The Strategic Benefits of DocuSign

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way society works, and in the process, meant that businesses have had to re-evaluate how they operate.

There’s always been the need to improve processes to make things easier, faster and more efficient but now more than ever, people need tools that will save them time and unnecessary hassle.

Traditionally, contracts for construction projects are exchanged and signed in person. The signing of a high value contract is a crucial governance step for all organisations when they invest. The in-person traditional controls of pen and ink signatures and in-person witnessing are tried and tested, however:

• It’s not environmentally friendly.
  With reams of paper, the carbon footprint from printing multiple versions of lengthy, physical documents is huge. The digitisation of construction can mean the only time some documents are printed is at the point of signing the contract, simply for the signature
  
• It introduces an administrative bottleneck.
  The production, collation and version control of legal paperwork bundles is time intensive and requires expert administration – often delaying projects by days and weeks.
• The paperwork adds no value.
  However, if you use an electronic contract, it acts as a performance management tool, setting performance baselines and making key contractual terms and conditions quickly available to wider project teams.
  

At SCAPE, we facilitate contracts between our clients and delivery partners, and we’re always looking for ways to improve your experience. So, we’ve chosen to integrate the use of electronic contracts and digital contract exchange using DocuSign as standard.

DocuSign is a safe, secure and legally-recognised contract exchange and e-signature platform that makes contract signing quick and easy. There are many excellent technology solutions for e-signatures, but we selected DocuSign through procurement as it best supports our collaborative delivery model with closely controlled workflows and governance.

Here are just a few of the reasons why we have moved to electronic contracts:

• Compliance
  Through the considered use of workflows, we’re able to enhance our governance and control. Building on our standardised forms of contract, we now offer a similar method of execution to further improve the rigour of our offer for clients. The platform provides encrypted and secure digital storage of contracts, which all parties can access in real time, and creates a robust audit trail, which is legally-recognised.
  
• COVID-compliance
  Digital signatures help everyone operate in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines, avoiding the physical contact typically involved with in-person or postal exchange.
  
• Speed
  It’s instant, allowing you to execute, exchange and sign contracts in real time, from any device and any location. The addition of clear, system-generated markers indicating where your input is needed save all parties time and effort.
  
• Sustainability
  With DocuSign, there’s zero carbon footprint, no paper waste and no emissions created from courier vehicles. In fact, we’ve saved almost 11,000kg of carbon and 4500kg of wood to date by using it for our contract administration. It’s one of many changes we’ve made to help reach our target of carbon neutral operations by 2028. Find out more in our Environmental Policy.

• Making contracts smarter
  All parties can access key project information, as soon as the contract’s been signed, increasing transparency and enabling us more accurate performance management.
  
• Cost
  DocuSign is free for our clients and our delivery partners to use. At a time when many local authorities are finding themselves in a challenging financial situation, we want to do whatever we can to add value.
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• Support
  It gives you access to the support and guidance you need whenever you need it. Our teams are on hand to help you every step of the way, and without having to book a meeting in person, you can get an answer in minutes.

We’re currently using DocuSign for projects delivered through our Consultancy and Civil Engineering frameworks, and its use will be embedded into the re-procurement of our Construction frameworks, due to complete in Sept 2021.

To find out more about using DocuSign, please speak to your local relationship manager about getting started.