electronic signature across the printed image of the seal. For a PDF set that means a seal image with an electronic signature across it, and the same date requirement as on paper.
Renewal, lapse and surrender
The Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection states that interior design licenses expire on 31 October and renew in even numbered years. The chapter carries the mechanics at § 17-3206 on the term of a license, § 17-3207 on renewal, § 17-3208 on inactive status and § 17-3210 through § 17-3211 on continuing education. There is also a duty most licensees never think about until it applies. DCMR § 17-3214.5 requires a designer whose license has been revoked or suspended to surrender the seal to the secretary of the Board within thirty days of the effective date, with the seal returned at the end of a fixed suspension and not used for any purpose in the meantime.
Firm requirements
The District licenses the practice at the firm level too. D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.65 requires a professional design firm license before any firm, franchise, partnership, association or corporation offers or performs professional design services in the District, and § 47-2853.64 defines those services as architecture, interior design or landscape architecture services. The firm needs at least one partner, officer, shareholder, member or manager licensed and in good standing here, everyone performing the services licensed, and the work under the responsible charge of a licensed supervising professional. The statute also states that no person shall sign and stamp a professional design document on behalf of the firm except a licensed architect, interior designer or landscape architect.
What to check before you order
Read the proof against § 17-3214.1 word by word. The line must read LICENSED INTERIOR DESIGNER-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, with District of Columbia spelled out, with the hyphen the regulation prints, and without Registered, Certified or an added state abbreviation. Your name should match the Board record, and the license number must be present. Then settle the size question before anything is cut: the rule ties size and format to a specimen printed in the regulation, so ask the Board for that specimen rather than assuming a common diameter. Leave the middle of the face clear enough to sign across, because § 17-3214.6 puts your signature over the printed image. For artwork to approve before anything is cut, contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Does the District of Columbia license interior designers?
Yes. Interior Design is a license category issued through the Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture, which D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.06(a) establishes to regulate architecture, interior design and landscape architecture.
Exactly what wording goes on the seal?
DCMR § 17-3214.1 requires the name of the licensed interior designer, the license number, and the words LICENSED INTERIOR DESIGNER-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The regulation prints that phrase with a hyphen between DESIGNER and DISTRICT.
What size must a District interior designer seal be?
The rule says the seal shall comply in all respects, including size and format, with a specimen shown in the regulation. The specimen is an image rather than a stated dimension, and the District publishes section text in a form that does not carry the picture, so ask the Board for the specimen before ordering.
Can I use an embosser?
Nothing forbids one, but DCMR § 17-3214.6 requires your name to be affixed across the printed image of the seal, and a blind emboss prints nothing to sign across. An inked stamp or a seal image fits the rule more naturally.
Where does the signature go?
Across the printed image of the seal, by manual or electronic signature, under DCMR § 17-3214.6. Documents filed for public record also carry the date on which they were sealed, under § 17-3214.2.
Which documents have to be sealed?
Interior design construction documents, including drawings, plans, specifications or reports, that are filed for public record with any jurisdiction or local building department to obtain a building permit. The rule says any jurisdiction, not only the District.
Is there anything else that has to appear on my drawings?
Yes. DCMR § 17-3214.7 requires all plans, drawings, specifications or other instruments of services to be identified as interior design documents.
Does the District have an electronic seal standard for interior designers?
Not a separate one. Chapter 17-32 has a single seal section and no digital signature section of the kind the engineering chapter carries. DCMR § 17-3214.6 allows an electronic signature across the printed image of the seal.
When does my license renew?
The Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection states that interior design licenses expire on 31 October and renew in even numbered years.
What happens to my seal if my license is suspended?
DCMR § 17-3214.5 requires it to be surrendered to the secretary of the Board within thirty days of the effective date, returned at the end of a fixed suspension period, and not used for any purpose in the meantime.
