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 Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners and Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
A Tennessee seal may not contain a signature or a date of signature, not even a blank date line built into the artwork. Rule 0120-02-.08(8)(a) permits rubber-stamp, embossed, transparent self-adhesive and electronically generated seals, then says “Such stamps or seals shall not include the registrant’s signature or date of signature.” A die sold with either engraved into it is noncompliant as manufactured, before the engineer has done anything with it. The legend is fixed as well: Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) says “Registered Engineer,” not Professional Engineer, so a national template stamp does not match the statutory words.
Tennessee also states no dimension at all. Rule 0120-02-.08(1) says “The design of the registrant’s seal required by T.C.A. § 62-2-306, shall be as follows” and then reproduces three diagrams labeled only Engineer, Architect and Landscape Architect. Chapter 0120-02, chapter 0120-01 and § 62-2-306 were checked for the words inch and diameter with no hit. The diagrams are raster images with no extractable text, so the layout has to come from the published diagram in the Secretary of State’s copy of 0120-02 or from a board-approved sample, never from another state’s standard.
The signature is wet ink and it crosses the seal. Rule 0120-02-.08(3) requires the registrant to “superimpose his signature (not a rubber stamp) and date of signature across the face and beyond the circumference of the seal.” One more thing to check before anything is cut: Tennessee land surveyors are not governed by this chapter and answer to a different board. Acorn cuts this seal to 2 inches, sized to the proportions of the diagram in rule 0120-02-.08(1). That is our production record rather than a stated dimension.
Tennessee PE seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Tennessee rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) |
| Required elements | Your name as registered, Your registration number, Registered Engineer and State of Tennessee or Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) |
| Size and shape | Acorn cuts this seal to 2 inches, and that is a production record rather than a published rule. | Acorn Sales production record, Tennessee professional engineer seal |
| Device allowed | Four device types are named. | Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0120-02-.08(8)(a) |
| Signature and date | Tennessee is explicit and strict about wet ink. | Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0120-02-.08(3), (8)(b) |
| What must be sealed | Rule 0120-02-.08(2) requires the seal on all original sheets of any bound or unbound set of working drawings or plans, including tracings and other reproducible sheets; the original cover or index pages identifying all specification pages covered; and the original cover or index pages for design calculations or reports submitted for review. | Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0120-02-.08(2), (4), (5), (9) |
| Electronic seal | Tennessee names no product but does name criteria. | Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0120-02-.08(8)(a), (b) |
| Renewal and lapse | The statute ends the seal’s life with the certificate. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(a), (b) |
| Firm number on documents | Not applicable as a seal matter. | Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0120-06-.01 to 0120-06-.03 |
| Licensing board | The Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners | Tenn. Code Ann. Title 62, Chapter 2, Part 3 (§ 62-2-306) |
Rules for other states are on PE stamp requirements by state.
Is a seal required in Tennessee?
Tennessee requires a seal The statute creates the duty and the rule expands it. Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) provides that each registered engineer “shall obtain and keep a seal of the design authorized by the board” and “shall stamp with the registrant’s seal all original sheets of any bound set of plans and the first sheet of any specifications or reports prepared by the registrant or under the registrant’s responsible charge.” Rule 0120-02-.08(2) restates and broadens the list to all original sheets of any bound or unbound set of working drawings or plans, the original cover or index pages identifying all specification pages covered, and the original cover or index pages for design calculations or reports submitted for review.
What must appear on the seal
- Your name as registered
- Your registration number
- Registered Engineer
- State of Tennessee or Tennessee
Two points, one of which is a prohibition. The legend is “Registered Engineer”, not Professional Engineer. Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) requires the seal to bear the registrant’s name, registration number, the words “Registered Architect,” “Registered Engineer” or “Registered Landscape Architect” and the words “State of Tennessee” or “Tennessee”. A national template stamp reading PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER does not match the statutory legend. The prohibition is in rule 0120-02-.08(8)(a): rubber-stamp, embossed, transparent self-adhesive and electronically generated seals may be used, but “Such stamps or seals shall not include the registrant’s signature or date of signature.” A Tennessee die must therefore contain no facsimile signature and no date, not even a blank date line built into the artwork, which is the exact opposite of Arizona’s requirement that the seal carry the words date signed.
Size and shape
Acorn cuts this seal to 2 inches, and that is a production record rather than a published rule. The state publishes no dimension, so the figure below is what we make and ship for Tennessee licensees rather than something you can point a reviewer at. Rule 0120-02-.08(1) gives the design as a diagram with no dimension printed on it, which leaves the diameter to the supplier. Two inches is the size we cut to match the proportions of that diagram. What the state publishes: Tennessee prescribes the seal by picture, not by dimension. Rule 0120-02-.08(1) says “The design of the registrant’s seal required by T.C.A. § 62-2-306, shall be as follows” and then reproduces three diagrams labeled only (a) Engineer, (b) Architect and (c) Landscape Architect. No diameter, no tolerance and no inner-circle dimension appears anywhere in the rule text or the statute. The sources here are the full text of chapter 0120-02 (Rules of Professional Conduct, June 2026 revision, seal rule last amended effective October 23, 2018) and chapter 0120-01 (Registration Requirements and Procedures, June 2026 revision) for the words inch and diameter, with no hit in either, and Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306 in full. The diagrams are raster images with no extractable text, so a vendor must work from the published diagram in the Secretary of State’s copy of 0120-02 or from a board-approved sample, and must not infer a dimension from another state.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
Four device types are named. Rule 0120-02-.08(8)(a) provides that “Subject to the requirements of this rule, rubber-stamp, embossed, transparent self-adhesive or electronically generated seals may be used.” Tennessee is one of the few states that expressly blesses a transparent self-adhesive seal. The safe buy is the rubber stamp, because the signature has to be handwritten over it in any event and an inked impression accepts a pen. Whatever the device, it must carry no signature and no date.
Signing and dating
Tennessee is explicit and strict about wet ink. Rule 0120-02-.08(3) provides that “The registrant shall superimpose his signature (not a rubber stamp) and date of signature across the face and beyond the circumference of the seal on documents listed above.” Signing across the seal is mandatory, the signature must extend past the circumference, and a signature stamp is banned in terms. The date is the date of signature and is applied with the signature, never built into the seal. For electronic work, 0120-02-.08(8)(b) allows an electronically generated signature and date, which “shall be placed either across the face and beyond the circumference of the seal or adjacent to the seal”, the only situation in which Tennessee permits a signature beside rather than over the seal.
The seal must carry no signature and no date, and the signature must be wet ink across the seal
Tennessee runs the opposite policy to several neighbors, and a stamp made to a generic national pattern breaks it in two directions at once. Rule 0120-02-.08(8)(a) permits rubber-stamp, embossed, transparent self-adhesive and electronically generated seals, then says plainly that “Such stamps or seals shall not include the registrant’s signature or date of signature.” Any die sold with a facsimile signature engraved into it, or with a date field engraved into it, is non-compliant in Tennessee as manufactured, before the engineer has done anything with it.
The matching requirement is 0120-02-.08(3), which requires the registrant to superimpose “his signature (not a rubber stamp) and date of signature across the face and beyond the circumference of the seal”. Both halves matter: the signature has to cross the seal rather than sit beside it, it has to run past the outer circle, and it cannot be applied with a signature stamp. The only relief is for electronic documents, where 0120-02-.08(8)(b) allows the electronic signature and date either across the seal or adjacent to it.
The third thing that catches buyers out is the legend. The statute says “Registered Engineer”. It does not say Professional Engineer. That is a wording difference a vendor cannot reason around, because Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) specifies the words themselves.
Which documents must be sealed
Rule 0120-02-.08(2) requires the seal on all original sheets of any bound or unbound set of working drawings or plans, including tracings and other reproducible sheets; the original cover or index pages identifying all specification pages covered; and the original cover or index pages for design calculations or reports submitted for review. Subsection (2)(d) adds an index-sheet route for digitally generated seals and signatures under Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b), requiring the index sheet to be signed, sealed and dated by each professional engineer in responsible charge of a section, with enough information to identify every portion each engineer is responsible for, plus the name and license number of each such engineer and identification of the project. Subsection (4) requires each registrant in responsible charge to seal the portions they are responsible for. Subsection (5)(a) prohibits sealing work developed by others outside the registrant’s responsible charge, and (5)(b) governs successor registrants: incomplete plans prepared by a predecessor may not simply be sealed, while complete plans already submitted to a reviewing official may be addressed by sealed addenda or sealed documented changes. Subsection (9) is the preliminary carve-out: working or partially completed plans and drawings that are not construction documents must be designated as preliminary and not for construction, or “for review only,” or “draft,” or given some other designation clearly indicating that the drawings are not complete. The rule prints the first of those designations with a dash inside it, so copy that phrase from the published rule rather than from here.
Electronic and digital seals
Tennessee names no product but does name criteria. Rule 0120-02-.08(8)(b) requires that documents signed using a digital signature “have an electronic authentication process attached to or logically associated with the electronic document”, and that the digital signature be “Unique to the individual using it”, “Capable of verification”, “Under the sole control of the individual using it”, and “Linked to a document in such a manner that the digital signature is invalidated if any data in the document is changed.” No certificate authority, algorithm or file format is specified. An electronically generated seal is permitted by 0120-02-.08(8)(a) on the same terms as a rubber stamp, and must likewise contain no signature and no date.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
The statute ends the seal’s life with the certificate. Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) provides that plans, specifications and reports “shall be stamped with the seal during the life of a registrant’s certificate, but it is unlawful for anyone to stamp or seal any document with the seal after the certificate of the registrant named on the seal has expired or has been revoked.” Note that the prohibition reaches “anyone”, not just the registrant, which sweeps in an employer or a drafter using a departed engineer’s stamp. Section 62-2-306(a) frames the certificate as the evidence of entitlement “while the certificate remains unrevoked or unexpired.” Whether the registration number changes on reinstatement, and whether a dead seal must be destroyed or surrendered, are not addressed in § 62-2-306 or in chapters 0120-01 or 0120-02.
Firm registration
Not applicable as a seal matter. Tennessee firms file a disclosure rather than obtaining a sealing certificate. Rule 0120-06-.03(1) requires corporations, partnerships and firms offering architectural, engineering and landscape architectural services to the public to comply with Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 62-2-601 and 62-2-602, and 0120-06-.03(2) exempts an individual registrant practicing in the registrant’s own name as a sole proprietorship from filing a disclosure form at all. The word seal does not appear anywhere in chapter 0120-06. No firm seal exists, and no firm number goes on the sheet.
What to check before you order
Keep the seal plain: your name as registered, your registration number, the words Registered Engineer, and either State of Tennessee or Tennessee, with nothing else. No signature goes in the die, no date goes in the die, and no blank date line either. Rubber stamps, embossers, transparent self-adhesive seals and electronic images are all permitted. Take the diameter and layout from the diagram published at 0120-02-.08(1) or from a board-approved sample rather than from any assumed standard, because Tennessee states no dimension in words. Tennessee asks you for no proof of licensure and requires no imprint filing with the board, but check which board you answer to before anything is cut, because a Tennessee land surveyor is not governed by this chapter at all.
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Frequently asked questions
What does a Tennessee engineer seal have to say?
Four things, under Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b): your name as registered, your registration number, the words “Registered Engineer,” and either “State of Tennessee” or “Tennessee.” The statute specifies the words themselves, so a stamp reading PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER is not a wording a vendor can reason around. Architects and landscape architects get the same element list with Registered Architect or Registered Landscape Architect in place of Registered Engineer.
Can my Tennessee seal include my signature or the date?
No. Rule 0120-02-.08(8)(a) states that “Such stamps or seals shall not include the registrant’s signature or date of signature.” That bars a facsimile signature in the die and a date field in the die, including a blank date line, which is the opposite of what some states require. The date of signature is applied with the signature, never built into the seal.
What size is a Tennessee PE seal?
Not addressed. Tennessee prescribes the seal by picture rather than by dimension. Rule 0120-02-.08(1) reproduces three diagrams and gives no diameter, no tolerance and no inner-circle dimension. Checked the full text of chapter 0120-02, Rules of Professional Conduct, June 2026 revision, with the seal rule last amended effective October 23, 2018; chapter 0120-01, Registration Requirements and Procedures, June 2026 revision; and Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306 in full, searching for the words inch and diameter with no hit in any of them. Work from the published diagram or a board-approved sample. Acorn cuts this seal to 2 inches, sized to the proportions of the diagram in rule 0120-02-.08(1). That is our production record rather than a stated dimension.
Which sealing devices may I use in Tennessee?
Four. Rule 0120-02-.08(8)(a): “Subject to the requirements of this rule, rubber-stamp, embossed, transparent self-adhesive or electronically generated seals may be used.” Tennessee is one of the few states that expressly blesses a transparent self-adhesive seal. The rubber stamp is the practical buy, because the signature has to be handwritten over the impression in any event and an inked impression accepts a pen.
Where does the signature go on a Tennessee document?
Across the face of the seal and past its outer edge, in the registrant’s own hand. Rule 0120-02-.08(3): “The registrant shall superimpose his signature (not a rubber stamp) and date of signature across the face and beyond the circumference of the seal on documents listed above.” All three parts bind: the signature crosses the seal rather than sitting beside it, it runs past the circumference, and a signature stamp is banned in terms.
Can I use an electronic signature in Tennessee?
Yes, and it is the only case where the signature may sit beside the seal. Rule 0120-02-.08(8)(b) allows an electronically generated signature and date, which “shall be placed either across the face and beyond the circumference of the seal or adjacent to the seal.” The same subsection requires documents signed with a digital signature to “have an electronic authentication process attached to or logically associated with the electronic document,” and requires the digital signature to be “Unique to the individual using it,” “Capable of verification,” “Under the sole control of the individual using it,” and “Linked to a document in such a manner that the digital signature is invalidated if any data in the document is changed.” No certificate authority, algorithm or file format is specified. An electronically generated seal is permitted on the same terms as a rubber stamp and must likewise contain no signature and no date.
Which Tennessee documents have to be sealed?
Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) requires the registrant to “stamp with the registrant’s seal all original sheets of any bound set of plans and the first sheet of any specifications or reports prepared by the registrant or under the registrant’s responsible charge,” and rule 0120-02-.08(2) broadens the list to all original sheets of any bound or unbound set of working drawings or plans, including tracings and other reproducible sheets; the original cover or index pages identifying all specification pages covered; and the original cover or index pages for design calculations or reports submitted for review. Subsection (4) requires each registrant in responsible charge to seal the portions they are responsible for.
Is there an index sheet route for digital seals in Tennessee?
Yes. Rule 0120-02-.08(2)(d) provides an index-sheet route for digitally generated seals and signatures under Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b), requiring the index sheet to be signed, sealed and dated by each professional engineer in responsible charge of a section, with enough information to identify every portion each engineer is responsible for, plus the name and license number of each such engineer and identification of the project.
How do I mark a Tennessee drawing that is not finished?
With a designation that says so. Rule 0120-02-.08(9) requires working or partially completed plans and drawings that are not construction documents to be designated as preliminary and not for construction, or “for review only,” or “draft,” or given some other designation clearly indicating that the drawings are not complete. The rule prints the first of those designations with internal punctuation of its own, so copy that phrase from the published rule rather than from here.
Can I seal plans another engineer started in Tennessee?
Only within limits. Rule 0120-02-.08(5)(a) prohibits sealing work developed by others outside the registrant’s responsible charge. Rule 0120-02-.08(5)(b) governs successor registrants: incomplete plans prepared by a predecessor may not simply be sealed, while complete plans already submitted to a reviewing official may be addressed by sealed addenda or sealed documented changes.
What happens when a Tennessee certificate expires?
The seal dies with it, and the prohibition reaches further than the registrant. Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-2-306(b) provides that plans, specifications and reports “shall be stamped with the seal during the life of a registrant’s certificate, but it is unlawful for anyone to stamp or seal any document with the seal after the certificate of the registrant named on the seal has expired or has been revoked.” The word “anyone” sweeps in an employer or a drafter using a departed engineer’s stamp. Section 62-2-306(a) frames the certificate as the evidence of entitlement “while the certificate remains unrevoked or unexpired.” Whether the registration number changes on reinstatement, and whether a dead seal must be destroyed or surrendered, are not addressed in § 62-2-306 or in chapters 0120-01 or 0120-02.
Does a Tennessee firm number go on the sheet?
No. Tennessee firms file a disclosure rather than obtaining a sealing certificate. Rule 0120-06-.03(1) requires corporations, partnerships and firms offering architectural, engineering and landscape architectural services to the public to comply with Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 62-2-601 and 62-2-602, and 0120-06-.03(2) exempts an individual registrant practicing in the registrant’s own name as a sole proprietorship from filing a disclosure form at all. The word seal does not appear anywhere in chapter 0120-06. There is no firm seal and no firm number on the drawing.
Are Tennessee land surveyors covered by this rule?
No. Rule 0120-02-.01 applies the chapter to persons registered to practice architecture, engineering or landscape architecture, and the word surveyor does not appear in chapter 0120-02 at all. Tennessee land surveyors answer to the separate Tennessee Board of Examiners for Land Surveyors under Tenn. Code Ann. Title 62, Chapter 18, with rules in chapter 0820, where 0820-03-.02(1) makes the land surveyor whose stamp or seal and signature appear on a document directly responsible for it. Interior designers are registered under the same Title 62, Chapter 2 board but under separate rules chapter 0120-04. Check which board you answers to before anything is cut.
