Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 180 - GEORGIA PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND LAND SURVEYORS BOARD › Chapter 180-12 - SEALING OF DOCUMENTS › Rule 180-12-.02 - Sealing of Documents

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1)
			 The term, "documents," as used herein shall mean engineering and/or land
			 surveying work issued in the form of plans, drawings, maps, surveys, reports,
			 specifications, design information, and calculations, including such work
			 issued in digital form.
(2) The
			 term "issued" as used herein shall mean documents in the final form which bear
			 the seal, signature and date of the registrant and the entity's Certificate of
			 Authorization Name, Authorization Number and Expiration date of the COA (as
			 required by GA Law 43-15-23. Practice of professional engineering by or through
			 firm, corporation, or other entity for COA requirements.)
(3) The registrant shall seal, sign and date
			 and provide COA name, Authorization Number and expiration date of the COA all
			 original final documents which are issued to a client or any public agency. The
			 sealing of documents by the registrant shall certify that the work was
			 performed by the registrant or under the direct supervisory control of the
			 registrant on a daily basis. For engineering documents, the date of signature
			 shall be placed immediately under the seal and signature.
(4) No registrant shall issue or allow to be
			 issued draft, incomplete, preliminary, in-progress, or for-review document or
			 any type that contains the seal of the registrant unless such document does not
			 contain a signature. Further, any such draft shall display the date of issue
			 and a notation under or adjacent to the seal in bold lettering, such as
			 "PRELIMINARY", "DRAFT", "NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION or "FOR REVIEW ONLY," which
			 clearly identifies the purpose for which the document is issued. Any document
			 containing a seal, signature, date and COA information as required in (2) above
			 shall be considered to be issued.
(5) Seals, signatures, dates, COA Information
			 and/or other notations required by this Rule shall be placed on original
			 documents such that the seal, signature, date, COA Information and/or
			 notations, will be reproduced when copies or scans are made. A "facsimile
			 signature" that is to be placed on a property survey map or plat in accordance
			 with O.C.G.A.
			 15-6-67 may be a scanned image of
			 an actual signature or a computer generated signature, and must be kept in the
			 strict control of the land surveyor.
(6) Each drawing sheet, whether bound or
			 unbound, shall be sealed, signed and dated by the registrant(s) responsible for
			 the work on that sheet and contain the entity's COA information. If necessary
			 due to number of sheets, in lieu of providing a seal, signature, date, and COA
			 information on each drawing sheet, a summary sheet may be included in the form
			 of a clearly drafted table or other format that identifies each registrants
			 seal, signature, date, and COA information and which includes a narrative that
			 clearly describes the element of work for which each registrant is responsible
			 and indicates the most current version of each sheet. This summary sheet shall
			 be included within the final documents. If a document is sealed, signed and
			 dated and contains the entity's COA information by more than one registrant,
			 the portion of the work for which each registrant is responsible shall be
			 clearly noted.
(7) Each document
			 that is sealed, signed and dated by a registrant shall contain the name,
			 address, and contact information of the firm or sole practitioner certifying
			 the work. Each document shall have the entity's COA information
			 included.
(8) Documents as defined
			 in Paragraph (1) that are transmitted electronically beyond the direct control
			 of the licensee shall have the computer-generated seal removed from the
			 original file, unless signed with an electronic signature as defined in
			 Paragraph (9) of this Rule. After removal of the seal the electronic media
			 shall have the following inserted in lieu of the signature and date: "This
			 document originally issued and sealed by (name of sealer), (license number), on
			 (Date of sealing) and the entity's COA Information. This medium shall not be
			 considered a certified document." Hardcopy documents containing the original
			 seal, signature, date and entity's COA information of the licensee may be
			 duplicated by photocopy or electronic scanning processes and distributed either
			 in hardcopy or electronic medium. The scanned digital files of certified
			 documents are not subject to the requirements of this Paragraph. The electronic
			 transmission beyond the direct control of the licensee of CAD, vector or other
			 files subject to easy editing are subject to the requirements of this
			 paragraph. Easy editing is based on the file consisting of separate elements
			 that can be individually modified or deleted.
(9) Documents to be electronically
			 transmitted beyond the direct control of the licensee that are signed using an
			 electronic signature shall contain the authentication procedure in a secure
			 mode and a list of the hardware, software and parameters used to prepare the
			 document(s). Secure mode means that the authentication procedure has protective
			 measures to prevent alteration or overriding of the authentication procedure.
			 This paragraph does not apply to property survey maps and plats governed by
			 O.C.G.A. 15-6-67 which may be submitted in
			 an electronic file format that is regulated by the Georgia Superior Court
			 Clerks Cooperative Authority. The term "electronic signature" shall be an
			 electronic authentication process that is attached to or logically associated
			 with an electronic document. The electronic signature shall be:
(a) Unique to the licensee using
			 it;
(b) Capable of
			 verification;
(c) Under the sole
			 control of the licensee; and
(d)
			 Linked to a document in such a manner that the electronic signature is
			 invalidated if any data in the document is changed.