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The Engineer's Seal

Updated for 2010 Changes to the Professional Engineers Act

These web pages have been updated to include both enacted and pending changes due to the Open for Business Act, 2010. Note that some changes will not be in force until proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor; for example, the putting into force the end of the industrial exemption has been delayed numerous times.

Disclaimer

All information on this website is provided without any warranty to its correctness. The material on these pages reflects Douglas Wilhelm Harder's best judgment in light of the information available to him at the time of its preparation. Any use which a third party makes of these pages, on any reliance on or decision to be made based on it, are the responsibility of such third parties. Douglas W. Harder accepts no responsibility for damages, if any, suffered by any third party as a result of decisions made or actions based on these pages.

A summary of the relevant statutes and regulations: Engineering_Seal.pdf.

In this page, the word document means any final drawings, specifications, plans, reports, or other document.


Figure 1. A sample of the professional engineer's seal.

A practitioner is contracted to prepare documents and the practitioner indicates that he or she has prepared or checked the document and takes responsibility for its content affixing his or her personal seal and signing (initials are not sufficient) and dating that seal and the document is then said to be sealed. It is a statement to others that they can, with a high degree of confidence, depend upon the contents the document for the furtherance of their projects.

Guidelines

There are a few guidelines regarding the use of the seal:

  • The date must be legible,
  • The original should be kept unsealed by the licensee, only copies should be sealed and distributed,
  • Documents prepared for an employer to be used in-house need not be sealed,
  • Digital copies may have digital seals, though the document must then be protected by, for example, a digital signature, and
  • It is a mark of reliance, not a guarantee.

Misuse of the Seal

The use of a seal by an unlicensed individual is an offence according to the Act:

40(2) c Every person who is not a holder of a licence or a temporary licence and who...uses a seal that will lead to the belief that the person is a professional engineer is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable for the first offence to a fine of not more than$10 000 and for each subsequent offence to a fine of not more than $25 000.

The misuse of the seal by a licensed practitioner is defined as misconduct by O.Reg. 941: 72(2)(e) Professional misconduct means signing or sealing a document not actually prepared or checked by the practitioner.

Reference in a Supreme Court of Canada Decision

In the case of Edgeworth Construction Ltd. v. N. D. Lea & Associates Ltd., an engineering firm entered into a contract to provide a set of plans to the Province of British Columbia. When a contractor lost money based on a bid which relied on those plans, the contractor launched an action against the engineering firm. The action was successful, however, the contractor also attempted to include the individual engineers who had sealed the plans. The statement of the supreme court was

"The position of the individual engineers is different. The only basis upon which they are sued is the fact that each of them affixed his seal to the design documents. In my view, this is insufficient to establish a duty of care between the individual engineers and Edgeworth. The seal attests that a qualified engineer prepared the drawing. It is not a guarantee of accuracy. The affixation of a seal, without more, is insufficient to found liability for negligent misrepresentation. I agree with the courts below that the action against the individual defendants should be struck."

The "without more" probably to the fact that the engineers were already employed by the firm which held the contract with the province to supply the plans.

References