Electronic Signatures on Approval Documents for Construction Contracts

Abstract

The current process for approvals required by management for bid lists and for contract awards of Engineering and Construction Services (E&CS) Projects for Southern Company requires manual signatures. This delays the process due to the printing and time required to hand sign the documents, usually two to four weeks. The proposed method which is the basis of this project in order to accelerate this process is to create and use an electronic approval form requiring digital signatures versus hand signature. The electronic forms were prepared for digital signatures and tested by one project team at one operating plant in Georgia, part of the service territory of Southern Company. The results of using the new electronic forms requiring digital signatures yielded routing times of less than one week which supports the objective of the project to reduce the routing time using a new electronic process. There were some gaps that needed to be addressed with the new electronic forms to meet internal company procedures. Solutions to these gaps were implemented while testing the new electronic process. The new electronic signature process will continue to be tested and improved in order to implement in the future. Key Terms ⎯ Bid List Approval Letter, E&CS,SDS, Summary of Award Recommendation.