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 Guam Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors and 22 GCA § 32116(d), (d)(9)(A) on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
The seal may be electronic on Guam. The signature may not. 22 GCA § 32116(d) separates the three things that go on a document and answers them differently. The seal is defined generously as “an image, imprint or other medium approved by the Board,” with the single condition that “Seals must be a permanent mark on the document being sealed.” The signature and date are strict: “A facsimile signature will not be acceptable. Computer-generated signatures and dates are not acceptable.”
There is a third element most jurisdictions do not ask for at all. The same subsection requires that “The registrant’s written signature, and date shall be signed adjacent to the seal with the statement ‘This work was prepared by me or under my responsible control’.” All three travel together or none of them does.
Sourcing is thinner here than for a US state, so ask the Board for the authorized design before ordering anything. The statute requires a seal “of a design authorized by the Board” and states no diameter anywhere in 22 GCA ch. 32, and the Board’s specimen seal images carry no text layer.
Guam architect seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Guam rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | 22 GCA § 32116(d), (d)(9)(A) |
| Required elements | Your name as registered, Your registration number, Your professional designation and The design authorized by the Board | 22 GCA § 32116(d) |
| Size and shape | No size is stated. 22 GCA ch. 32 gives no diameter, shape or lettering height for any of the professions it registers. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) (no dimension) |
| Device allowed | The statute defines the instrument functionally and generously: “The seal shall be an image, imprint or other medium approved by the Board,” with the condition that “Seals must be a permanent mark on the document being sealed.” So an inked stamp, an embossed impression and an electronic image are all capable of qualifying, subject to Board approval, and the operative test is permanence of the mark. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) |
| Signature and date | Guam requires a written signature, a date and a certification sentence, adjacent to the seal. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) |
| What must be sealed | All technical submissions, such as drawings, specifications, plans, reports or other documents, prepared by the registered architect or under the architect’s responsible control. | 22 GCA § 32116(d)(9)(A), (B), (C) |
| Electronic seal | Guam permits a Board-approved electronic seal image and refuses an electronic signature. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) |
| Renewal and lapse | Not addressed in readable form. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) |
| Firm requirements | Not addressed in the seal provision. | 22 GCA § 32116(d) (no firm seal provision) |
| Regulator | The Guam Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors | 22 GCA (Business Regulations) ch. 32, The Professional Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors Law, §§ 32103 and 32116(d) including paragraphs (d)(9) and (d)(10), read from the PDF published by the Guam Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors at guam-peals.org |
Is a seal required in Guam?
One statute carries the whole regime. 22 GCA § 32116(d)(9)(A): “All technical submissions, such as, drawings, specifications, plans, reports or other documents, prepared by a registered architect or under his responsible control shall bear his seal, which shall mean that the architect was in responsible control over the content of such technical submissions during their preparation, and has applied the required professional standard of care.” The general seal provision at § 32116(d) requires each registrant to obtain a seal of a design authorized by the Board.
What must appear on the seal
- Your name as registered
- Your registration number
- Your professional designation
- The design authorized by the Board
The general provision requires a seal “of a design authorized by the Board, bearing the registrant’s name, registration number, and the designation,” and the section also speaks of the professional title and an expiration date. Read the expiration-date and discipline elements with care: § 32116(d) is a single shared section and those elements are written for professional engineers, whose discipline and certificate expiry the section addresses directly. Subsection (d)(9) is the architect-specific paragraph and it prescribes no separate element list of its own. Not verified: whether the Board’s authorized architect design carries an expiration date. Ask the Board for the authorized design before ordering.
Size and shape
No size is stated. 22 GCA ch. 32 gives no diameter, shape or lettering height for any of the professions it registers. The sources here are § 32116(d) and its numbered paragraphs, including (d)(9) and (d)(10), and checked the definitions at § 32103. The dimension, if any, would come from the Board’s authorized design and from 25 GAR ch. 1. Sourcing on Guam is thinner than for a US state and the Board’s specimen seal images carry no text layer, so no figure is reported here.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
The statute defines the instrument functionally and generously: “The seal shall be an image, imprint or other medium approved by the Board,” with the condition that “Seals must be a permanent mark on the document being sealed.” So an inked stamp, an embossed impression and an electronic image are all capable of qualifying, subject to Board approval, and the operative test is permanence of the mark. Note that the generosity stops at the seal: the same subsection bars facsimile and computer-generated signatures.
Signing and dating
Guam requires a written signature, a date and a certification sentence, adjacent to the seal. Section 32116(d): “The registrant’s written signature, and date shall be signed adjacent to the seal with the statement ‘This work was prepared by me or under my responsible control’.” Then the prohibition: “A facsimile signature will not be acceptable. Computer-generated signatures and dates are not acceptable.” Read those two sentences precisely. They govern the signature and the date, not the seal, which the same subsection expressly allows to be an image, imprint or other medium. So a Board-approved electronic seal image may sit on a Guam document that must still be signed and dated by hand.
The seal may be electronic, the signature may not, and a one-line certification goes next to both
22 GCA § 32116(d) separates the three things that go on a Guam document and answers them differently. The seal is generous: “an image, imprint or other medium approved by the Board,” provided it leaves a permanent mark. The signature and date are strict: “A facsimile signature will not be acceptable. Computer-generated signatures and dates are not acceptable.” And there is a third element most jurisdictions do not require at all, a certification sentence written into the statute: the signature and date go adjacent to the seal “with the statement ‘This work was prepared by me or under my responsible control’.” All three or none.
Which documents must be sealed
All technical submissions, such as drawings, specifications, plans, reports or other documents, prepared by the registered architect or under the architect’s responsible control. Section 32116(d)(9)(A) limits who may seal: an architect may sign and seal technical submissions only if they were prepared by the architect, or prepared by persons under the architect’s responsible control. Subsection (d)(9)(B) then carves out residential scale: for a document involving an individual single family dwelling, the seal of either an architect or a professional engineer of the civil engineering branch is sufficient, and for two family dwellings or a subdivision development with single and two family dwellings, the seal of a civil engineer is sufficient. Subsection (d)(9)(C) preserves the need for an engineer’s seal of the appropriate branch for each portion involving a separate branch of engineering.
Electronic and digital seals
Guam permits a Board-approved electronic seal image and refuses an electronic signature. Section 32116(d) allows the seal to be “an image, imprint or other medium approved by the Board” and then provides that computer-generated signatures and dates are not acceptable and that a facsimile signature will not be acceptable. The statute names no certificate authority, no cryptographic standard and no verification procedure, because it does not contemplate an electronic signature at all. A fully electronic sealed and signed Guam submission is therefore not available under the statute as written.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
Not addressed in readable form. Section 32116(d) speaks of an expiration date as an element of the seal, which implies the device tracks the certificate, but the chapter does not say what becomes of the seal on expiration, suspension or revocation, and does not say whether a registration number is reissued. The sources here are § 32116(d) and its numbered paragraphs. The Board’s rules at 25 GAR ch. 1 are the other primary text and posted draft amendments are not law.
Firm requirements
Not addressed in the seal provision. Section 32116(d) prescribes no firm seal and no firm number on the face of a document; the individual registrant’s seal, signature, date and certification sentence are what the statute requires. Entity practice on Guam is governed elsewhere in 22 GCA ch. 32 and in 25 GAR ch. 1.
What to check before you order
Ask the Guam Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors for the authorized seal design before ordering: the statute requires a seal of a design authorized by the Board and publishes no diameter. The face carries your name as registered, your registration number and your professional designation. The seal may be an image, an imprint or another medium the Board approves, provided it leaves a permanent mark, so an inked stamp, an embossed impression or an approved electronic image can all work. What cannot be electronic is the signature: facsimile signatures and computer-generated signatures and dates are not acceptable. Sign and date by hand adjacent to the seal and write the statutory sentence, This work was prepared by me or under my responsible control.
Browse architect stamps and seals.
Frequently asked questions
Is an architect seal required on Guam?
Yes. 22 GCA § 32116(d)(9)(A) provides that “All technical submissions, such as, drawings, specifications, plans, reports or other documents, prepared by a registered architect or under his responsible control shall bear his seal, which shall mean that the architect was in responsible control over the content of such technical submissions during their preparation, and has applied the required professional standard of care.” The general provision at § 32116(d) requires each registrant to obtain a seal of a design authorized by the Board.
What has to appear on a Guam architect seal?
Your name as registered, your registration number and your professional designation, in the design the Board authorizes. Section 32116(d) also mentions a professional title and an expiration date, but read those with care: it is a single shared section and those elements are written for professional engineers, whose discipline and certificate expiry the section addresses directly. Subsection (d)(9) is the architect paragraph and prescribes no separate element list. Whether the Board’s authorized architect design carries an expiration date is not something the published text settles, so ask the Board.
What size is a Guam architect seal?
No size is stated. 22 GCA ch. 32 gives no diameter, shape or lettering height for any of the professions it registers, including at § 32116(d) with its numbered paragraphs and the definitions at § 32103. Any dimension would come from the Board’s authorized design and from 25 GAR ch. 1. The Board’s published specimen seal images carry no text layer, so no figure can be reported here.
Can I use a rubber stamp or an embosser on Guam?
Either, and an electronic image too, subject to Board approval. The statute defines the instrument functionally: “The seal shall be an image, imprint or other medium approved by the Board,” and the operative test is that the mark be permanent on the document being sealed. The generosity stops at the seal, because the same subsection bars facsimile and computer-generated signatures.
What has to be written next to a Guam seal?
Your written signature, the date, and the sentence the statute prints: “This work was prepared by me or under my responsible control.” All three go adjacent to the seal under § 32116(d). Very few jurisdictions require a certification sentence in the statute itself.
Can a Guam submission be fully electronic?
Not under the statute as written. Section 32116(d) allows a Board-approved electronic seal image, and then provides that computer-generated signatures and dates are not acceptable and that a facsimile signature will not be acceptable. It names no certificate authority, no cryptographic standard and no verification procedure, because it does not contemplate an electronic signature at all. So a Board-approved electronic seal image may sit on a document that still has to be signed and dated by hand.
Which documents have to be sealed on Guam?
All technical submissions, such as drawings, specifications, plans, reports or other documents, prepared by the registered architect or under the architect’s responsible control. Subsection (d)(9)(A) limits who may seal: an architect may sign and seal technical submissions only if they were prepared by the architect or by persons under the architect’s responsible control.
Does a single family house on Guam need an architect seal?
Not necessarily. Subsection (d)(9)(B) carves out residential scale in a way that is unusual in scope: for a document involving an individual single family dwelling, the seal of either an architect or a professional engineer of the civil engineering branch is sufficient, and for two family dwellings or a subdivision development with single and two family dwellings, the seal of a civil engineer is sufficient. Subsection (d)(9)(C) preserves the need for an engineer’s seal of the appropriate branch for each portion involving a separate branch of engineering.
What happens to my Guam seal if my registration expires?
Section 32116(d) speaks of an expiration date as an element of the seal, which implies the device tracks the certificate, but the chapter does not say what becomes of the seal on expiration, suspension or revocation, and does not say whether a registration number is reissued. The Board’s rules at 25 GAR ch. 1 are the other primary text, and posted draft amendments are not law.
Does a Guam firm get its own seal?
Section 32116(d) prescribes no firm seal and no firm number on the face of a document. What the statute requires is the individual registrant’s seal, signature, date and certification sentence. Entity practice on Guam is governed elsewhere in 22 GCA ch. 32 and in 25 GAR ch. 1.
