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 Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, advised by the Landscape Architecture Board and 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
Landscape architecture is the one Illinois design profession whose rule does not require a license expiration date beside the seal. The architect statute requires it, and so do the professional engineer, structural engineer, land surveyor and registered interior designer rules. 68 Illinois Administrative Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A requires your name, your registration number and the words Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois, and then requires only that “A landscape architect’s registration must be in full force and effect in order to seal documents.” No expiration line, and no date block that goes stale every cycle.
The legend is Registered, not Licensed. Illinois registers landscape architects and licenses architects, so the two rings read Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois and Licensed Architect, State of Illinois. A template that defaults to the architect wording produces a device that matches no Illinois credential.
The rule lives in an odd place and was recently rewritten. There is no numbered seal section in Part 1275: the requirement sits in a section called ILLUSTRATION A, whose subsection (a) states the mandatory lettering and whose subsection (b) calls the printed artwork “a suggested facsimile of the design and lettering of the seal.” The words bind; the picture is guidance. The section was amended effective June 5, 2025 at 49 Ill. Reg. 8323, so older artwork should be rechecked.
Illinois landscape architect seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Illinois rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) |
| Required elements | Your name as registered, Your registration number and The words Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) |
| Size and shape | Not addressed. Section 1275.ILLUSTRATION A prescribes content and calls its figure a suggested facsimile, with no dimension attached. Checked the whole of Part 1275, whose sections run from 1275.10 to 1275.90 plus. | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A (silent) |
| Device allowed | A reproducible seal or facsimile, applied physically or electronically. | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) |
| Signature and date | Registration must be live at the moment of sealing, and the rule says so directly: “A landscape architect’s registration must be in full force and effect in order to seal documents.” The seal, signature and dates may be electronically affixed. | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) |
| What must be sealed | Plans, specifications and reports related to landscape architectural practice, prepared by the registered landscape architect or under that person’s supervision, stamped with the seal when filed. | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) |
| Electronic seal | Permitted in a single clause, with no named technology. | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) |
| Renewal and lapse | Every registration issued under the Landscape Architecture Registration Act expires on August 31 of odd numbered years, renewable during the month preceding its expiration date. | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.70(a), 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) |
| Firm requirements | Not addressed in the seal section. | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) |
| Regulator | The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, advised by the Landscape Architecture Board | Landscape Architecture Registration Act, 225 ILCS 316 |
Is a seal required in Illinois?
The seal rule for Illinois landscape architects sits in an illustration section rather than a numbered rule. 68 Illinois Administrative Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) provides that “Every registered landscape architect shall have a reproducible seal, or facsimile, the impression of which shall contain the name of the landscape architect, the registration number, and words ‘Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois’,” and then fixes the trigger: “Plans, specifications and reports related to landscape architectural practice and prepared by the registered landscape architect, or under the registered landscape architect’s supervision, shall be stamped with the seal when filed.” The section was amended effective June 5, 2025 at 49 Ill. Reg. 8323, so guidance older than that may be stale.
What must appear on the seal
- Your name as registered
- Your registration number
- The words Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois
Three elements and nothing else. The rule does not add a place of business, as the Illinois land surveyor rule does, and it does not require a license expiration date beside the impression, as the Illinois architect, engineer, land surveyor and interior designer rules do. Subsection (b) provides that “The following is a suggested facsimile of the design and lettering of the seal,” which makes the printed artwork guidance while the three lettering elements in subsection (a) are mandatory. A firm name does not belong inside the impression.
Size and shape
Not addressed. Section 1275.ILLUSTRATION A prescribes content and calls its figure a suggested facsimile, with no dimension attached. Checked the whole of Part 1275, whose sections run from 1275.10 to 1275.90 plus Illustration A, and none states a diameter. Among the Illinois design professions only geologists have a prescribed size, one and three quarter inches, at 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1252.APPENDIX A.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
A reproducible seal or facsimile, applied physically or electronically. Subsection (a) requires the seal to be reproducible, which means the impression must survive copying and a dry embosser alone is not a safe device, and it closes with a sentence that covers the whole marking: “The seal, signature and dates may be electronically affixed.” The safe buy is an inked rubber or self inking stamp.
Signing and dating
Registration must be live at the moment of sealing, and the rule says so directly: “A landscape architect’s registration must be in full force and effect in order to seal documents.” The seal, signature and dates may be electronically affixed. What the section does not do is require the date of registration expiration to be placed adjacent to the seal, which is the striking difference from the Illinois architect, professional engineer, structural engineer, land surveyor and registered interior designer rules, every one of which does require it. No rule directs the signature to cross the impression.
The one Illinois design seal that needs no expiration date
Illinois is famous among stamp buyers for putting a license expiration date on the face of sealed work. The architect statute requires it, and so do the professional engineer, structural engineer, land surveyor and registered interior designer rules. Landscape architecture is the exception. 68 Illinois Administrative Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A requires the name, the registration number and the words Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois, and then requires only that the registration be in full force and effect at the moment of sealing. No expiration line, and therefore no date block that goes stale every cycle.
Which documents must be sealed
Plans, specifications and reports related to landscape architectural practice, prepared by the registered landscape architect or under that person’s supervision, stamped with the seal when filed. There is no preliminary or draft carve out and no sheet by sheet schedule in the section; the duty attaches to the material when it is filed.
Electronic and digital seals
Permitted in a single clause, with no named technology. Subsection (a) states that the seal, signature and dates may be electronically affixed, and Part 1275 names no certificate authority, no hash standard, no verification test and no product. That places Illinois landscape architecture at the permissive end of this group, alongside the Illinois architect and land surveyor rules and a long way from Florida, which requires a FIPS 180-4 message digest, or Pennsylvania, which requires a digital seal invalidated by any change to the document.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
Every registration issued under the Landscape Architecture Registration Act expires on August 31 of odd numbered years, renewable during the month preceding its expiration date. Because Illustration A does not require the expiration date beside the seal, the device itself is unaffected by the renewal cycle and, unlike the Illinois architect and land surveyor products, needs no separate expiration line. What the rule does require is that the registration be in full force and effect at the moment of sealing. The registration number does not change on renewal, and nothing in Part 1275 requires surrender or destruction of the seal.
Firm requirements
Not addressed in the seal section. Illustration A contains no firm clause, in contrast with the Illinois architect statute at 225 ILCS 305/14 and the land surveyor rule at 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1270.58(c), both of which require the corporate or assumed business name and the design firm registration number on technical submissions. Checked the whole of Part 1275 and Illustration A. Whatever firm obligations apply to an Illinois landscape architecture practice, the seal itself carries only the individual’s name, number and legend.
What to check before you order
Letter the ring exactly: Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois. Inside, put your name as registered and your registration number, and nothing else. Illinois does not require your registration expiration date beside a landscape architect seal, so you do not need the extra date line that Illinois architects, engineers and land surveyors carry, and you should not engrave one. Choose a reproducible inked stamp rather than a dry embosser, since the rule requires a reproducible impression. The seal, your signature and the dates may all be affixed electronically if you work that way.
Browse landscape architect stamps and seals.
Frequently asked questions
Is a seal required for landscape architects in Illinois?
Yes. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.ILLUSTRATION A(a) provides that “Every registered landscape architect shall have a reproducible seal, or facsimile, the impression of which shall contain the name of the landscape architect, the registration number, and words ‘Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois’,” and fixes the trigger: “Plans, specifications and reports related to landscape architectural practice and prepared by the registered landscape architect, or under the registered landscape architect’s supervision, shall be stamped with the seal when filed.” The governing statute is the Landscape Architecture Registration Act, 225 ILCS 316.
What has to appear on an Illinois landscape architect seal?
Three things and nothing else: your name as registered, your registration number, and the words Registered Landscape Architect, State of Illinois. The rule does not add a place of business, as the Illinois land surveyor rule does, and it does not require a license expiration date beside the impression, as the architect, engineer, land surveyor and interior designer rules do. A firm name does not belong inside the impression.
What size is an Illinois landscape architect seal?
Illinois does not state one. Section 1275.ILLUSTRATION A prescribes content and calls its figure a suggested facsimile with no dimension attached, and none of Part 1275, whose sections run from 1275.10 to 1275.90 plus Illustration A, states a diameter. Among the Illinois design professions only geologists have a prescribed size, one and three quarter inches, at 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1252.APPENDIX A.
Can I use an embosser in Illinois?
The rule requires a reproducible seal or facsimile, which means the impression has to survive copying, so a dry embosser alone is not a safe device. An inked rubber or self inking stamp is the practical buy. Subsection (a) also closes with a sentence covering the whole marking: “The seal, signature and dates may be electronically affixed.”
Do I need my expiration date next to an Illinois landscape architect seal?
No, and that is the state’s most useful quirk for this profession. Illustration A requires only that the registration be in full force and effect at the moment of sealing. The Illinois architect, professional engineer, structural engineer, land surveyor and registered interior designer rules all require the expiration date on the face of sealed work; the landscape architect rule does not, so you need no extra date line and should not engrave one.
Which Illinois documents have to be sealed?
Plans, specifications and reports related to landscape architectural practice, prepared by you or under your supervision, stamped with the seal when filed. There is no preliminary or draft carve out and no sheet by sheet schedule in the section: the duty attaches to the material when it is filed.
Can I seal electronically in Illinois?
Yes, in a single permissive clause. Subsection (a) states that the seal, signature and dates may be electronically affixed, and Part 1275 names no certificate authority, no hash standard, no verification test and no product. That puts Illinois landscape architecture at the permissive end of this group, alongside the Illinois architect and land surveyor rules and a long way from Florida, which requires a FIPS 180-4 message digest, or Pennsylvania, which requires a digital seal invalidated by any change to the document.
Does the signature have to cross the Illinois seal?
No rule directs it. Illustration A requires the seal, requires the registration to be live at the moment of sealing, and allows the seal, signature and dates to be affixed electronically, without stating a placement rule for the signature relative to the impression.
When does an Illinois landscape architect registration expire?
Every registration issued under the Landscape Architecture Registration Act expires on August 31 of odd numbered years, renewable during the month preceding its expiration date, under 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1275.70(a). Because Illustration A does not require the expiration date beside the seal, the device is unaffected by the renewal cycle. The registration number does not change on renewal, and nothing in Part 1275 requires surrender or destruction of the seal.
Does an Illinois landscape architecture firm number go on the seal?
The seal section contains no firm clause, in contrast with the Illinois architect statute at 225 ILCS 305/14 and the land surveyor rule at 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1270.58(c), both of which require the corporate or assumed business name and the design firm registration number on technical submissions. Whatever firm obligations apply to an Illinois landscape architecture practice, the seal itself carries only the individual’s name, number and legend.
