Professional stamp
Every Registered Geologist and/or Certified Engineering Geologist shall use a stamp bearing the registrant's name, the certificate number, and the words Registered Geologist or Certified Engineering Geologist. The stamp shall be affixed to final geology products prepared in the course of the public practice of geology.
Please note that after placing your stamp on your document, you must sign across the stamp and include your registration expiration date.
A registrant's stamp must be affixed to all final products prepared in the public practice of geology. The registrant is not required to stamp draft geology products or documents that are clearly identified as draft. The Board expects drafts to ultimately be superseded by final, stamped products.
When a stand-alone report is stamped (sealed) by the registrant responsible for the work, the registrant is not required to also stamp individual products contained in the report. For example, the registrant does not have to individually stamp each geology figure, map, and log included in the report. However, any geology products within a stand-alone report that were not prepared by the registrant stamping the report must be individually stamped by the registrant(s) who prepared those products. If a final geology product is not included in a compiled report, such as but not limited to a boring log or map, then the registrant must individually stamp the product.
A registrant who stamps a final version of a geology product must be in responsible charge for the geology content of that product. The registrant is responsible for any work done by an unregistered person working under supervision. The registrant must take care to ensure no other individual inappropriately uses his or her stamp.
When there are two or more registrants collaborating on a project with each geologist completing different elements of that project, the stamped document should clearly reflect who completed which project elements. If this is not clearly stated, then the registrants stamping the document are each accepting legal responsibility for all the geologic work presented in the document. In addition, when a document is stamped by two individuals with different professional registrations working in fields of practice that overlap, such as that of CEGs and Geotechnical Engineers, it should be clear in the document which professional is taking responsibility for which work.
For more about stamping and signing, see the Board’s Professional Practices and Stamping Guidance documents available on the publications page.
(Note that the Board considers the terms stamp/seal and stamping/sealing to mean the same thing.)
Code of professional conduct
Every Board registrant and applicant for registration needs to be familiar with the Board’s Code of Professional Conduct. The Code of Professional Conduct has been adopted by the Board in Oregon Administrative Rule which means it has the force of law. The Code of Professional Conduct sets forth the responsibilities of Board registrants to the public, profession, employers, and the Board.
Violation of the Code of Professional Conduct by a registrant is considered misconduct and grounds for disciplinary action by the Board as well as a possible assessment of civil penalties. Misconduct also includes various unethical acts such as fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, negligence, misuse of stamp, and claiming responsibility for someone else’s work.