Digital Seals and Signatures

Among the barriers to more effective and efficient construction and regulatory oversight is the inability of the industry and government to make use of secure technology of signing and sealing building plans, engineering drawings, and other construction documents digitally.

Fiatech members from the Project Management & Regulatory Streamlining element of the Roadmap have come together to develop and promote best practices for the use of digital signatures and seals within the fully electronic processes for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.

Benefits

AEC companies are increasingly turning to electronic workflows and automation to eliminate unnecessary paper usage and accelerate project delivery. However, one pen-ultimate problem arises again and again — the return to paper in order to apply seals to, and sign, final documents. Whether a set of drawings needs to be submitted for code compliance or an inspection report is due to clients, this return to paper causes unnecessary delays as well as breakdowns in workflow.

Digital signature technology is a solution to this problem, but due to unwarranted fears circling the integrity of electronic documents and a perceived lack of control from the licensed professional over the safety of his or her seal (among other hesitations), there is a lack of understanding of the benefits of digital signature standards and technology. This project aims to fill the gap in understanding by putting forth best practices and real-life demonstrated applications under model deployments of using digital signatures and/or seals in AEC companies.

All segments of the construction industry, AEC firms, clients, and government will benefit from both reduced time to sign and seal documents and securely conduct reviews and approvals.

Opportunities/Status

The project is in its initial planning stages. Participation is open to all Fiatech members.

Fiatech Staff Project Manager

Bob Wible, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Project Leads

Marla Schuchman, ARX
Peter Blake, Hatch

Participating Companies

ARX, Hatch, CH2MHILL, Avolve Software, Target Corporation, Kaiser Permanente, and the American Institute of Architects (AIA)

Deliverables

The primary deliverable is a best practices guide on using digital seals and standard digital signatures within fully electronic AEC processes. The guide will prescribe how digital seals and signatures work, related standards, and the benefits they can provide. The guide will also include referenced applications and be a resource for deploying digital seal or signature technology in organizations.

Completion Date

April 2012