Original FL Engineer Seals Are Not Required On Product Approvals. Here's the proof.
Engineering Express frequently gets asked to ‘re-seal’ our product approvals for site-specific project after they have been approved by the state.
These documents are to be validated by by the municpality by comparing them to the approved records on file with the approving agency & are NOT required to be signed and sealed.
Why Seals Aren’t Required
Once a product approval has been officially approved by the Florida Building Commission, the approval itself becomes a public record.
Municipalities are responsible for verifying the product approval by comparing the submitted documentation to the official records available on file with the approving agency — not for requiring a new engineer’s seal or signature.
This process ensures uniformity across the state and prevents redundant re-certification of already-approved designs.
Official Declaratory Statements Confirm It
Two Florida Declaratory Statements explicitly verify this:
Both cases confirm that:
The local jurisdiction is only required to obtain proof of state product approval for products that have obtained statewide approval, consistent with their limitations of use and installation instructions.
The permittee is not required to submit signed and sealed drawings for products that already have Florida Statewide Approval but must demonstrate compliance within the approval’s stated limits.
What we recommend you do for your permit to be approved
For Florida Approvals - Print The Cover Page
What happens in Florida when a FL approval is submitted is the municipalities don’t understand that’s an FL approval.
If the seal isn’t to their liking, the plan is rejected.
The solution is to get to the base page of the FL approval and print the screen or take a screenshot and submit that along with the plan.
When the building departments see this page, they will most likely understand and the permit will be approved.
This may work in other states as well.
How To Find A Product Approval
The easiest way to get to this cover page is to visit EngineeringPlans.com, search fot the FL or Miami NOA number, and select ‘visit source website’ – this will hop you right over to the page you need.
About 'Shop Drawing' Approval on Product Approvals
Some municipalities require the product approvals be ‘approved’ for use at a site-specific location. This does not mean that they need to be signed and sealed by the project’s engineer of record so please don’t seal them if you’re the PE for the host structure.
The proper thing to do is to notate the approval numbers on the main plans OR use a shop drawing approval stamp on the approval indicating it’s valid for use at that project.
This concept is what confuses many building officials into thinking the evaluation reports need to be signed and sealed.
If that does happen, point them to the above declaratory statement links.
For guidance with your next project, explore our Plans, Calculators, Knowledge Base,
or contact us directly for site-specific support
Last Update: October 27, 2025