What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
(OP)
What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
Does the department head seal ALL drawings or does the design engineer working on a project seal the drawings for that project? Or maybe the design engineer co-seals the drawings with the reviewing engineer/department head?
I wonder what the industry standard is.
Does the department head seal ALL drawings or does the design engineer working on a project seal the drawings for that project? Or maybe the design engineer co-seals the drawings with the reviewing engineer/department head?
I wonder what the industry standard is.






RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
Dik
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
Would echo what WARose has intimated. Make sure the company liability *actually* covers any employee signing and stamping things. The reason our principal/president's stamp goes on everything is that he's the only one that actually has coverage under our present policy. Works for us since we're a small outfit and he's at the head of nearly every job and reviews most everything. Would need to look at expanding coverage if we grew too much. But would definitely confirm you're covered by some form of liability insurance before you start stamping stuff...
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
http://mmcengineering.tripod.com
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
This is largely driven by insurance and how the policy is set up more so than an industry standard.
PE, SE
Eastern United States
"If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death!"
~Code of Hammurabi
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
My supervisor was very conscientious about being in responsible charge, making design decisions, and reviewing documents.
Another department head in the same office appeared to just sign whatever he was given and spent his time marketing.
I don't know how typical this is, but many in civil design work in teams of 6 to 8 people and one person on the team, who is the "department head", signs everything. From what I hear from friends, my experience is fairly typical, with many engineers acting correctly and some not doing what they are supposed to do.
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
I've never even purchased my seal making device... all my colleges say that their kids like to use it to play with, that's about all the use they get out of theirs.
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
Currently I seal everything that goes out of my group as I am the only licensed engineer so far. Once others get licensed I think we would have them seal their own work provided we check with our insurance.
I once worked on a very large major project - I was essentially the design engineer, managed all the other structural design efforts, etc. No one knew the project like I did. Yet my boss sealed the plans and I was good with that as we both QC'd the designs together and honestly I was a bit scared to sign/seal such a big project.
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
To tell you the truth, even though I have gotten electronic seals when I have bought rubber one……I don’t trust the people I work with enough to give them such seals. I can just see that going on a drawing and it going out without my knowledge. That’s why I personally seal everything.
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
You're allowed to send electronic copies of wet sealed documents without an electronic key, if that's acceptable to the client, but in that case a physically stamped copy has to exist first to make the copy from.
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
"Prepared by" is pretty clear. However, "under the responsible charge of" gets abused, IMHO. The California Professional Engineers Act defines "responsible charge" as follows: "The phrase “responsible charge of work” means the independent control and direction, by the use of initiative, skill, and independent judgment, of the investigation or design of professional engineering work or the direct engineering control of such projects. The phrase does not refer to the concept of financial liability." So, an engineering project manager or (on a large project) an engineering team leader working under a project manager would almost certainly meet the "responsible charge" requirements. An engineering business owner probably wouldn't unless the company was very small and the owner actually exercised "responsible charge." Being a figurehead on a project doesn't cut it, neither does being the engineer who performs the QC review.
The most egregious cases of abusing "responsible charge" that I personally know of invovled a retired engineer who would stamp and sign development plans prepared by engineering technicians for a small fee. I doubt if his "review" of their work lasted 5 minutes. This was nearly 30 years, but I'm certain it still happens today. IIRC, the retired engineer lost his license over this.
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"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?
You shouldn't stamp something that you disagree with the design of. However, you don't have to make all the major decisions to stamp a document. You dohave to understand them and be in agreement with them. You also have to have the fortitude to say when you disagree and refuse to stamp something if it isn't acceptable.
Unless you're solo or incredibly senior, there are often some fundamental technical or preferential decisions that are made by someone else. They can take the form of company standards, client standards, standard company practice or the preference of more senior people. It's comparable to when your client has an in-house engineer. If they adamantly make a suggestion about design, you're likely going to make a good faith attempt to incorporate it in some way, even if it may not be the optimal solution. As long as you can prove to yourself that it works you certainly wouldn't say he should be stamping the design.
RE: What is your company's policy when it comes to who seals drawings?