THE SURVEY THEY PAY ME FOR IS THE WORK ON THE GROUND, NOT THE PAPER MAP. THAT IS THE REPRESENTATION OF THE WORK I PERFORMED.
Your client paid for both. You can't have one without the other. The plan is the explanation of your work to your client. It contains your findings AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME as you stated.
Yes, and I delivered both to the client. I don't provide lifetime survey maps.
I first output the document or drawing to a PDF file. I then add the signature in my PDF software, Nuance's 'PDF Convert Professional', The software allows you to create multiple signature style for a single digital ID. In my case I just added a copy of my signature I acquired with the use of a Wacom tablet.
What company is supplying your digital id and what do they call the product? I've spent more time than I'd like to admit trying to decipher the websites of Symantec/Verisign and a couple of others. I can find solutions for large companies or self authenticated digital ids for secure email but nothing setup for a professional wanting to digitally sign pdfs and maybe a dwg in rare cases.
There is a severe lack of knowledge amongst our profession regarding digital and electronic signatures. I really don't know why as the technology and the laws supporting and encouraging the use of the technology have been in place for going on 30 years. There have been a number of articles written (Sign on the Digital Line, Jerry Broadus, August 2000, POB Magazine) and seminars presented over the past decades which discuss the use of the technology which has been adopted by the vast majority of state boards of registration. Yet, we seem content to be producing buggy whips while wondering - as this post suggests - why the client expects it NOW. The fear we have over liability and the improper use and protection of our work product overshadows the benefits we could be realizing from the use of the technology.
I've been using digital signatures since 1990 and very seldom anymore even provide a printed document. Most all of my maps/plats/surveys are produced in pdf format with an electronic signature. By utilizing this technology, I am afforded extra protections under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), ESIGN (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce), and my own state's equivalent laws (which have been adopted in every state as well as internationally). I also have the advantage of the protection features built into the technology. Screw with my electronically signed drawings and you could have the Fed's up in your grill in criminal court.
I have two presentations which I have made in several states (one currently scheduled next January in Wisconsin) where we discuss the advantages of using digital and electronic signatures and the advantages of sharing digital files (yes, I said advantages). While researching the topic, I found a site which analyzed the state boards which allowed digital and electronic signatures. Their research was dated from 2010 and produced the following map:
Keep in mind that this is a 2010 study and that a number of boards have modified their statutes since this study. Also note that Utah (my state) is colored red, but I've been using the technology to sign/seal my surveys for over 20 years. Why? Because we have an overriding state statute (the adoption of UETA) that says that if any state rule/regulation requires a signature, an electronic or digital signature will suffice.
Here's a link to a video the CoSign company has produced regarding the use of electronic/digital signatures for engineering applications.
[flash width=560 height=315]//www.youtube.com/v/ZLIw81qS7jA?hl=en_US&version=3[/flash]
For more information (again produced by CoSign, but they're not the only choice for using digital technology) here's a link to their website for more information:
CoSign Digital Signatures for Engineering – Regulatory Compliance
The only way to overcome the fear of using new technology is to educate yourself on its use.
JBS
> Yes, and I delivered both to the client. I don't provide lifetime survey maps.
But you do supply "lifetime survey" monuments. What's the difference?
JBS
Some federal law ....
I don't believe there is any general purpose definition for "electronic signature" beyond it being a signature and somehow involving electronics. For example, every time you click the OK box when a web site prompts you to accept their terms and conditions, that's an electronic signature. So if you mean an electronic signature employing public key cryptography, you have to say so.
Some federal law ....
I believe that when speaking of an electronic signature involving cryptography the industry uses "Digital Signature".
> What company is supplying your digital id and what do they call the product? I've spent more time than I'd like to admit trying to decipher the websites of Symantec/Verisign and a couple of others. I can find solutions for large companies or self authenticated digital ids for secure email but nothing setup for a professional wanting to digitally sign pdfs and maybe a dwg in rare cases.
I have a Verisign Class I Individual Subscriber CA - G3 digital ID. It's $20 a year to renew it. It says it's for secure email, but it works great for signing PDF's too. It worked great for signing CAD files in Acad 2004, but it doesn't work in 2013.
>There is a severe lack of knowledge amongst our profession regarding digital and electronic signatures. I really don't know why as the technology and the laws supporting and encouraging the use of the technology have been in place for going on 30 years. There have been a number of articles written (Sign on the Digital Line, Jerry Broadus, August 2000, POB Magazine) and seminars presented over the past decades which discuss the use of the technology which has been adopted by the vast majority of state boards of registration. Yet, we seem content to be producing buggy whips while wondering - as this post suggests - why the client expects it NOW. The fear we have over liability and the improper use and protection of our work product overshadows the benefits we could be realizing from the use of the technology.
The above quote is exactly why the digital signatures article was prepared for Spring 2009 Ohio Surveying News. The initial submission was made in late 2008 and research for the article spanned a period beginning approximately 6 months before. The article quoted from a May 2008 email response from Ohio Department of Administrative Services, General Services Division, State Architect's Office. The response stated,
>We will indeed be asking the architects, engineers, and surveyors who perform work under contract with us to submit their documents electronically. We had invited the Department of Commerce, which performs plan reviews for State facilities to join us, but they seem to be interested in pursuing their own system.
In September 2012 the State Architect's Office was combined with other offices to form The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC). The resulting "OAKS Capital Improvements (OAKS CI)" facilities management system. OAKS CI is an online "cradle-to-grave construction management system for State of Ohio-sponsored capital improvement projects." While hard copy submission is required the primary deliverable is electronic files. One of the early "electronic deliverable" contracts let by the State Architect's Office was surveying of a major portion of The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio. If you check the OAKS CI site and follow the "Current Opportunities" link you will see "OSU-Prequal" as one of the .PDF files. This is a solicitation of firms that are interested in providing Qualification Based Services (QBS) to The Ohio State University. This includes Land Surveyors as either prime or sub contractors for design or construction services.
As JB previously mentioned the digital signature technology and laws have been in place for some time. If you hope to provide surveying services to local or state government start preparing for this to be a standard requirement.
Some federal law ....
Some communities of electronic signature users might have developed some conventions among themselves; that's why I said "general purpose definition". The problem is that "shop talk" is bound to leak out to the general public, and in a field like electronic signatures, when the shop talk leaks it will cause confusion.
