Ala. Admin. Code r. 330-X-11-.03 - Seal On Documents

(1) The seal, signature, and date of signature on a document signify that the document was prepared by the licensee or under his or her responsible charge, or that the licensee has reviewed the document in sufficient depth to fully coordinate and assume responsibility for documents prepared by another licensed professional engineer or licensed professional land surveyor.

(2) Two or more licensees may affix their signatures and seals on the same sheet provided it is designated by a note under the seal the specific subject matter for which each is responsible. In addition, each drawing shall be sealed and signed by the licensee or licensees responsible for each sheet.

(3) The seal and signature shall be placed on work only when it was under the licensee's responsible charge. The licensee shall only sign and seal work within their area of competence.

(a) Each design sheet for engineering practice and each map, plat or chart sheets for land surveying practice, shall be signed, sealed, and dated by the licensee who prepared the documents or under whose responsible charge the documents were prepared.

(b) For reports and specifications when more than one sheet is bound together in one volume, the licensee who prepared the volume, or under whose responsible charge the volume was prepared, may sign, seal, and date only the title or index sheet, provided that this sheet clearly identifies all of the other sheets comprising the bound volume, and provided that any of the other sheets which were prepared by, or under the responsible charge of, another licensee, be signed, sealed, and dated by the other licensee.

(c) Letters containing engineering or surveying recommendations should be signed and sealed on the signature page, whether those documents are transmitted via hard copy or electronic means.

(4) Plans, plats, specifications, drawings, reports, or other documents will be deemed to have been prepared under the responsible charge of a licensee only when all of the following conditions have been met and documented:

(a) The client requesting preparation of such plans, plats, specifications, drawings, reports, or other documents makes the request directly to the licensee, or a member or employee of the licensee's firm;

(b) The licensee supervises the preparation of the plans, plats, specifications, drawings, reports, or other documents and has input into their preparation prior to their completion;

(c) The licensee reviews the final plans, plats, specifications, drawings, reports, or other documents; and

(d) The licensee has the authority to, and does, make any necessary and appropriate changes to the final plans, plats, specifications, drawings, reports, or other documents.

(5) Any revision to a document containing the seal and signature of a licensee shall be described and dated. If the revisions are not done by the original licensee, the revisions must also be signed and sealed by the licensee in responsible charge of those revisions. The original seal and signature shall not be removed.

(6) The seal, signature, and date of signing shall be placed on all final specifications, land surveys, reports, plats, drawings, plans, design information, and calculations whenever presented to a client or any public or governmental agency to certify that the work was done by the licensee or under the responsible charge of the licensee. All work products presented which are not final shall be so identified. Working drawings or preliminary documents are not required to have a seal and signature if the working drawing or preliminary document contains a statement in large bold letters to the effect "PRELIMINARY, NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION, RECORDING PURPOSES OR IMPLEMENTATION."

(7) Working drawings consisting of sketches, reports, or otherwise a work product which is in whole or part intended to communicate work to be performed or for use in specific proposals and/or becomes a part of defining the scope of a contract for work, must be sealed, signed, and dated by the licensee who prepared these documents or under whose direct control and personal supervision they were prepared.

(8) A computer generated seal or facsimile is acceptable only when the signature of the professional engineer or professional land surveyor and the date the document was signed are on or adjacent to the computer generated or facsimile seal. Any variation from this procedure must be submitted to and approved by the Board. Drawings, specifications, plans, reports, or documents which do not require certification may be transmitted electronically but shall have the generated seal, if any, removed before transmitting and shall have the following inserted in lieu of the signature and date: "This document originally issued and sealed by (name of licensee), P.E. # ______ /P.L.S.# ______ on (date of sealing). This document should not be considered a certified document."

(9) In circumstances where a licensee in responsible charge of the work is unavailable to complete the work, or the work is a site adaptation of a standard design plan, or the work is a design plan signed and sealed by an out-of-jurisdiction licensee, a successor licensee may take responsible charge by performing all professional services to include developing a complete design file with work or design criteria, calculations, code research, and any necessary and appropriate changes to the work. The non-professional services, such as drafting, need not be redone by the successor licensee but must clearly and accurately reflect the successor licensee's work. The burden is on the successor licensee to show such compliance. The successor licensee shall have control of and responsibility for the work product and the signed and sealed originals of all documents.

(10) The seal and signature shall be placed on all original copy, tracings, or other reproducible documents so that the seal and signature will be reproduced when copies are made.

Notes

Ala. Admin. Code r. 330-X-11-.03

Filed September 22, 1982. Amended: Filed March 5, 1990. Amended: Filed September 13, 1994; effective October 18, 1994. Amended: Filed September 23, 1998; effective October 28, 1998. Amended: Filed April 29, 2003; effective June 3, 2003. Amended: Filed December 15, 2004; effective January 19, 2005. Amended: Filed October 30, 2006; effective December 4, 2006. Amended: Filed June 22, 2012; effective July 27, 2012. Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XXXII, Issue No. 11, August 29, 2014, eff. 9/3/2014. Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XXXIII, Issue No. 11, August 31, 2015, eff. 9/9/2015.

Author: Board

Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 34-11-9, 34-11-35.