Send for Signature takes the forms an application needs, fills them from the project record and your profile, and lets you sign in the browser or send a signing link to the owner or client. When they sign, the completed PDF is filed on the application automatically, and the dashboard shows the form as signed.
How permit forms get signed today
Almost every Ontario building permit form needs a signature, and often more than one. The provincial application carries the owner's declaration (or the agent's, with an authorization). Schedule 1 carries the designer's. Tree declarations, road damage deposits, infill notices and commitments to general review each have a signature block of their own. Getting those signatures is a workflow nobody designed:
- Fill the PDF. The consultant or designer types the project facts into each form, one field at a time, in a PDF reader that may or may not save them.
- Email it to the owner. With instructions: print it, sign page 3 and page 7, initial the declaration, scan it, send it back.
- Wait. The owner has no printer, or scans it as six photos, or signs the wrong version because two emails went out that week.
- Check and chase. Is every block signed? Is the scan legible? Did the value on the form change since it was sent?
- Assemble. Rename the returned scans, replace the unsigned copies in the package, and hope the city accepts a photographed signature.
Generic e-signature tools remove the printer, but not the rest: the form still has to be filled by hand first, uploaded to a separate service, tagged with signature fields, and the signed copy still has to be downloaded and filed back into the package.
What the current process costs
| Failure mode | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Owner signs an outdated version of the form | The package goes in with a mismatched value or address; the examiner queries it |
| Scan is illegible or a page is missing | Rejected at intake or flagged in the first comment letter |
| Signature chased over days | A complete application waits on one line of ink; the review clock has not started |
| Forms filled by hand, form by form | The same facts typed repeatedly; inconsistencies between schedules |
| Signed copies filed in email, not with the application | At resubmission nobody can find which signed version went to the city |
In a province where, as Arash Shahi noted in Residential Builder, approvals average 18.4 months, a week lost to a signature sounds small. It is not: it is a week before the statutory review window can even open, repeated on every form and every resubmission.
How Send for Signature works in Permits2Go
1. The forms arrive already filled
Every form recommended at intake is pre-filled before you open it. The project address, municipality, legal description, owner and builder details, designer information, construction value and area flow from the project record and your profile into the matching fields on each form. Phone numbers are formatted the way the forms expect. What is left for you is the handful of fields the platform could not know, and the signature. The Auto-Filled Permit Forms guide covers the pre-fill in detail.
2. Fill out and sign in the browser
Choose Fill Out and the form opens in the application with its fields populated. Complete anything outstanding, sign in place, and the finished PDF is saved to the application's signed forms. No download, no separate signing service, no re-upload.
3. Send it to the owner or client
Choose Send to Client, enter their email address and, if you like, a personal message. They receive a signing link; no account or software is needed on their side. The form they open is the same pre-filled document you reviewed, with the signature fields marked. The application shows the form as Pending until they sign.
4. The signed copy files itself
When the client signs, the completed PDF lands in the application's signed forms automatically, the form's status changes to Signed, and the dashboard counts it toward the package being ready. When it is time to submit to the city, the signed version is the one that goes.
5. Hand off midway, or sign a form that has no template
If you started filling a form and then decide the owner should finish and sign it, transfer it to them without losing what you typed. For documents that are not set up for guided signing, the built-in editor lets you draw a signature and place it on the page, so a one-off form the municipality sends you can still be signed and filed in the same place.
6. Custom forms work the same way
Upload a form that is not in the catalogue and Permits2Go can prepare it for signing, detecting the fields or letting you place them, and then send it exactly like a catalogue form.
What you stay in control of
- You review the pre-filled form before it is sent; every field is editable.
- You choose who signs, and you can write the message they receive.
- Pending and Signed status is visible on the application; you can re-send an invitation if it goes unanswered.
- Removing a form from the application cancels its signing request.
The workflow after
| Step | Before | With Send for Signature |
|---|---|---|
| Filling the form | Typed field by field per form | Pre-filled from the project record and profile |
| Getting the owner's signature | Print, sign, scan, email; repeat | Signing link; signed in minutes on any device |
| Version control | Which attachment did they sign? | One document, one status, one signed copy |
| Filing the signed copy | Download, rename, replace in the package | Filed on the application automatically |
| Non-standard forms | Different tool, different process | Same signing flow, same filing |
A signature is a small thing that gates a large one. When the forms are filled from data that was captured once and the signed copies file themselves, the package is ready as soon as the drawings are, and the document list and the submission step never wait on a scanner.
Frequently asked questions
Does my client need an account to sign?
No. They receive an email with a signing link, open the pre-filled form in their browser on any device, and sign. The completed PDF is filed on your application automatically and the form’s status changes to Signed.
Do Ontario municipalities accept electronically signed permit forms?
Most municipalities accept electronic signatures on permit applications submitted by email or portal, and the signed PDF you receive is a complete, legible document rather than a scan. Requirements can vary by municipality and by form, so confirm with your building department if a particular form calls for an original signature or a commissioned declaration.
What if I already started filling a form and want the owner to finish it?
Transfer it to the owner. What you have typed is kept, they receive a signing link to the same document, and the form shows as Pending until they sign. If a form has no guided-signing template, you can also draw and place a signature in the built-in editor.
This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Permit requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with your local building department before you design or build.
Industry figures cited above are from “Enough is Enough” by Arash Shahi, CEO of LandLogic, published in Residential Builder magazine.