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 Massachusetts Board of Registration of Architects and 231 CMR 4.02 on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
Your city or town goes on the face of the seal. No other state asks for that. 231 CMR 4.02(1) requires each registrant to procure and use a rubber seal conforming exactly to the figure printed in the regulation “except for insertion of the registrant’s own name, his registration number and the name of the city or town from which he is registered, and excepting further that the seal of an out-of-state registrant shall also show the name of his state, province or territory.” That last line is an additional element, not a substitute for the city or town.
The device type is the second surprise, and it runs against the usual advice. The rule says the registrant shall procure and use “a rubber seal.” That is a specified type rather than a general permission. Massachusetts engineers and land surveyors may use a rubber stamp, an embossed seal or a digitized computer generated image under 250 CMR 5.03, and Massachusetts landscape architects get a three way choice under 242 CMR 3.04. The architects’ board names one form.
Size is controlled without being stated. The design, arrangement, size and working must conform exactly with the figure printed in the regulation, and no dimension appears in the text. Work from the Board’s printed figure, and do not import the approximately one and one half inch figure from 250 CMR 5.03, which belongs to the engineers and land surveyors board.
Massachusetts architect seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Massachusetts rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | 231 CMR 4.02 |
| Required elements | Your own name; Your registration number; The name of the city or town from which you are registered; For an out of state registrant, the name of your state, province or territory; The figure printed in the regulation | 231 CMR 4.02(1) |
| Size and shape | Not stated as a number; fixed by the printed figure. 231 CMR 4.02(1) requires the design, arrangement, size and working to conform exactly with the figure printed in the regulation, so the size is controlled but is not expressed as a dimension in the text. | 231 CMR 4.02(1) |
| Device allowed | A rubber seal, named in the rule. 231 CMR 4.02(1) says the registrant shall procure and use “a rubber seal.” That is a specified device type, not a general permission, and it is a real divergence inside Massachusetts: the engineers and land surveyors rule at 250 CMR 5.03 allows a rubber stamp, an embossed seal or a digitized computer generated image, and the landscape architects rule at 242 CMR 3.04 allows a metal embossing device, a rubber stamp or an electronically generated image. | 231 CMR 4.02(1) |
| Signature and date | Not addressed in 231 CMR 4.00. | 231 CMR 4.02 (silent as to signature placement and date) |
| What must be sealed | 231 CMR 4.02(1) requires the seal to be procured and used, and 231 CMR 4.02(2) describes the intended use as the architect’s personal use in connection with plans, specifications and other instruments of architectural service prepared under the architect’s responsible control and for which the architect will be responsible. | 231 CMR 4.02(2), 4.03, 4.04, 4.05 |
| Electronic seal | Not addressed. 231 CMR 4.00 contains no electronic or digital seal provision and no digital signature criteria. | 231 CMR 4.00 (silent) |
| Renewal and lapse | 231 CMR 3.00 governs procedures for application, examination, registration and renewal. 231 CMR 4.02(2) makes the seal personal and expressly not transferable, and 231 CMR 4.05 sets grounds for disciplinary action. | 231 CMR 3.00, 4.02(2), 4.05 |
| Firm requirements | No firm seal. 231 CMR 4.04 governs practice in corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships, and 231 CMR 4.02(1) limits the face to the registrant’s own name, registration number and city or town. | 231 CMR 4.02(1), 4.04 |
| Regulator | The Massachusetts Board of Registration of Architects | 231 CMR 2.00, General Provisions, and 231 CMR 4.00, Rules of Professional Conduct, both read in full from the board’s published documents on mass.gov, with 231 CMR 4.02 headed Design and Use of Architect’s Seal |
Is a seal required in Massachusetts?
The duty is in the board’s rules of professional conduct. 231 CMR 4.02(1) provides that “Each person registered to practice architecture in the Commonwealth shall procure and use a rubber seal the design, arrangement, size and working of which shall conform exactly with the figure below except for insertion of the registrant’s own name, his registration number and the name of the city or town from which he is registered, and excepting further that the seal of an out-of-state registrant shall also show the name of his state, province or territory.” Subsection (2) makes the seal personal and non transferable, and subsection (3) provides that the architect uses the official seal as prima facie evidence that the plans and other instruments of service on which it appears were produced by the architect or under the architect’s responsible control.
What must appear on the seal
- Your own name
- Your registration number
- The name of the city or town from which you are registered
- For an out of state registrant, the name of your state, province or territory
- The figure printed in the regulation
Nothing is optional, and the rule is unusually strict about it: the design, arrangement, size and working of the seal “shall conform exactly with the figure below” except for the three insertions the rule names. That phrasing leaves no room for a firm name, a branch line, an expiration date or a house border. The city or town element is the one most out of state suppliers have never encountered, and the out of state registrant line is an additional element rather than a substitute for it.
Size and shape
Not stated as a number; fixed by the printed figure. 231 CMR 4.02(1) requires the design, arrangement, size and working to conform exactly with the figure printed in the regulation, so the size is controlled but is not expressed as a dimension in the text. The sources here are 231 CMR 2.00 in full, which contains no seal provision, and 231 CMR 4.00 in full. Work from the Board’s printed figure rather than from a stated diameter, and do not import the approximately one and one half inch figure from 250 CMR 5.03, which belongs to the engineers and land surveyors board.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
A rubber seal, named in the rule. 231 CMR 4.02(1) says the registrant shall procure and use “a rubber seal.” That is a specified device type, not a general permission, and it is a real divergence inside Massachusetts: the engineers and land surveyors rule at 250 CMR 5.03 allows a rubber stamp, an embossed seal or a digitized computer generated image, and the landscape architects rule at 242 CMR 3.04 allows a metal embossing device, a rubber stamp or an electronically generated image. The architect rule names one form. An embosser is not what 231 CMR 4.02(1) describes.
Signing and dating
Not addressed in 231 CMR 4.00. The rules of professional conduct do not require a signature across the seal, do not require a signature adjacent to it, and do not require a date beside it. The sources here are 231 CMR 4.00 in full, all five sections, and 231 CMR 2.00 in full. The seal itself is the evidentiary act under 231 CMR 4.02(3), which treats the seal as prima facie evidence that the instruments on which it appears were produced by the architect or under the architect’s responsible control.
Your city or town goes on the seal, and the rule says rubber
231 CMR 4.02(1) asks for something no other state asks for: the name of the city or town from which the architect is registered, inserted on the seal alongside the architect’s own name and registration number. An out of state registrant carries that plus the name of the registrant’s state, province or territory. A supplier working from a generic architect template will not have a field for it, and a Massachusetts architect who moves practice to another city has a seal that no longer matches the register.
Which documents must be sealed
231 CMR 4.02(1) requires the seal to be procured and used, and 231 CMR 4.02(2) describes the intended use as the architect’s personal use in connection with plans, specifications and other instruments of architectural service prepared under the architect’s responsible control and for which the architect will be responsible. The statutory backdrop is M.G.L. c. 112, §§ 60A to 60O, with § 60K restricting practice and use of the architect title to registrants. 231 CMR 4.03 governs restricted and prohibited uses of professional titles, 231 CMR 4.04 practice in corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships, and 231 CMR 4.05 grounds for disciplinary action.
Electronic and digital seals
Not addressed. 231 CMR 4.00 contains no electronic or digital seal provision and no digital signature criteria. The sources here are all five sections, 4.01 through 4.05, and 231 CMR 2.00 in full. That is a striking gap beside the two neighboring Massachusetts boards: 250 CMR 5.03(11) sets digital signature criteria for engineers and land surveyors, and 242 CMR 3.04 expressly permits an electronically generated image for landscape architects. The architect rule names a rubber seal and stops there. Treat an electronic Massachusetts architect seal as unaddressed rather than authorized.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
231 CMR 3.00 governs procedures for application, examination, registration and renewal. 231 CMR 4.02(2) makes the seal personal and expressly not transferable, and 231 CMR 4.05 sets grounds for disciplinary action. Because the seal carries a registration number and no expiration date, renewal does not make the device stale. What does force a new seal is a move: the city or town from which you are registered is a required element, so a registrant who relocates has a seal that no longer matches the register.
Firm requirements
No firm seal. 231 CMR 4.04 governs practice in corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships, and 231 CMR 4.02(1) limits the face to the registrant’s own name, registration number and city or town. No firm name and no firm number belongs on the device. That is a contrast with North Carolina, where G.S. 83A-10(a) requires a separate Board approved architectural firm seal alongside the individual one.
What to check before you order
Order a rubber seal, because 231 CMR 4.02(1) names that device by type, and build it to the figure printed in the regulation, whose design, arrangement, size and working the rule requires you to match exactly. Three insertions are yours: your own name, your registration number, and the name of the city or town from which you are registered. If you are registered from outside Massachusetts, add the name of your state, province or territory as well. Do not add a firm name, an expiration date or a branch line, and do not import the approximately one and one half inch figure that Massachusetts gives its engineers and land surveyors. If you relocate, reorder, because the city or town is part of the face.
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Frequently asked questions
Is an architect seal required in Massachusetts?
Yes. 231 CMR 4.02(1) requires each person registered to practice architecture in the Commonwealth to procure and use a rubber seal conforming exactly with the figure printed in the regulation. Subsection (3) supplies the purpose: the architect uses the official seal as prima facie evidence that the plans and other instruments of service on which it appears were produced by the architect or under the architect’s responsible control.
What has to appear on a Massachusetts architect seal?
The figure printed in the regulation, with three insertions: your own name, your registration number, and the name of the city or town from which you are registered. An out of state registrant adds the name of their state, province or territory. Nothing else is permitted, because the design, arrangement, size and working “shall conform exactly with the figure below” except for those insertions. No firm name, branch line, expiration date or house border belongs on it.
What size is a Massachusetts architect seal?
The size is controlled by the printed figure rather than stated as a number. 231 CMR 4.02(1) requires the design, arrangement, size and working to conform exactly with the figure in the regulation, and no dimension appears in the text. 231 CMR 2.00 contains no seal provision at all. Work from the Board’s figure.
Can I use an embosser in Massachusetts?
An embosser is not what 231 CMR 4.02(1) describes. The rule names a rubber seal by type. That is a real divergence inside Massachusetts, where 250 CMR 5.03 allows engineers and land surveyors a rubber stamp, an embossed seal or a digitized computer generated image, and 242 CMR 3.04 allows landscape architects a metal embossing device, a rubber stamp or an electronically generated image. One board in this state names one device, and it is the architects’ board.
Does Massachusetts require a signature or a date with the seal?
231 CMR 4.00 does not. Its five sections do not require a signature across the seal, do not require one adjacent to it, and do not require a date beside it, and 231 CMR 2.00 adds nothing. The seal itself is the evidentiary act under 231 CMR 4.02(3). Where a Massachusetts building department asks for a signature, it is asking under its own practice rather than under 231 CMR.
What is a Massachusetts architect seal used on?
231 CMR 4.02(2) describes the intended use as the architect’s personal use in connection with plans, specifications and other instruments of architectural service prepared under the architect’s responsible control and for which the architect will be responsible. The statutory backdrop is M.G.L. c. 112, §§ 60A to 60O, with § 60K restricting practice and use of the architect title to registrants.
Can I lend my Massachusetts seal to someone?
No. 231 CMR 4.02(2) makes the seal personal and expressly not transferable. 231 CMR 4.03 governs restricted and prohibited uses of professional titles, 231 CMR 4.04 practice in corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships, and 231 CMR 4.05 grounds for disciplinary action.
Can I seal drawings electronically in Massachusetts?
231 CMR 4.00 contains no electronic or digital seal provision and no digital signature criteria across all five sections, 4.01 through 4.05, and 231 CMR 2.00 is silent too. That is a striking gap beside the two neighboring boards: 250 CMR 5.03(11) sets digital signature criteria for engineers and land surveyors, and 242 CMR 3.04 expressly permits an electronically generated image for landscape architects. Treat an electronic Massachusetts architect seal as unaddressed rather than authorized.
Do I need a new seal if I move?
Yes, if the city or town changes. The city or town from which you are registered is a required element, so a registrant who relocates has a seal that no longer matches the register. Renewal is a different matter: the seal carries a registration number and no expiration date, so renewal does not make the device stale. Procedures for application, examination, registration and renewal sit in 231 CMR 3.00.
Does a Massachusetts architecture firm get its own seal?
No. 231 CMR 4.04 governs practice in corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships, and 231 CMR 4.02(1) limits the face to your own name, registration number and city or town. No firm name and no firm number belongs on the device. North Carolina goes the other way, requiring a separate Board approved architectural firm seal alongside the individual one under G.S. 83A-10(a).
