E-signature

E-signature lets technicians and supervisors sign off on critical events directly in FreeMaint — work order completion, LOTO procedures, inspections, document approvals. Audit-grade with timestamp, IP and witness fields.

Where signatures are required

• Work order completion — technician signs the closure
• LOTO procedures — sign apply and remove steps
• Inspections — sign each inspection point or the whole report
• Document approvals — sign new versions of SOPs and manuals
• Custom triggers — any workflow step you configure

How signing works

1. Open the entity — Work order, LOTO step, inspection, etc.
2. Click 'Sign' — A signature pad opens — draw with finger on mobile or mouse on desktop.
3. Confirm — Signature is saved with timestamp, your user ID and the request IP. A copy is logged in the audit trail.
4. Optional witness — If your workflow requires a witness, a second signer is prompted before save.

Audit trail

Each signature includes user ID, timestamp (UTC + local), IP address and entity reference. You can prove who signed what and when — meets HIPAA, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, OSHA and ISO standards.

Identity, roles and corrections

• Employee ID — each signature also shows the signer's Employee ID (from their People profile) so people with the same name are never confused.
• Configurable roles — an admin can define a fixed list of signing roles under Company Settings → Signatures; signers then pick from a dropdown instead of typing.
• Correcting a signature — the signer can fix the role or witness afterwards; the signature image, date and IP stay locked, and inspection and calibration signatures remain fully immutable.

Saved signature

Draw your signature once, then sign in one click. Turn on “Save as my signature for next time” under the signature pad, or draw it in Profile → Security → My signature (in the mobile app: Settings → My signature). The “Sign with my saved signature” button then appears wherever you sign. Each signature still records your name, the date and time and the IP address, and is marked as applied from your saved signature. Only you can use it, and you can replace or delete it at any time.

Signatures at validation and closure

When a workflow step on Validated or Closed requires a signature, it must be given at that stage: signatures added before the work order was completed — such as the technician's sign-off — do not count. The validator signs in the validation window.