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 State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Professional Land Surveyors and C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
Your signature and the date have to appear through the seal. Rule 1.6(A)(3) of 4 CCR 730-1 is flat about it: “The signature of the licensee and date of signature shall appear through the seal.” Through, not beside. An embosser gives a signature nothing to cross on a reproducible plat, so the practical device is a rubber stamp with an open inner circle sized to take a signature and a date without burying the license number.
The geometry is two concentric circles, the outer nominally 1-5/8 inches (41 mm) and the inner nominally 15/16 inches (24 mm). The word is nominally, so ordinary manufacturing variation is tolerated, but a single-ring die does not match the approved design because the inner circle has its own specified diameter. COLORADO LICENSED goes on the upper arc, your name below it, your license number centered in the inner circle, and PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR on the lower arc.
The placeholder catches surveyors as often as engineers. The board’s approved artwork carries the word NUMBER inside the inner circle, and the rule provides that your assigned license number goes in the space that word occupies, at the same letter size, and “the word ‘NUMBER’ should not appear on the seal.” Check the proof.
Colorado land surveyor seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Colorado rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) |
| Required elements | Your name, Your license number, centered in the inner circle, The arc legend “COLORADO LICENSED” and The arc designation “PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR” | 4 CCR 730-1, Rule 1.6(A)(1) |
| Size and shape | Outer circle nominally 1-5/8 inches (41 mm); inner circle nominally 15/16 inches (24 mm). | 4 CCR 730-1, Rules 1.6(A)(1), 1.5(A)(1) and 1.7(A)(1) |
| Device allowed | The crimp type, the rubber stamp type and the computer generated type are authorized by name, and the rule uses and or or, so you may hold more than one. | C.R.S. § 12-120-316 |
| Signature and date | Rule 1.6(A)(3) uses the engineer wording: the manual or electronic signature of the licensee and the date of signature are affixed to the document, and the signature and date shall appear through the seal. | 4 CCR 730-1, Rule 1.6(A)(3) |
| What must be sealed | Documents and plats resulting from the practice of land surveying, and C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) adds reports. | C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) |
| Electronic seal | Rule 1.2(B) names the technologies: an electronic signature “can be generated by using either public key infrastructure or signature dynamics technology” and must be unique to the person using it, capable of verification, under that person’s sole control, and linked to the document so that the signature is invalidated if any data in the document are changed. | 4 CCR 730-1, Rule 1.2(B) |
| Renewal and lapse | All licenses this board issues expire on October 31 of odd-numbered years, a single statewide two-year cycle. | 4 CCR 730-1, Rules 1.3(A)(3) and 1.4 |
| Firm requirements | Not applicable. | C.R.S. Title 12, Article 120 |
| Regulator | The State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Professional Land Surveyors | C.R.S. §§ 12-120-216, 12-120-316 and 12-120-417, with 4 CCR 730-1, Rules and Regulations of the State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Professional Land Surveyors, principally Rules 1.2(B), 1.3(A)(3), 1.4 and 1.6(A), and the Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations land surveyor pages. The seal specification is identical across the board’s three professions |
Is a seal required in Colorado?
Land surveying is the one Colorado profession where the affirmative sealing duty is statutory rather than left to the board rule. C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) requires all documents, plats and reports resulting from the practice of land surveying to bear the licensee’s seal, signature and date. Rule 1.6(A)(2) then carries the application requirement: a manual or electronic seal must be applied to the final reproducible, the final reproduction, the final electronic record document or the record set of documents and plats resulting from the practice of land surveying, and Rule 1.6(A)(3) requires that “The signature of the licensee and date of signature shall appear through the seal.”
What must appear on the seal
- Your name
- Your license number, centered in the inner circle
- The arc legend “COLORADO LICENSED”
- The arc designation “PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR”
The placeholder rule catches surveyors as often as engineers. The board’s approved artwork carries the word NUMBER inside the inner circle, and the rule provides that the assigned license number goes in the space that word occupies, at the same letter size, and “the word ‘NUMBER’ should not appear on the seal.” Colorado also publishes a combined design for dual licensees whose lower arc reads “P.E. AND P.L.S.” instead of naming one profession, which is the right device if you hold both licenses. Rule 1.6(A)(1) deems seals obtained prior to July 1, 2005 acceptable, so an older correct seal stays usable.
Size and shape
Outer circle nominally 1-5/8 inches (41 mm); inner circle nominally 15/16 inches (24 mm). Rule 1.6(A)(1) states both figures for professional land surveyors, and Rules 1.5(A)(1) and 1.7(A)(1) repeat them word for word for professional engineers and architects. The word is nominally, so ordinary manufacturing variation is tolerated. A single-ring die does not match the approved design, because the inner circle has its own specified diameter.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
The crimp type, the rubber stamp type and the computer generated type are authorized by name, and the rule uses and or or, so you may hold more than one. The rubber stamp is the safe buy, because your signature and date must appear through the seal and an embossed impression on a reproducible plat leaves nothing to sign through.
Signing and dating
Rule 1.6(A)(3) uses the engineer wording: the manual or electronic signature of the licensee and the date of signature are affixed to the document, and the signature and date shall appear through the seal. Through the seal, not beside it. The date is the date of signature. Architects are governed by the parallel but differently worded Rule 1.7(A)(1), which requires the original signature and date “across the face of each original seal imprint” and allows an exception for federal contract compliance; the surveyor rule states no such exception.
Surveyors are the only Colorado profession the statute affirmatively orders to seal
Colorado’s engineer and architect statutes limit when a seal may be used and leave the affirmative duty to apply one to the board rules. The surveying statute does the work itself: C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) requires all documents, plats and reports resulting from the practice of land surveying to bear the seal, signature and date. So a Colorado surveyor’s obligation survives any argument about the scope of the board’s rulemaking, and it reaches reports as well as plats.
The device follows from Rule 1.6(A)(3), which requires that “The signature of the licensee and date of signature shall appear through the seal.” Through, not beside. An embosser gives a signature nothing to cross on a reproducible, so the practical purchase is a rubber stamp with an open inner circle sized to take a signature and a date without burying the license number.
Two details close the picture. The board’s approved artwork carries the placeholder word NUMBER in the inner circle and the rule says that word “should not appear on the seal,” which is the single most common Colorado ordering error. And if you hold both the surveying and the engineering license, Colorado publishes a distinct dual design whose lower arc reads P.E. AND P.L.S. rather than naming one profession.
One renewal consequence is specific to surveyors: a license expired more than six years requires retaking the Colorado state specific surveying examination. The license number itself does not change, so the seal survives.
Which documents must be sealed
Documents and plats resulting from the practice of land surveying, and C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) adds reports. That list differs from the engineer list, which is sheets of engineering drawings plus the cover, title or contents pages of bound specifications, the title pages of bound details and the title or signature page of engineering reports, and from the architect list, which is sheets of architectural drawings. Preliminary work is not exempt from sealing but must be identified as preliminary, and a licensee who signs and seals is responsible for the entire document unless a written note adjacent to the seal limits the scope.
Electronic and digital seals
Rule 1.2(B) names the technologies: an electronic signature “can be generated by using either public key infrastructure or signature dynamics technology” and must be unique to the person using it, capable of verification, under that person’s sole control, and linked to the document so that the signature is invalidated if any data in the document are changed. Public key infrastructure is defined as a technology in which trusted parties digitally sign documents certifying that a cryptographic key belongs to a particular user or device; signature dynamics technology is defined as a commercial electronic signature application dedicated to secure routing, authentication and verification with an audit trail.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
All licenses this board issues expire on October 31 of odd-numbered years, a single statewide two-year cycle. The license number does not change on renewal or reinstatement, so the seal does not have to be recut. An expired or retired license may be reinstated by application and fee within two years, and a professional land surveyor whose license has been expired more than six years must retake the Colorado state specific surveying examination. Rule 1.3(A)(3) puts custody on you and, for land surveyors, extends the same duty to unused monument caps bearing the license number: “Licensees shall be personally and professionally responsible and accountable for the care, custody, control, and use of their seals.”
Firm requirements
Not applicable. Colorado does not license or register surveying, engineering or architecture firms and issues no certificate of authorization. C.R.S. Title 12 Article 120 contains no firm registration provision, and the Division of Professions and Occupations publishes applications only for individual architects, engineers, land surveyors and their intern credentials. No firm number appears on a Colorado plat and no firm holds a seal.
What to check before you order
Order two concentric circles, outer nominally 1-5/8 inches (41 mm) and inner nominally 15/16 inches (24 mm), with COLORADO LICENSED on the upper arc, your name below it, your license number centered in the inner circle at the same letter size as the surrounding lettering, and PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR on the lower arc. If you hold both the P.E. and the P.L.S., ask for the board’s dual design reading P.E. AND P.L.S. instead. Check the proof and reject it if the word NUMBER survived from the board’s artwork. Buy the rubber stamp rather than the crimp embosser, because your signature and date must appear through the seal, and keep the inner area open enough to write across without obscuring the number. A seal obtained before July 1, 2005 remains acceptable, so there is no reason to replace a correct older device.
Browse land surveyor stamps and seals.
Frequently asked questions
Is a seal required for land surveyors in Colorado?
Yes, and surveying is the one Colorado profession where the affirmative duty is statutory rather than left to the board rule. C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) requires all documents, plats and reports resulting from the practice of land surveying to bear the licensee’s seal, signature and date. Rule 1.6(A)(2) carries the application requirement: a manual or electronic seal must be applied to the final reproducible, the final reproduction, the final electronic record document or the record set of documents and plats resulting from the practice of land surveying.
What has to appear on a Colorado land surveyor seal?
Four items under Rule 1.6(A)(1): your name, your license number centered in the inner circle, the arc legend COLORADO LICENSED and the arc designation PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR. If you hold both the surveying and the engineering license, Colorado publishes a distinct dual design whose lower arc reads “P.E. AND P.L.S.” instead of naming one profession.
What size is a Colorado land surveyor seal?
Outer circle nominally 1-5/8 inches (41 mm), inner circle nominally 15/16 inches (24 mm). Rule 1.6(A)(1) states both figures, and Rules 1.5(A)(1) and 1.7(A)(1) repeat them word for word for professional engineers and architects.
Crimp, rubber stamp or computer generated in Colorado?
All three are authorized by name, and the rule uses and or or, so you may hold more than one. The rubber stamp is the safe buy, because your signature and date must appear through the seal and an embossed impression on a reproducible plat leaves nothing to sign through.
Does my old Colorado seal still work?
Yes. Rule 1.6(A)(1) deems seals obtained prior to July 1, 2005 acceptable, so a correct older device stays usable and there is no reason to replace it.
Which Colorado documents get the seal?
Documents and plats resulting from the practice of land surveying, and C.R.S. § 12-120-316(2) adds reports. That list differs from the engineer list, which is sheets of engineering drawings plus the cover, title or contents pages of bound specifications, the title pages of bound details and the title or signature page of engineering reports, and from the architect list, which is sheets of architectural drawings. Preliminary work is not exempt from sealing but must be identified as preliminary.
Can I limit what my Colorado seal covers?
Only in writing beside it. A licensee who signs and seals is responsible for the entire document unless a written note adjacent to the seal limits the scope.
What does Colorado require for electronic signatures?
Rule 1.2(B) names the technologies, which is unusual. An electronic signature “can be generated by using either public key infrastructure or signature dynamics technology” and must be unique to the person using it, capable of verification, under that person’s sole control, and linked to the document so that the signature is invalidated if any data in the document are changed. Public key infrastructure is defined as a technology in which trusted parties digitally sign documents certifying that a cryptographic key belongs to a particular user or device; signature dynamics technology is defined as a commercial electronic signature application dedicated to secure routing, authentication and verification with an audit trail.
Does my Colorado seal need recutting at renewal?
No. All licenses this board issues expire on October 31 of odd-numbered years, a single statewide two-year cycle, and the license number does not change on renewal or reinstatement. An expired or retired license may be reinstated by application and fee within two years, and a professional land surveyor whose license has been expired more than six years must retake the Colorado state specific surveying examination. Rule 1.3(A)(3) puts custody on you: “Licensees shall be personally and professionally responsible and accountable for the care, custody, control, and use of their seals,” and for land surveyors that duty extends to unused monument caps bearing the license number.
Does a Colorado surveying firm need registration or a seal?
Neither. Colorado does not license or register surveying, engineering or architecture firms and issues no certificate of authorization. C.R.S. Title 12 Article 120 contains no firm registration provision, and the Division of Professions and Occupations publishes applications only for individual architects, engineers, land surveyors and their intern credentials. No firm number appears on a Colorado plat and no firm holds a seal.
