How to Simplify Construction Contract Management with eSignatures

The construction industry is known for its tight margins, busy schedules and working in collaboration with many different people. Before a single shovel gets in the ground there is a great deal of paperwork that has to be processed, reviewed and approved. Securing local council permits through to finalising subcontractor agreements can cause delays in starting a project and increase the overheads of your business. 

Previously this would involve sending hard copies of documents to be signed by couriers between the construction site, office and other stakeholders. However, this is now causing a bottleneck in your business. By using electronic signatures you can reduce delays, improve communication between the site and office and save money on your budget.

Overcoming Bottlenecks in Construction Contract Management

Managing a large construction project involves working with many different people including architects, engineers, material suppliers and specialist tradespeople. Each stage of the project will need to have legal documents to be able to move forward. These documents can easily get lost when printed. They can be misplaced in a pickup truck, damaged due to the weather or hidden under large blueprints in the site manager’s trailer.

Waiting for a site manager to sign off on a key delivery of concrete or last-minute design change causes delay to your construction. If a mandatory signature is missing, the process comes to a standstill whilst the documents are sent back, amended and then signed. This causes delays to your payment for vendors, delays to labour on site and delays to your project.

Streamline Construction Contract Management

By implementing digital processes into your general contractor or builder business, you can see improvements in your construction contract management. All stakeholders have instant remote access to the documents they need to sign. Instead of sending a courier to deliver an amended contract, a project manager can send the document straight through to the supplier or foreman’s phone/tablet.

This can be viewed and signed on their touch screen in seconds. This speeds up the procurement of building materials and getting labour on site. You can monitor the status of all your documents. Project managers no longer have to wonder where a key contract is. With this software you can see who has signed the document and who hasn’t. It automatically reminds people when they should be signing.

Speed Up Workflows with Construction agreement templates

A large amount of the paperwork you will do on a daily basis will be repetitive. The following set of documents can be created by using construction agreement templates - 

• Safety waivers
• Daily hire agreements
• NDAs
• Checklists 

There is absolutely no need to use multiple sites for creating these. New business contracts can be created within no time with the use of these templates. All you need to do is select the template based on your needs and then you need to put the project details in or you can count on automation where the project management CRM will be used to create the document. Several daunting working hours can be saved by this practice of creating contracts which are legally compliant. 

Legal Compliance, Security and Disputes

With disputes over the scope of work, timing and payments often occurring within the industry, having an impenetrable and easy to access legal record is crucial. Electronic signatures provide a secure, compliant and traceable option. With modern eSignature software you will automatically have full audit trails.

These will show the exact time, date, location and IP address for all signatures. If a dispute occurs over a contract or changes order, you will have proof that they agreed to it. The documents will also be stored securely in the cloud to keep them safe from the dangers of the construction site. With high levels of encryption your financial blueprints and data will be completely secure. This will help you comply with strict regulations and data protection standards.

Take Away Thoughts

Upgrading your admin processes is just as important as upgrading your heavy machinery. By moving away from old paper-based processes and using digital processes, you can reduce delays caused by admin, improve communication between the site and office and save money.

Whether you are finalising large vendor procurement contracts or sending subcontractor agreements to independent tradespeople, using an easy-to-use digital solution like SignPaperless allows your whole business to sign legally binding documents effortlessly. By using electronic signatures you can spend less time chasing paperwork and more time doing what you do best - building the future.