Digital Signatures & Seals for Architecture, Engineering, & Construction (AEC)

GlobalSign has helped hundreds of engineering and design companies make the switch from paper to electronic workflows. Digital signatures are a perfect fit for the AEC industry and can reduce paper waste, decrease overhead costs, and shorten project timelines. We’ve partnered with Bluebeam Software Inc., the creators of the AEC industry’s leading PDF software, to make digital signatures accessible and easy to adopt.

Whether you're signing Plans, Specification Manuals, Soils Reports, Energy Calculations, Summary sheets from Pre-Engineered Buildings, or Specialty Engineering and Shop Drawings we have the solution to fit your needs.

Digitally Sign Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, BlueBeam & more with one signing credential.

GlobalSign Document Signing Features & Benefits

• Signatures can be customized to include images, such as a Professional Engineering seal or physical signature
• RFC 3161 compliant timestamps are automatically included with signatures
• Certifying signatures prove authorship, finalize contents, and protect the document from future changes or tampering
• GlobalSign is part of Adobe Approve Trust List (AATL) and Microsoft Trust Store, so signatures are automatically validated and trusted in PDF and Office software
• Signatures include Long-term Validation (LTV), meaning they won’t expire after the signing certificate does
• Compatible with a variety of document types and platforms, including PDF, Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, PDF-XChange, and BlueBeam
• Signing credentials are stored and protected on secure cryptographic hardware

"The implementation of GlobalSign’s PDF Signing digital signatures has been deemed a huge success, Just the other day a partner signed a 150-page document that was immediately delivered to a client in minutes instead of days."

Digital vs. Electronic Signatures

Though often used interchangeably, the terms digital and electronic signatures are not the same. Digital signatures are a type of electronic signature based on cryptographic technology. This underlying cryptography makes them the most secure form of electronic signatures and able to comply with state signature requirements.

Features and benefits unique to digital signatures include:

• Authentication of the signer - A third party verified identity is used to apply the signature and this information is embedded directly in the document. Document recipients can interact with the signature to see more details about the signer.
• Content integrity - Digital signatures create a tamper-evident seal on the document contents. In simple terms, when you open a signed document, part of the signature verification process that goes on behind the scenes involves comparing the current contents to the moment when the signature was applied. If they don’t match, you see an alert telling you not to trust the contents. This capability is one of the major drivers in adoption for engineers, protecting intellectual property and ensuring designs or plans aren’t altered.
• Trusted timestamping - All digital signatures applied with a GlobalSign certificate include a RFC 3161 compliant timestamp. Unlike signatures based on a local system clock, which can be tampered with, digital signatures offer complete assurance and non-repudiation as to when the signature was actually applied.