When to Sign/Seal Plans

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Kegley

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When do you sign and seal plans (Florida)? According to the FAC it looks like you can end up signing plans multiple times:

FAC 61G15-23.001

[SIZE=10pt](b) A professional engineer shall not sign, date and seal any documents which are not final documents unless the professional engineer states any limitations on the use of those documents on the face of those documents by using terms such as “Preliminary,” “For Review Only,” “Not for Construction,” or any other suitable statement which denotes that the documents are for limited use, are not final and are not intended for permit, construction, or bidding purposes.[/SIZE]

The regulatory agencies here (FDEP, FDOT, SJRWMD) require sealed plans with no caveats (e.g. "For Permitting Purposes Only" is not allowed)
Sealed plans are sent in, they comment, revised sealed plans are sent in again, permit granted.

Then we go to bid, sign again.

Addenda are issued, sign again for Construction set.

This is what we generally do:
Draft plans (60%, 90%, etc.): No seal, add disclaimer "For Review Only" or something along those lines
Permit Applications: Seal, no disclaimer (the agencies fuss if plans aren't sent in this way). This is the one that makes me uncomfortable
Bid Set: Seal - "Bid Set Only - Not for Construction"
Construction Set: Seal - "Issued for Construction"

What is the consensus? How do you sign your plans?

 
That looks pretty standard. Depending on the type of project, there are sometimes changes during construction phase (constructability, late owner request, vendor driven, etc.) those drawings are signed as well in most (all?) jurisdictions. Conformed to construction record drawings are also issued on some projects.

 
It may look standard but it does appear to run afoul of the rules.  You might contact your local board to see what they say about it.

 
I think the permit people just want to know the plans they are reviewing are not preliminary

 
^ wow!  Unbelievable.  I think that deserves its own thread.  I'll post it in STB.

 
Personally, I hesitate stamping any of the review and preliminary sets.  I just deal with the constant comments that they wanted them stamped and I tell them I will stamp the final set.

 
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