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 Pennsylvania State Board of Landscape Architects and 49 Pa. Code § 15.33 on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
Pennsylvania landscape architects seal preliminary documents, by name. 49 Pa. Code § 15.33(a): “An approved seal or stamp will be required for a registrant for the purpose of signing and sealing drawings, preliminary documents, specifications and contract documents or other work product.” The engineers, land surveyors and geologists at § 37.59(2) and the architects at § 9.141(b)(2) both key their duty to final or complete documents issued to a client or submitted to an agency for final review. You are sealing earlier in the process than either of them.
One name per seal, and the rule says so directly. Section 15.33(b): “Only one registered landscape architect’s name may be used per seal. However, more than one seal or stamp may appear on drawings, specifications and documents or other work product.” That is the exact opposite of the Pennsylvania architect rule at § 9.143(b), which permits a combined firm seal carrying several architects’ names under the legend Architects. A firm with three registrants applies three seals.
Failing to obtain the device is itself an offense. Section 15.33(d) provides that a licensee who fails to obtain a seal or rubber stamp is subject to disciplinary action and penalties under section 11(b) of the act, 63 P.S. § 911(b). Most seal rules punish misuse; this one punishes not having one.
Pennsylvania landscape architect seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Pennsylvania rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | 49 Pa. Code § 15.33 |
| Required elements | The legend Registered Landscape Architect, Your name as registered, Your registration number and A reference to Pennsylvania | 49 Pa. Code § 15.33(c) |
| Size and shape | Not addressed. Chapter 15 prescribes the legend and the contents and prints a sample, but states no diameter. A word search of the whole chapter returns no occurrence of the word diameter. That is a divergence inside. | 49 Pa. Code ch. 15 (silent on diameter) |
| Device allowed | Metal seal, rubber stamp or digital seal. | 49 Pa. Code § 15.33(c) |
| Signature and date | Section 15.33(e) enumerates the only three permitted methods: “When a registrant seals and signs landscape architectural drawings, reports, documents and other work product, one of the following methods must be used: (1) Physical placement of a seal and a handwritten signature in permanent ink containing the name of the registrant. (2) Digital placement of a seal and a handwritten signature in permanent ink containing the name of the registrant. (3) Digital placement of a seal and a digital signature containing the name of the registrant.” A printed facsimile of a handwritten signature is not among them. | 49 Pa. Code § 15.33(e) |
| What must be sealed | Wider than the engineering and architecture chapters, and deliberately so. | 49 Pa. Code § 15.33(a) |
| Electronic seal | Section 15.33a, Digital signature and seal, carries the same four part test the other two Pennsylvania boards use. | 49 Pa. Code §§ 15.32a, 15.33a |
| Renewal and lapse | Registration is biennial under section 15.34(a), which requires payment of the biennial registration fee set out in section 15.12. | 49 Pa. Code §§ 15.12, 15.34 |
| Firm requirements | No combined firm seal, and no firm identifier on the device. | 49 Pa. Code § 15.33(b), (c) |
| Regulator | The Pennsylvania State Board of Landscape Architects | Landscape Architects’ Registration Law, 63 P.S. §§ 904(9), 909 and 911(b), with section 812.1 of The Administrative Code of 1929, 71 P.S. § 279.3a, cited as the authority for the seal section |
Is a seal required in Pennsylvania?
49 Pa. Code section 15.33(a) states the duty broadly: “An approved seal or stamp will be required for a registrant for the purpose of signing and sealing drawings, preliminary documents, specifications and contract documents or other work product.” Section 15.33(c) then sets the content: a registrant “shall be required to obtain the authorized seal or a rubber stamp, bearing the registrant’s name and registration number and the legend ‘Registered Landscape Architect’ together with a reference to Pennsylvania. A digital seal or rubber stamp identical to the prescribed seal may be obtained and used in lieu of, or in conjunction with, a metal seal.” A sample seal is printed in the rule. Section 15.33(d) adds teeth: a licensee who fails to obtain a seal or rubber stamp is subject to disciplinary action and penalties under section 11(b) of the act, 63 P.S. section 911(b).
What must appear on the seal
- The legend Registered Landscape Architect
- Your name as registered
- Your registration number
- A reference to Pennsylvania
One name per seal, and the rule says so directly. Section 15.33(b): “Only one registered landscape architect’s name may be used per seal. However, more than one seal or stamp may appear on drawings, specifications and documents or other work product.” That is the exact opposite of the Pennsylvania architect rule at section 9.143(b), which permits a combined firm seal carrying several architects’ names and license numbers under the legend Architects. A Pennsylvania landscape architecture firm with three registrants applies three seals rather than ordering one. Section 15.33(c) also prints a sample seal, so the layout should be copied from the figure in the Pennsylvania Code rather than invented.
Size and shape
Not addressed. Chapter 15 prescribes the legend and the contents and prints a sample, but states no diameter. A word search of the whole chapter returns no occurrence of the word diameter. That is a divergence inside Pennsylvania worth naming: engineers, land surveyors and geologists are pinned to 1 3/4 inch with a 1 1/2 inch pocket allowance by 49 Pa. Code section 37.58(c), while both the architect chapter and the landscape architect chapter are silent.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
Metal seal, rubber stamp or digital seal. Section 15.33(c) provides that a digital seal or rubber stamp identical to the prescribed seal may be obtained and used in lieu of, or in conjunction with, a metal seal. The safe buy is an inked rubber or self inking stamp, because the duty in section 15.33(a) extends to drawings and preliminary documents that circulate as prints and copies, where a dry metal impression does not read.
Signing and dating
Section 15.33(e) enumerates the only three permitted methods: “When a registrant seals and signs landscape architectural drawings, reports, documents and other work product, one of the following methods must be used: (1) Physical placement of a seal and a handwritten signature in permanent ink containing the name of the registrant. (2) Digital placement of a seal and a handwritten signature in permanent ink containing the name of the registrant. (3) Digital placement of a seal and a digital signature containing the name of the registrant.” A printed facsimile of a handwritten signature is not among them. Unlike the architect and engineering chapters, chapter 15 does not add a rule about signing near or across the seal, and it does not require a date of issuance beside the seal.
Pennsylvania landscape architects seal preliminary documents, and never share a seal
Section 15.33(a) is one of the broadest sealing triggers in this set: an approved seal is required “for the purpose of signing and sealing drawings, preliminary documents, specifications and contract documents or other work product.” Preliminary documents, by name. The engineers, land surveyors and geologists in chapter 37 and the architects in chapter 9 both key their duty to final or complete documents issued to a client or submitted for final review. A Pennsylvania landscape architect is sealing earlier than either of them.
Which documents must be sealed
Wider than the engineering and architecture chapters, and deliberately so. Section 15.33(a) names “drawings, preliminary documents, specifications and contract documents or other work product.” Preliminary documents are inside the duty by name. Compare 49 Pa. Code section 37.59(2) for engineers, land surveyors and geologists and section 9.141(b)(2) for architects, both of which key the duty to final or complete documents issued to a client or submitted to an agency for final review. A Pennsylvania landscape architect seals earlier in the process than a Pennsylvania architect does.
Electronic and digital seals
Section 15.33a, Digital signature and seal, carries the same four part test the other two Pennsylvania boards use. Drawings, reports and documents signed using a digital signature must have an electronic authentication process attached to or logically associated with the electronic document, and the digital signature must be unique to the registrant, capable of verification, under the sole control of the registrant, and linked to the document so that it is invalidated if any data in the document is changed, with a parallel provision for the digital seal. Definitions sit at section 15.32a. The section was added in the December 2022 rulemaking that also produced section 37.60 and section 9.141a, and section 15.33 itself was amended December 16, 2022, effective December 17, 2022 at 52 Pa.B. 7706.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
Registration is biennial under section 15.34(a), which requires payment of the biennial registration fee set out in section 15.12. Section 15.34(b) allows a landscape architect not engaged in practice to request inactive status in writing and to notify the Board in writing of a desire to reregister, complying with the renewal requirements in force at that time. Because the seal carries no expiration date, renewal never obsoletes the device and the registration number does not change. Chapter 15 imposes no surrender or destruction duty of the kind the architect chapter carries at section 9.145.
Firm requirements
No combined firm seal, and no firm identifier on the device. Section 15.33(b) limits each seal to one registered landscape architect’s name and then solves the multi registrant case by allowing more than one seal or stamp to appear on the same drawings, specifications, documents or other work product. Section 15.33(c) closes the content of the seal to the legend, the registrant’s name, the registration number and the Pennsylvania reference, so no firm name or firm number belongs on the face.
What to check before you order
Order the authorized landscape architect design, copied from the sample printed at 49 Pa. Code section 15.33(c), carrying the legend Registered Landscape Architect, your name as registered, your registration number and a reference to Pennsylvania. Only your name may appear: section 15.33(b) allows one registrant per seal, so a firm with several registrants applies several seals rather than ordering a combined one. No diameter is prescribed in chapter 15, so do not treat the 1 3/4 inch Pennsylvania engineering figure as binding on you. A rubber stamp or digital seal identical to the prescribed seal may be used instead of or alongside a metal seal, and ink is the practical choice because your duty reaches drawings and preliminary documents that circulate as copies.
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Frequently asked questions
Is a seal required for landscape architects in Pennsylvania?
Yes, and not having one is a disciplinary matter. Section 15.33(a) requires an approved seal or stamp for signing and sealing drawings, preliminary documents, specifications and contract documents or other work product, and § 15.33(d) subjects a licensee who fails to obtain one to disciplinary action and penalties under section 11(b) of the act, 63 P.S. § 911(b).
What has to appear on a Pennsylvania landscape architect seal?
Section 15.33(c) requires the registrant to obtain the authorized seal or a rubber stamp “bearing the registrant’s name and registration number and the legend ‘Registered Landscape Architect’ together with a reference to Pennsylvania.” A sample seal is printed in the rule, so copy the layout from that figure rather than inventing it.
What size is a Pennsylvania landscape architect seal?
Chapter 15 states no diameter. It prescribes the legend and the contents and prints a sample, and a word search of the whole chapter returns no occurrence of the word diameter. The 1 3/4 inch figure with a 1 1/2 inch pocket allowance at 49 Pa. Code § 37.58(c) binds Pennsylvania engineers, land surveyors and geologists, not you. Both the architect chapter and the landscape architect chapter are silent on size.
Metal seal, rubber stamp or digital seal in Pennsylvania?
All three. Section 15.33(c) provides that a digital seal or rubber stamp identical to the prescribed seal may be obtained and used in lieu of, or in conjunction with, a metal seal. An inked rubber or self inking stamp is the practical buy, because the duty in § 15.33(a) extends to drawings and preliminary documents that circulate as prints and copies, where a dry metal impression does not read.
Can a Pennsylvania firm use one combined landscape architect seal?
No. Section 15.33(b) limits each seal to one registered landscape architect’s name and then solves the multi registrant case by allowing more than one seal or stamp on the same work product. Pennsylvania architects can use a combined seal under § 9.143(b); landscape architects cannot.
How do I sign a Pennsylvania sealed document?
By one of exactly three methods, under § 15.33(e): “(1) Physical placement of a seal and a handwritten signature in permanent ink containing the name of the registrant. (2) Digital placement of a seal and a handwritten signature in permanent ink containing the name of the registrant. (3) Digital placement of a seal and a digital signature containing the name of the registrant.” A printed facsimile of a handwritten signature is not among them.
Does Pennsylvania say where the signature goes, or require a date?
No to both. Unlike the architect and engineering chapters, chapter 15 adds no rule about signing near or across the seal, and it does not require a date of issuance beside the seal.
Which Pennsylvania documents have to be sealed?
Drawings, preliminary documents, specifications and contract documents or other work product, under § 15.33(a). Preliminary documents are inside the duty by name, which is wider than the engineering and architecture chapters reach.
What is the Pennsylvania digital seal standard?
Section 15.33a, Digital signature and seal, carries the same four part test the other two Pennsylvania boards use. Drawings, reports and documents signed using a digital signature must have an electronic authentication process attached to or logically associated with the electronic document, and the digital signature must be unique to the registrant, capable of verification, under the sole control of the registrant, and linked to the document so that it is invalidated if any data in the document is changed, with a parallel provision for the digital seal. Definitions sit at § 15.32a. The section was added in the December 2022 rulemaking, and § 15.33 itself was amended December 16, 2022, effective December 17, 2022 at 52 Pa.B. 7706.
Does renewal affect a Pennsylvania landscape architect seal?
No. The seal carries no expiration date, so renewal never obsoletes the device and the registration number does not change. Registration is biennial under § 15.34(a), which requires payment of the biennial registration fee set out in § 15.12, and § 15.34(b) allows a landscape architect not engaged in practice to request inactive status in writing and to notify the Board in writing of a desire to reregister, complying with the renewal requirements in force at that time. Chapter 15 imposes no surrender or destruction duty of the kind the architect chapter carries at § 9.145.
Does a Pennsylvania landscape architecture firm number go on the seal?
No. Section 15.33(c) closes the content of the seal to the legend, your name, your registration number and the Pennsylvania reference, so no firm name or firm number belongs on the face.
