Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against chapter 8 of title 27 of the Virgin Islands Code, which creates the Virgin Islands Board of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors and never mentions landscape architecture, together with that board's application and renewal form, which do carry a Landscape Architect line. We could not reconcile the two and could not locate any promulgated rules of this board, so ask the board directly on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
No Virgin Islands statute defines landscape architecture, protects the title or prescribes a seal for it. Title 27 of the code, Professions and Occupations, has no landscape architecture chapter. Chapter 8, which creates the Virgin Islands Board of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors, defines architect, engineer and land surveyor and nothing else, and 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) authorizes a seal bearing the licensee's name and the legend “Architect”, “Engineer”, or “Land Surveyor”. Landscape architect is not one of those legends.
And yet the board's own license application and renewal form carry a Landscape Architect line alongside the three statutory categories. We are reporting that tension rather than resolving it, because the board is the only body that can resolve it. If you hold or want that license, ask the board in writing what, if anything, it expects on a seal.
United States Virgin Islands landscape architect seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | United States Virgin Islands rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Not prescribed. The statute requires a seal of licensees and names three legends. Landscape architect is not one of them. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| Required elements | None prescribed. Chapter 8 defines architect, engineer and land surveyor only, and authorizes only those three legends. | 27 V.I.C. §§ 282, 286(b) |
| Size and shape | Not applicable. Nothing is prescribed for any seal in this chapter, and nothing at all for landscape architecture. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| Device allowed | Not applicable. With no prescribed seal there is no required instrument, so an embosser, an inked stamp or a graphic are all equally a design decision. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| Signature and date | Not prescribed. No landscape architecture document carries a statutory signature or date requirement here. | 27 V.I.C. ch. 8, which is silent |
| What must be sealed | No Virgin Islands filing requires a landscape architect's seal that we could find. Design work reaching a public authority is sealed by a licensed architect or engineer. | 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) |
| Electronic seal | No standard exists for a seal the territory does not prescribe. The general electronic transactions act leaves electronic filing formats to each agency. | 11 V.I.C. §§ 107, 118 |
| Renewal and lapse | Chapter 8 licenses run one year, and DLCA states permanent licenses run September 1 to August 31. How the Landscape Architect line is administered we could not confirm. | 27 V.I.C. § 287(a); DLCA requirements page |
| Firm requirements | No landscape architecture firm category appears on the board's fee schedule, which lists architecture, engineering and land surveying firms. A business license is a separate requirement, and Landscaping consultant is a listed occupation. | 27 V.I.C. §§ 301, 302; DLCA requirements page |
| Regulator | Virgin Islands Board of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors, whose enabling chapter does not mention landscape architecture | 27 V.I.C. § 282a, read on 22 September 2026 |
Is a seal required in the US Virgin Islands?
No seal is prescribed, because no statute regulates the profession. The territory's professions title contains chapters for medicine, psychology, veterinary medicine, naturopathy, counseling, public accounting, accountancy, trades and crafts, architects and engineers and land surveyors, business and occupation licensing, construction contractors, scrap metal dealers, hotelkeepers, real estate brokers, real estate appraisers, barbers and beauticians, locksmiths and social workers. There is no landscape architecture chapter. The seal duty in § 286(b) reaches only the licensees chapter 8 defines, and it authorizes three legends: Architect, Engineer and Land Surveyor.
The Landscape Architect line on the board's form
Here is the wrinkle, and it is a real one. The board's license application and its renewal application form both list a Landscape Architect category among the license types, sitting with architect, engineer, land surveyor and the in-training categories. Nothing in chapter 8 supports it: the definitions section does not mention landscape architecture, the licensing requirements section does not mention it, and the seal subsection does not authorize a landscape architect legend. The renewal fee schedule we read lists architects, engineers, land surveyors, in-training candidates and the three firm categories. We cannot tell you how the line is administered, only that it is printed on the form.
What we would put on the seal, and what we would leave off
Since nothing is prescribed, the design is yours, and one limit is worth stating plainly. Put your own name, your firm name, a monogram or logo, and the exact name of any credential you actually hold with the jurisdiction that issued it named alongside. Leave off any construction that borrows the statutory pattern, and in particular avoid a die reading Licensed Landscape Architect, United States Virgin Islands. Section 289 makes it a misdemeanor to use a title tending to convey that you are licensed here as an architect, engineer or land surveyor when you are not, so a legend that reads as a territorial architecture credential is the one thing worth avoiding.
Size and shape
Not applicable. The territory prescribes no landscape architect seal and therefore no diameter, no shape and no minimum size. It prescribes no dimension for the three seals it does require either, so there is no house standard to borrow from. Because nothing is fixed, the size is a legibility decision. For reference rather than as a rule, the round dies we cut most often where nothing is regulated fall between 1-1/2″ and 2″, and rectangular blocks around 2-1/2″ by 1″, which is our own production experience.
Which documents must be sealed
No Virgin Islands filing requires a landscape architect's seal that we could find. Where landscape work reaches a regulated submittal, the sealing licensee is an architect or an engineer under § 286(b), and the exemptions in § 291(6) and (7) let each of those licensees do work incidental to the other's practice. The building code does not add a requirement: 29 V.I.C. § 294 asks that every drawing sheet bear the name of whoever prepared it and that the permit application name who will supervise the work, but it requires no seal and no licensed preparer.
The business license is the requirement people actually miss
The territory regulates a great deal of ordinary commercial activity through business and occupation licensing rather than through practice acts. Under 27 V.I.C. § 301 every person or association wishing to engage in a business, occupation, profession or trade listed in § 302 must obtain a license from the commissioner of DLCA, and that license must be put into active use within ninety days. The § 302 list includes Landscaping consultant and Landscaping, garden, maintenance service. That is a revenue and trade license rather than a professional credential, and it confers no authority to seal anything.
Electronic and digital seals
Not applicable. No electronic seal standard exists for a profession the territory does not regulate, and the board publishes no electronic seal standard even for the three professions it does license. The general framework is the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act at title 11, chapter 1: § 107 gives electronic records and signatures legal effect, and § 118 leaves each Virgin Islands agency to decide whether and in what format it accepts them. An image of your own device in a PDF is governed by your own practice and carries no territorial authority.
Renewal, lapse and firms
There is no landscape architecture license in the statute to renew or to lapse. For the licenses chapter 8 does create, a license is valid one year from issuance, DLCA states permanent licenses run September 1 to August 31, and § 287(b) invalidates a license automatically if the licensee leaves the Virgin Islands. There is no certificate of authorization for firms in any of the three professions; § 291(4) permits practice through a partnership or corporation provided the individuals are licensed and personally liable. The board's fee schedule covers architecture, engineering and land surveying firms, and no landscape architecture firm category appears on it.
If you are licensed somewhere else
A landscape architect licensed in a mainland state should order that state's seal to that state's own specification and use it only for work there. Do not adapt the legend to the territory, and do not add the words United States Virgin Islands to a die that asserts a credential no Virgin Islands statute grants. If you are also licensed here as an architect or an engineer, order that device to whatever design the board authorizes under § 286(b) and keep the two separate, because combining the legends would misdescribe both.
What we could not confirm, and what to check before you order
We read the title 27 chapter list, chapter 8 in full, §§ 301 and 302 of chapter 9, the electronic transactions act, the building permit sections of title 29, DLCA's board listing and the board's own application and renewal form. Three things we could not confirm. One: what the Landscape Architect line on the board's form actually is, since no statute creates it. Two: whether any promulgated rules of this board exist; DLCA publishes rules for the Board of Public Accountancy and nothing comparable surfaced for this one. Three: whether the board would authorize a landscape architect legend under § 286(b), which names only three. Ask the board before you order anything that asserts a territorial credential, then contact us with what it tells you. This page is research, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Does the US Virgin Islands license landscape architects?
No statute does. Title 27 has no landscape architecture chapter, and chapter 8 defines only architect, engineer and land surveyor. The board's own application and renewal form nevertheless carry a Landscape Architect line, which we are reporting without being able to explain it.
Is a landscape architect seal required there?
Nothing prescribes one. The seal duty in 27 V.I.C. § 286(b) reaches the licensees chapter 8 defines and authorizes three legends: Architect, Engineer and Land Surveyor. There is no landscape architect legend, no element list and no dimension.
What can I put on a Virgin Islands landscape architect stamp?
Whatever is true of you: your name as you use it professionally, your firm name, a monogram or logo, and the exact name of any credential you hold with the jurisdiction that issued it named alongside. No territorial element list governs it.
What should I keep off it?
Any legend that reads as a Virgin Islands architecture credential. Section 289 makes it a misdemeanor to use a title tending to convey that you are licensed here as an architect, engineer or land surveyor when you are not, so avoid a die reading Licensed Landscape Architect, United States Virgin Islands.
What size and shape should it be?
Any, because nothing is prescribed. The round dies we cut most often where nothing is regulated fall between 1-1/2″ and 2″, and rectangular blocks around 2-1/2″ by 1″. That is our production experience, not a territorial rule.
Who seals landscape work on a permit set here?
A licensed architect or engineer under § 286(b). The exemptions at § 291(6) and (7) let an architect do engineering work incidental to architecture and an engineer do architectural work incidental to engineering, and that licensee carries the responsibility.
Do I need a business license to do landscape work?
27 V.I.C. § 301 requires a license from the commissioner of DLCA for any business, occupation, profession or trade listed in § 302, and that list includes Landscaping consultant and Landscaping, garden, maintenance service. It is a trade license, not a professional credential, and it confers no authority to seal anything.
How confident are you in this page?
Confident that no statute creates the profession or its seal, and openly unable to explain the board's form. We read the title 27 chapter list, chapter 8 in full, the business licensing sections, DLCA's board listing and the board's application and renewal form. Ask the board about the Landscape Architect line before relying on it.
