Get the extra work signed before the GC forgets it happened

What a sub sends, and what it signs

• Proposal with exclusionsYour scope, price, and the clarifications and exclusions that protect you. Signed by the GC's PM before you mobilize.
• The GC's subcontractUsually their paper. Upload the PDF they send, add the signature fields for both sides and send it back with you signing first, or last, as they prefer.
• T&M and extra work ticketsLabor hours, equipment and material for work outside your scope, signed by the superintendent the same day.
• Change order requestsPriced extra work with backup, sent to the PM by link so the request has a date and a signature on it. See sign a change order online.
• Pay requests and lien waiversConditional waivers with each pay request and unconditional ones once paid, on whatever form your state or the GC requires.
• Your own sub-tier paperworkAgreements with your own subs and suppliers, and their waivers when you pay them. Start from the subcontractor agreement.

The T&M ticket at four o'clock

1. 1

   Write it on site

   The foreman opens the T&M template on their phone and fills in the date, the work, the crew hours and the material. Calculated fields multiply the hours by your rates.

2. 2

   Scan the backup

   Got a supplier's delivery ticket? Scan it with the iPhone and iPad app, and it becomes a clean, searchable PDF in your library, ready to back up the change order request.

3. 3

   Get the super's signature

   Send it and choose Sign in person. The superintendent signs on the foreman's phone. If they've left the site, the same envelope goes to them by link instead.

4. 4

   Everyone has the same copy

   The signed PDF goes to the super, your PM and your office, with a certificate of completion showing when it was signed. That's the record you bring to the change order meeting.

Read the subcontract before you sign it

A GC's form is written for the GC. Before you sign, look for when you get paid: some states won't enforce pay-if-paid clauses and others will. Check how much retainage is held and when it's released, the notice deadlines for claims and changes, the indemnity clause, and what flows down from the prime contract. If something needs to change, mark it up and say so before you sign, not after the first pay request. Have your lawyer review the clauses that carry real risk.

Waivers without the paper chase

Turn the waiver form your state or GC requires into a template with labeled text boxes for the project, the through date and the amount. Each month, send it in the same envelope as the pay request, so the GC never has a reason to hold your payment for missing paperwork. When you pay your own subs, bulk send them their waivers from one CSV, one envelope per sub. New to the vocabulary? Read about retainage and mechanics liens.

Pricing

Foremen who send tickets and PMs who send requests each need a seat. Crew is $49 a month for 5 people, with each extra person at $8 a month, and Company covers 15 people for $99 a month. Paid plans have no envelope limit, so a ticket a day costs nothing extra. New workspaces get 14 days of Crew free. Compare plans.

What SignMaster won't do

• It won't price your extra work or track your job costs.
• It won't serve legal notices for you. Statutory notices go the way your state requires.
• It won't collect payment from the GC.
• It sends signing links by email. The foreman can copy a link and text it to the super.