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 17-19 on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
The District of Columbia licenses landscape architects, and its rules for the profession carry a seal section at DCMR § 17-1911. Licensure arrived with the Regulation of Landscape Architecture and Professional Design Firms Amendment Act of 2016, which added D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.116 through § 47-2853.118 and put the profession under the Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture. The Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection issues Landscape Architect as a license category, and D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.65(c) says no person shall sign and stamp a professional design document on behalf of a professional design firm except an architect, interior designer or landscape architect licensed in the District. The District plainly expects a landscape architect here to have a stamp.
One thing this page will not do is tell you what that stamp must say. The District publishes DCMR section text only as downloadable word processor files, and the public text of § 17-1911 could not be retrieved while this page was written. Rather than guess at an element list or a diameter, we set out what is confirmed from District sources, show what the District requires of the neighboring professions so you know the shape of the question, and tell you exactly what to ask the Board before artwork is cut. This page is a reading of public sources and is not legal advice.
District of Columbia landscape architect seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | District of Columbia rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | The District licenses landscape architects and its rules carry a seal section. DCMR chapter 17-19 includes 17-1911, titled Seals. | DCMR chapter 17-19 section list, dcregs.dc.gov |
| Required elements | Not confirmed here. The element list sits in DCMR 17-1911, whose text the District publishes only as a downloadable file that could not be read. Ask the Board. | DCMR chapter 17-19 section list, dcregs.dc.gov |
| Size and shape | Not confirmed here. No District source that could be read states a size or shape, and none rules one out. | DCMR chapter 17-19 section list, dcregs.dc.gov |
| Device allowed | Not confirmed here. No District source that could be read names an instrument. | DCMR chapter 17-19 section list, dcregs.dc.gov |
| Signature and date | Not confirmed here. D.C. Official Code 47-2853.65(c) speaks of signing and stamping a professional design document. | D.C. Official Code 47-2853.65(c) |
| What must be sealed | Commercial plans filed with the Department of Buildings must bear the seal and signature of a design professional licensed in the District. | DOB ProjectDox Application Prescreening Guide |
| Electronic seal | No separate standard. Chapter 17-19 has one seal section and no digital signature section of the kind the engineering chapter carries. | DCMR chapter 17-19 section list; DCMR 17-1516.10 |
| Renewal and lapse | Licenses expire 30 April and renew in odd numbered years. | DLCP Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture page; DCMR 17-1906 and 17-1907 |
| Firm requirements | A firm offering landscape architecture 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 |
Does the District of Columbia license landscape architects?
Yes, and recently. The Regulation of Landscape Architecture and Professional Design Firms Amendment Act of 2016 added D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.116 on the scope of practice, § 47-2853.117 on eligibility and § 47-2853.118 on prohibited conduct, and created the professional design firm license in the same stroke. Section 47-2853.118 is a hard title and practice bar: unless licensed, no person shall engage directly or indirectly in the practice of landscape architecture in the District or use the title professional landscape architect, landscape architect or registered landscape architect, or display any words, letters, figures, titles, signs, cards, advertisements or other symbols or devices indicating that the person is a landscape architect. The Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture, established by § 47-2853.06(a), holds the profession.
Is a seal required?
The District has a seal rule for the profession. The official contents of DCMR chapter 17-19, Landscape Architects, list fourteen sections running from applicability through definitions, and § 17-1911 is titled Seals. On the statutory side, § 47-2853.65(c) provides that no person shall sign and stamp a professional design document on behalf of a professional design firm except an architect, interior designer or landscape architect licensed in the District, which is the Council writing on the assumption that a landscape architect stamps documents. What the rule requires in detail is set out in § 17-1911, and that is the section we could not read.
What could not be read, and why we are saying so
The District serves DCMR section text as downloadable word processor files rather than as web pages, and the public mirror that does render them was unavailable for this section across many attempts on the day this page was written. Rather than assemble an element list from stamp catalogs or from what other jurisdictions do, we are leaving it out. If you are ordering a District landscape architect seal, the one thing worth doing first is asking the Board for the current text of § 17-1911 and for any specimen it incorporates, because the District does incorporate a specimen by picture in at least one of its design profession seal rules.
What the District requires of the neighboring professions
This is useful context, not a substitute. For engineers and land surveyors, DCMR § 17-1516.4 requires the words District of Columbia, the licensee’s name, the license number, and the words Professional Engineer or Professional Surveyor as appropriate, plus anything else the Board asks for, and prescribes no size or shape at all. For interior designers, who share a board with landscape architects, DCMR § 17-3214.1 requires the name, the license number and the words LICENSED INTERIOR DESIGNER-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, and then ties size and format to a specimen printed in the regulation. Two professions, two very different approaches, which is exactly why guessing at the third would be a bad idea.
Size and shape
Not confirmed. Nothing in the sources that could be read states a diameter or a shape for a District landscape architect seal, and nothing rules one out. Note the split just described: the engineering chapter prescribes no dimension and leaves the die to a reproduction test, while the interior design rule fixes size and format by specimen. A landscape architect ordering a seal here should settle the question with the Board rather than assume the profession follows either neighbor.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital file
Not confirmed as a matter of District rule. What can be said is how District practice runs. The Department of Buildings takes permit submissions through an electronic plan review system, and its prescreening guide requires commercial plans to bear the seal and signature of a design professional licensed in the District. Seals on those sets are reproduced marks rather than blind embossed impressions, because an emboss with no ink does not survive scanning. A vector seal file and an inked stamp cut from the same artwork is the ordinary answer, subject to whatever § 17-1911 says.
Which documents must be sealed
On the permit side the Department of Buildings is explicit: all commercial plans must bear the seal and signature of a design professional licensed in the District, all residential structural plans must bear the seal and signature of a professional engineer licensed in the District, and new residential buildings require all plans to bear the seal and signature of a District licensed professional. Landscape work that reaches a permit set therefore sits under the general design professional requirement. The statutory scope at § 47-2853.116(a) covers consultation, evaluation, planning and the preparation of studies, designs, specifications and other technical submissions for the development of land areas, and expressly excludes land surveys and official plats.
Signing and dating
Not confirmed as a matter of rule detail. The statute at § 47-2853.65(c) uses the phrase sign and stamp, which pairs a signature with the seal, and the Department of Buildings asks for the seal and signature of a licensed design professional on commercial plans. Whether the District prescribes where the signature falls relative to the seal, and whether a date is required on the face or alongside, is a question for § 17-1911. Both neighboring professions do prescribe a geometry, so expect one and ask.
Electronic and digital seals
There is no separate electronic seal standard for landscape architects. The official contents of chapter 17-19 show a single seal section and nothing resembling the digital signature section the engineering chapter carries at § 17-1516.10, which requires an authentication procedure with a unique signature, source verification, sole control and invalidation on change, plus a list of the hardware, software and parameters used. Whether § 17-1911 addresses electronic signatures in its own terms, as the interior design rule does at § 17-3214.6, is one more thing to confirm with the Board.
Renewal and lapse
The Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection states that landscape architect licenses expire on 30 April and renew in odd numbered years, which puts the profession on a different cycle from the architects who share its board and renew on 30 April every two years, and from the interior designers who renew on 31 October in even numbered years. The chapter carries the machinery at § 17-1905 on issuance and display of a license, § 17-1906 on the term, and § 17-1907 and § 17-1908 on continuing education. A license number on the die survives an ordinary renewal, so renewal by itself is not a reason to reorder.
Firm requirements
This is the part of the 2016 act that catches firms out. 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 provided in the District. The firm needs at least one partner, officer, shareholder, member or manager licensed and in good standing here, every member performing the services licensed, and the work under the responsible charge of a licensed supervising professional. Section 47-2853.65(c) then reserves the stamp: no person shall sign and stamp a professional design document on behalf of the firm except an architect, interior designer or landscape architect licensed in the District.
What to check before you order
Ask the Board for two things: the current text of DCMR § 17-1911 and any specimen seal it incorporates. With those in hand, check the proof for the exact title wording the rule uses, for your name as the Board licensed it, and for the license number. Watch the title language in particular, because § 47-2853.118 protects three separate forms, professional landscape architect, landscape architect and registered landscape architect, and a die should carry the one the seal rule specifies rather than whichever reads best. Leave clear space for a signature until you know where the rule puts it. If you want artwork drawn to the Board’s specimen and a proof to approve before anything is cut, contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Does the District of Columbia license landscape architects?
Yes. Landscape Architect is a license category issued through the Board of Architecture, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture. Licensure came with the Regulation of Landscape Architecture and Professional Design Firms Amendment Act of 2016, which added D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.116 through § 47-2853.118.
Is a seal required for a District landscape architect?
The District has a seal rule for the profession at DCMR § 17-1911, within chapter 17-19. The detail of that section could not be retrieved from a District source while this page was written, so we are not stating what it requires. The Board is the place to get the current text.
What must appear on the seal?
Not confirmed here. The element list is in § 17-1911. For comparison, engineers and land surveyors must show District of Columbia, name, license number and the words Professional Engineer or Professional Surveyor, and interior designers must show name, license number and LICENSED INTERIOR DESIGNER-DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
What size should a District landscape architect seal be?
Not confirmed. The two comparable District rules take opposite approaches: the engineering chapter prescribes no size, and the interior design rule ties size and format to a specimen printed in the regulation. Ask the Board which applies here before artwork is cut.
Can a landscape architect stamp documents on behalf of a firm?
Yes, if licensed here. D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.65(c) provides that no person shall sign and stamp a professional design document on behalf of a professional design firm except an architect, interior designer or landscape architect licensed in the District.
Does my firm need its own District license?
Yes, if it offers or performs landscape architecture services in the District. D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.65 requires a professional design firm license, with a licensed principal, licensed practitioners and a licensed supervising professional in responsible charge.
Can I call myself a landscape architect in the District without a license?
No. D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.118 bars the unlicensed from practicing and from using the titles professional landscape architect, landscape architect or registered landscape architect, or any symbol or device indicating that status.
Does landscape architecture include surveying or plats here?
No. D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.116(a) describes the practice as consultation, evaluation, planning and the preparation of studies, designs, specifications and other technical submissions for the development of land areas, and expressly excludes land surveys and official plats.
When does a District landscape architect license renew?
The Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection states that landscape architect licenses expire on 30 April and renew in odd numbered years.
Does the District have an electronic seal standard for landscape architects?
Not a separate one. The official contents of chapter 17-19 show a single seal section and no digital signature section of the kind the engineering chapter carries at § 17-1516.10. Whether § 17-1911 addresses electronic signatures itself is a question for the Board.
