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 Wisconsin Examining Board of Professional Geologists, Hydrologists and Soil Scientists and Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1), (4) on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
Wisconsin geologists cannot use a scanned or pasted seal image, and no rule gives them a digital one instead. Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(7) provides that “All seals or stamps affixed to drawings to be filed as public documents shall be original. No stickers or electronically scanned images may be used.” Nothing anywhere in ch. GHSS 1 to 5 supplies an authorized electronic alternative, and Wis. Stat. ch. 470, which creates the license, says nothing about seals at all. The other six Wisconsin design professions were expressly permitted digital seals when CR 24-028 recreated § A-E 2.02(3) effective 1 June 2025, and the geology chapter, unchanged on this point since Register December 1999 No. 528, was not brought along. Order a rubber stamp and do not pay for a digital seal file.
The design comes from another board’s rule. GHSS 1.03(2) declines to print the approved designs and instead refers you to the seal design set forth at § A-E 2.02, which belongs to the architects and engineers board. So you build to their artwork while taking the size, the elements and the sealing duty from GHSS 1.03.
Three elements, and one of them catches national suppliers out. GHSS 1.03(1) requires that “Each seal shall include the licensee’s name, license or permit number and city.” The city is required and almost no geology seal template from another state carries it. Overall diameter runs not less than 1 5/8 inches and not more than 2 inches.
Wisconsin geologist seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Wisconsin rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Yes | Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1), (4) |
| Required elements | Your name, Your license or permit number and Your city | Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1) |
| Size and shape | Not less than 1 5/8 inches and not more than 2 inches overall diameter. | Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1) |
| Device allowed | GHSS 1.03(3): “A rubber stamp, identical in size, design and content to a board-approved seal, may be used as a substitute for a licensure seal.” The rubber stamp is therefore expressly authorized and is the safe buy. | Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(3), (7) |
| Signature and date | GHSS 1.03(7) is specific and strict: “All seals and stamps on drawings shall be signed and dated by the licensed professional in permanent ink contrasting with both the seal and the background.” Permanent ink, and it has to contrast with the seal and with the paper. | Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(6), (7) |
| What must be sealed | Every sheet of plans, drawings, documents, specifications and reports for professional geology practice, under GHSS 1.03(4). | Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(4), (5) |
| Electronic seal | Electronic and scanned seals are prohibited on public documents. | Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(7) |
| Renewal and lapse | GHSS 1.05(1) allows a license to be renewed on approval of the application and payment of the renewal fee if the application comes less than five years after expiration. | Wis. Admin. Code §§ GHSS 1.04, GHSS 1.05, GHSS 2.14 |
| Firm requirements | Not applicable as a certificate of authorization. | Wis. Stat. §§ 470.045, 443.08(2) |
| Regulator | The Wisconsin Examining Board of Professional Geologists, Hydrologists and Soil Scientists | Wis. Admin. Code ch. GHSS 1 (§§ GHSS 1.01 to 1.07), principally GHSS 1.03 licensure seals, with GHSS 2.14 and Wis. Stat. ch. 470, from the Wisconsin Legislature’s published administrative code and statutes. GHSS 1.03(2) cross-references the seal design at § A-E 2.02, the architects and engineers chapter, but the size, elements, sealing duty and the ban on scanned images are in GHSS 1.03 itself. |
Is a seal required in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin geologists are regulated by a different board and a different administrative code chapter from the state’s architects and engineers, and the seal duty sits entirely in that chapter. Wis. Admin. Code § GHSS 1.03(1): “Each professional geologist, hydrologist and soil scientist shall obtain a seal that complies with board specifications for licensure seals.” GHSS 1.03(4) sets the reach: “Each sheet of plans, drawings, documents, specifications and reports for professional geology, hydrology and soil science practice shall be signed, sealed and dated by the licensee who prepared, or directed and controlled preparation of, the written material,” except as provided in sub. (5). Wis. Stat. ch. 470 creates the license but contains no seal provision at all.
What must appear on the seal
- Your name
- Your license or permit number
- Your city
GHSS 1.03(1) requires that “Each seal shall include the licensee’s name, license or permit number and city.” The city is a required element and almost no geology seal template from another state carries it. Note the phrase license or permit number, which accommodates permit holders as well as licensees. For the design itself GHSS 1.03(2) does not print one; it cross-references the other board: the approved licensure seal designs are the seal design set forth at § A-E 2.02. That is the architects and engineers chapter, so the artwork you build to comes from there even though your credential comes from the geologists, hydrologists and soil scientists board.
Size and shape
Not less than 1 5/8 inches and not more than 2 inches overall diameter. GHSS 1.03(1): “The overall diameter may not be less than 1 5/8 inches nor more than 2 inches.” That is the same range A-E 2.02(1) sets for architects, engineers, landscape architects, designers, land surveyors and registered interior designers, so Wisconsin is dimensionally consistent across two separate boards.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
GHSS 1.03(3): “A rubber stamp, identical in size, design and content to a board-approved seal, may be used as a substitute for a licensure seal.” The rubber stamp is therefore expressly authorized and is the safe buy. What is not authorized here is any digital device, which is the sharpest divergence between this chapter and the one governing Wisconsin architects and engineers.
Signing and dating
GHSS 1.03(7) is specific and strict: “All seals and stamps on drawings shall be signed and dated by the licensed professional in permanent ink contrasting with both the seal and the background.” Permanent ink, and it has to contrast with the seal and with the paper. A date is mandatory. The rule does not require the signature to cross the seal. GHSS 1.03(6) then requires any addition, deletion or other revision to a sheet that affects public health and safety or any state or local code requirement to be signed, sealed and dated by the licensee who made or directed it.
Wisconsin geologists cannot use a digital seal, and their design lives in another board’s rule
Two sentences in GHSS 1.03(7) settle it: “All seals or stamps affixed to drawings to be filed as public documents shall be original. No stickers or electronically scanned images may be used.” That is a flat prohibition on the scanned or pasted seal image, and nothing anywhere in ch. GHSS 1 to 5 supplies an authorized electronic alternative. Wisconsin architects and engineers got one in June 2025 when CR 24-028 recreated A-E 2.02(3) to permit a digitally printed or digitally embedded seal. The geology chapter, unchanged on this point since Register December 1999 No. 528, did not follow, so the divergence is real and current.
The same subsection adds a physical specification most states leave to custom: the signature and date must be in permanent ink “contrasting with both the seal and the background.” Black on black does not satisfy it.
The other oddity is where the design comes from. GHSS 1.03(2) declines to print the approved designs and instead refers the reader to the seal design set forth at § A-E 2.02, which belongs to the architects and engineers board. So a Wisconsin geologist builds to another board’s artwork while taking the size, the elements and the sealing duty from GHSS 1.03. Those elements are your name, your license or permit number and your city, with the city being the line a national supplier will omit.
Finally, do not look in Wis. Stat. ch. 470 for any of this. The statute creating the license says nothing about seals at all.
Which documents must be sealed
Every sheet of plans, drawings, documents, specifications and reports for professional geology practice, under GHSS 1.03(4). The relief in GHSS 1.03(5) is the bound-volume rule: where more than one sheet is bound together in a volume, the licensee who prepared or directed and controlled the volume may sign, seal and date only the title or index sheet, provided that sheet clearly identifies all other sheets in the volume and any sheets prepared by or under another licensee are signed, sealed and dated by that other licensee. GHSS 1.06 carves out wetlands mapping described in Wis. Stat. § 23.32(2)(c) from the licensure requirement in Wis. Stat. § 470.02 in defined circumstances.
Electronic and digital seals
Electronic and scanned seals are prohibited on public documents. GHSS 1.03(7): “All seals or stamps affixed to drawings to be filed as public documents shall be original. No stickers or electronically scanned images may be used.” Nothing in ch. GHSS 1 to 5 authorizes a digitally printed or digitally embedded seal, and Wis. Stat. ch. 470 is silent on seals entirely. This is a genuine divergence inside Wisconsin: A-E 2.02(3), as recreated by CR 24-028 effective 1 June 2025, expressly permits architects, engineers, landscape architects, designers, land surveyors and registered interior designers to use a digitally printed or digitally embedded seal. The geology chapter, last substantively amended for these purposes in Register December 1999 No. 528, was not brought along.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
GHSS 1.05(1) allows a license to be renewed on approval of the application and payment of the renewal fee if the application comes less than five years after expiration. Beyond five years, GHSS 1.05(2) requires the board to determine whether the applicant is competent to practice, to review the applicant’s practice within the previous five years in other licensing jurisdictions, and to impose any reasonable conditions on reinstatement, which may include completing current original-licensure requirements. Late renewal and reinstatement continuing education for professional geologists is at GHSS 2.14. Nothing in the chapter requires the seal to be surrendered or destroyed, and nothing changes the license number. GHSS 1.04 requires you to notify the board of a name or address change under Wis. Stat. § 440.11(1), which matters because your name and city are both on the seal.
Firm requirements
Not applicable as a certificate of authorization. Wis. Stat. § 470.045 addresses firms, partnerships and corporations in the geology, hydrology and soil science context, but neither ch. 470 nor ch. GHSS 1 to 5 creates a board certificate of authorization, gives a firm a seal, or requires a firm number to appear on a sealed document. The certificate of authorization requirement in Wis. Stat. § 443.08(2) belongs to the architects and engineers board and names architects, professional engineers, designers and registered interior designers, none of which is a professional geologist. The seal and the signature attach to the individual licensee.
What to check before you order
Order a rubber stamp, and only a rubber stamp. GHSS 1.03(3) authorizes one expressly and GHSS 1.03(7) bars stickers and electronically scanned images on drawings filed as public documents, so do not pay for a digital seal file on the strength of what Wisconsin allows its architects and engineers. Specify an overall diameter between 1 5/8 and 2 inches and three elements: your name, your license or permit number and your city. Ask the supplier to build to the seal design set forth at § A-E 2.02, because GHSS 1.03(2) sends you to that chapter for the artwork rather than printing its own. Buy a pen with permanent ink that contrasts with both the seal and the sheet, since the rule requires the signature and date to contrast with both. Reorder if you change your name or your city, and tell the board within the time Wis. Stat. § 440.11(1) allows.
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Frequently asked questions
Is a geologist seal required in Wisconsin?
Yes. GHSS 1.03(1) requires each professional geologist, hydrologist and soil scientist to obtain a seal that complies with board specifications, and GHSS 1.03(4) requires that “Each sheet of plans, drawings, documents, specifications and reports for professional geology, hydrology and soil science practice shall be signed, sealed and dated by the licensee who prepared, or directed and controlled preparation of, the written material,” except as provided in sub. (5).
Can I use a digital or scanned seal?
GHSS 1.03(7) requires seals and stamps affixed to drawings to be filed as public documents to be original and bars stickers and electronically scanned images, and no provision in ch. GHSS 1 to 5 authorizes a digitally printed or digitally embedded seal. Wisconsin architects, engineers, landscape architects, designers, land surveyors and registered interior designers do have one under § A-E 2.02(3) as of 1 June 2025, and that permission does not extend to geologists. The practical answer is to seal originals with a physical stamp.
What size is a Wisconsin geologist seal?
Not less than 1 5/8 inches and not more than 2 inches overall diameter, under GHSS 1.03(1). That is the same range § A-E 2.02(1) sets for the other six professions, so Wisconsin is dimensionally consistent across two separate boards.
What goes on the face?
Your name, your license or permit number, and your city. The phrase license or permit number accommodates permit holders as well as licensees, and the city is the line a national supplier will omit. Build the artwork to the seal design set forth at § A-E 2.02, because GHSS 1.03(2) sends you there rather than printing its own.
Rubber stamp or something else?
A rubber stamp, expressly. GHSS 1.03(3) provides that “A rubber stamp, identical in size, design and content to a board-approved seal, may be used as a substitute for a licensure seal,” and given the ban on stickers and scanned images that is the safe buy.
What ink do I sign with?
Permanent ink that contrasts with both the seal and the background. GHSS 1.03(7) is specific: “All seals and stamps on drawings shall be signed and dated by the licensed professional in permanent ink contrasting with both the seal and the background.” Black on black does not satisfy it, and a date is mandatory. The rule does not require the signature to cross the seal.
Do I seal every sheet?
Every sheet, unless the volume is bound. GHSS 1.03(5) provides that where more than one sheet is bound together in a volume, the licensee who prepared or directed and controlled the volume may sign, seal and date only the title or index sheet, provided that sheet clearly identifies all other sheets and any sheets prepared by or under another licensee are signed, sealed and dated by that other licensee.
How do revisions work?
GHSS 1.03(6) requires any addition, deletion or other revision to a sheet that affects public health and safety or any state or local code requirement to be signed, sealed and dated by the licensee who made or directed it.
Do I need to reorder if I move?
Yes, because your city is on the seal. GHSS 1.04 also requires you to notify the board of a name or address change under Wis. Stat. § 440.11(1), and a name change equally means a new die since your name is a required element.
What happens if my license lapses?
GHSS 1.05(1) allows renewal on approval of the application and payment of the fee if the application comes less than five years after expiration. Beyond five years, GHSS 1.05(2) requires the board to determine whether you are competent to practice, review your practice within the previous five years in other licensing jurisdictions, and impose any reasonable conditions on reinstatement, which may include completing current original-licensure requirements. Late renewal and reinstatement continuing education for professional geologists is at GHSS 2.14. Nothing requires the seal to be surrendered and the license number does not change.
Does a Wisconsin geology firm need a certificate of authorization?
No. Wis. Stat. § 470.045 addresses firms, partnerships and corporations in the geology, hydrology and soil science context, but neither ch. 470 nor ch. GHSS 1 to 5 creates a board certificate of authorization, gives a firm a seal, or requires a firm number on a sealed document. The requirement in Wis. Stat. § 443.08(2) belongs to the architects and engineers board and names architects, professional engineers, designers and registered interior designers, none of which is a professional geologist.
