E-signature for tradies: quotes signed on site

Paperwork on a trade job arrives at the worst moments: in a ute between sites, at a kitchen bench while the customer is deciding, or halfway through a job when the customer asks for one more power point. E-signature helps most at exactly those moments, because the signature can be collected on the spot and the record goes to both sides without anyone finding a printer. This guide works through a job from quote to handover. It is general information, not legal advice, and building contract rules differ by state.

Quotes

A quote is where the job is won, and acceptance is where it becomes enforceable. The Queensland Building and Construction Commission puts it plainly: a quote is a formal statement of what a contractor will charge, and once it is accepted, in writing or even verbally, it becomes a legally binding contract.

Verbal acceptance is hard to prove. A signed quote is not. The embedded quote acceptance signing example shows the simplest version: a two page bathroom quotation for 14 Selwyn Street accepted by the homeowner with one signature. The builder placed four fields on the acceptance section, a signature, a name, a date and an optional field labelled Your order reference, and used no identity check because a quote is a document the sender wants read. From the status page the customer’s badge moved from Waiting to Viewed to Signed, and the completed quotation was emailed to both sides with a seven event record behind it.

Write the quote so acceptance is clear. State the scope, the price including GST, what is excluded, and how long the price holds. Place the signature field under a line such as “I accept this quote”, so the signature cannot be read as anything else.

Match the quote’s validity to the signing request. A request expires 30 days after it is created and that period cannot be changed, so a quote valid for 30 days lines up with its own link, while a quote valid for 60 days will outlive it and need a fresh request if the customer comes back late. If material prices move quickly in your trade, a shorter validity printed on the quote itself protects you better than any follow up.

Contracts and the Queensland thresholds

A signed quote is not always enough. The QBCC says a contract is not required for domestic building work valued under $3,300, although a simple agreement is still recommended. For work from $3,300 up to $20,000, a Level 1 contract is required, including the contractor’s details and licence number, a description of the work, the price and the completion date. At $20,000 and over, a Level 2 contract adds more, including the QBCC Consumer Building Guide and the statutory warranties.

Either way, the QBCC says the contract must be written, dated and signed by both parties before work begins, and the contractor must give the owner a fully signed copy within five business days. A completed signing request emails the certified PDF to every signer automatically, which puts a fully signed copy in the owner’s inbox the moment the last signature lands.

Other states set their own thresholds and contents. NSW Fair Trading, for example, publishes separate contract rules for home building work. Check yours before relying on a template, and check that your state’s rules do not require a particular form of signature for your contract.

For work you subcontract, the contractor agreement signing example is close to real life. A builder sends a carpentry package agreement to one subcontractor, who initials the stage payment table, types his carpentry licence number into a required field and signs a block for his company, all behind a six digit emailed code.

Variations

Variations cause more disputes than any other trade document, because they are agreed in a hurry on site. The QBCC says that before any variation work begins, the contractor must give the variation in writing, in person, by post or by email, within five business days of the agreement or before the work starts, whichever comes first. It should describe the change, its effect on timing and its cost.

A sent signing request cannot be edited, which suits variations well. Each variation becomes its own request with its own certified PDF, numbered in its title, so the job ends with a clean sequence: contract, variation 1, variation 2. Nobody can later alter a variation that was agreed.

Signing on site, on your phone

The customer is standing in front of you. Waiting for them to find an email is slower than handing over your phone.

In person signing does exactly that. Once a request has been sent, you open its status page and start a hosted session for the customer whose turn it is. The signing page opens on your device without the link appearing in the address bar, the identity check set for that signer is waived for the hosted session, and the record notes that the session was started by you before the signature. The session lasts thirty minutes. The liability waiver signing example shows the same flow at a front desk, and the certified copy still goes to the customer’s email.

On a phone narrower than 560 pixels the signing page switches to a compact layout, so the customer types any fields into a panel above the read only document and draws their signature with a finger. One signature fills every spot assigned to them.

Ordering and storing

Materials orders benefit from the same record. The order form signing example turns a supplier’s quotation into an order by giving the buyer a typed box under each product line for the quantity, then a signature, with the supplier’s account manager countersigning.

At the end of the job, keep each certified PDF with its certificate of completion, which lists the identity check, signing time, IP address and consent for each signer. If a final invoice is disputed, those are the documents that answer it. The table below follows a job from the site visit to that point.

Common mistakes

Starting work on a verbal yes. In Queensland, domestic work over $3,300 needs a signed written contract first.

One variation for a week of changes. Put each change in writing before it is done.

Photos sent separately from the contract. Merge them into the PDF you send, since a request carries one file.

Letting a quote request go stale. Every request expires 30 days after it was created, so follow up well before then.

Vague deposit terms. Say how much, when, and what it is for, as the deposit clause page explains, and write each change of scope as a contract variation. The same one signer workflow for independent work is covered in e-signature for freelancers.

Build it

The in person signing page covers the hosted session: it is available only once a request is sent or partly signed, only for the signer whose turn it is, it skips that signer’s identity check, and it lasts thirty minutes. Requests carry one PDF of up to 25 MB, up to 25 signers, and a Sign in order switch for customer first, contractor second. A sent request cannot be edited, expires after 30 days, and on completion emails the certified PDF to every signer. The tutorial on sending a PDF for e-signature walks through uploading the quote, placing fields and sending.