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Digital Signatures for
Architects and Engineers
The Banjo plug-in was designed to meet the unique
requirements of
architects, engineers, land surveyors, and landscape architects.
LineType Software, Inc. was founded by a practicing architect, and our
detailed knowledge of this industry has allowed us to tailor this plug-in to the needs of design professionals.
See the detailed subjects listed to the left side of this
page for more information.
For information about creating PDFs from CAD applications,
see the Advice page.
The Banjo plug-in and Adobe Acrobat provide powerful yet
flexible tools that can be used in many different ways, whenever you find
that they will produce increased efficiency. The following are possibilities:
Contracts
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Any contract that can be generated in PDF
form, whether from industry-standard formats such as those sold by the
AIA or the EJCDC, or from office templates, can be legally signed with
the Banjo plug-in.
- See the help file documentation (in
the Examples section) for an illustration of the steps involved
in this process.
Land surveys
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Use the Banjo digital signature plug-in to provide
clients with electronic, printable versions of final surveys, complete
with a seal and signature.
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Subject to local laws and regulations (see Summary
of Licensing Board Regulations for details), the digital signature will carry the same legal weight
as a handwritten signature.
Client review and approval documents (checksets)
-
Checkset drawings for client review can be sent
electronically as a PDF, and can be marked up or commented by the
recipient in Acrobat.
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When a document is finally approved, the client can
sign it with a digital signature -- any future changes will invalidate
the signature, so it will always be clear what was approved.
Final permitting and construction documents
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Many jurisdictions allow electronic signatures on
permit and construction documents (see Summary
of Licensing Board Regulations for details). Signing digitally instead of by hand saves time
and produces better visual quality in the printed document.
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Rather than printing one set of originals, signing
each sheet by hand, and then reproducing these originals, a
digitally-signed set of PDF documents can be printed in one
step.
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For professionals who rely on a reprographer (rather
than an in-house printer) the time saved by eliminating the trip to
the reprographer's shop to sign each drawing can often be an hour or
more per job.
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Digitally-signed PDFs can also be emailed to clients
or reprographers across the country, and printed remotely. This
can save hundreds of dollars in mailing costs for a large project.
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For more information, read the help
file documentation, and be sure to refer to the special appendix
that deals specifically with construction documents.
Meeting notes
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Meeting notes and other project correspondence that
requires a signature can be generated as a PDF and digitally signed
using the Banjo plug-in.
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When copies of correspondence need to be sent to
several parties, the savings in time and stationery can be
significant.
Change orders
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Change orders generated as a PDF (from standard forms
or office templates) can be digitally signed and circulated via
email.
-
Approval time for all parties (owner, designer, and
contractor) can be cut from several days to a matter of hours, without
the need for a meeting.
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The digital signature carries the same legal weight as
a handwritten signature on these documents.
Applications for payment
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Pay requests, like contracts and change orders, can be
created as a PDF and digitally signed by the contractor, the notary, and by
all reviewers.
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Markups and corrections can be made on the PDF
application for payment.
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See the help file documentation (in
the Examples section) for an illustration of the steps involved
in processing an application for payment.
Shop drawing and product submittals
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Subcontractors and suppliers can submit product
information as a PDF, or the general contractor can scan and convert
paper documents to PDF.
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Submittal documents can be reviewed and marked up in
Adobe Acrobat, using flexible commenting tools.
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Stamps and digital signatures indicate review status.
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The stamped PDF can be forwarded to multiple
recipients, eliminating repetitive commenting, copying, and mailing of
paper documents.
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Submittal processing time can be reduced by several
days per review, by eliminating mailing delays.
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