Short answer
Upload your building contract or fixed-price quote to Sign PDF, add both homeowners and your company as signers, and send it before any deposit is taken. Each variation that changes the price or the finish date goes out as its own signed variation order, so the final account is made of documents the client has already agreed.
Updated 25 October 2026
What a home improvement contract needs
On a domestic building job the contract is mostly about money and change. The homeowner is paying in stages for something they can only half picture from drawings, and the scope will move once walls are opened up. A good builder contract template does not try to prevent that; it sets out how each change is priced and agreed.
- Drawings and specification by reference and revision ("drawings rev C, spec dated 3 March")
- Fixed price, and the provisional sums and prime cost items that are not fixed
- Stage payments tied to milestones a homeowner can see
- Start date, expected duration and what extends it
- How variations are priced and that they must be signed before the work
- Building control, party wall notices and who arranges them
- Retention or snagging period at the end
Cancellation rights for work agreed at the client's home
In the UK, a contract agreed away from your business premises, such as at the client's kitchen table, usually gives the consumer 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. If they want you to start within that period, they need to ask for it, and you should keep a record. In the US, the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule and many state home improvement laws give a similar right, often three business days, and require a written notice of it.
Attach the cancellation notice and an early-start request to the contract and have the client sign or tick it. Sign PDF has checkboxes and keeps the time each box was completed in the audit trail. This is not legal advice; the rules vary by state and country, so have your standard contract checked once.
Variation orders that actually get signed
Variations are where builders lose money: an extra socket here, a different floor there, and by the end the client disputes half of them. The fix is boring discipline. Each change gets a numbered variation order with the description, the price, and any extra time, signed before it is built.
Write it on your phone on site, upload it, and send it to both homeowners. Most will sign the same evening. With a signing order, the variation comes back to you to countersign once both have agreed. On a job with a dozen variations, Full at $10 a month for unlimited documents is the right plan; Light at $5 for 2 documents only suits a builder doing occasional small jobs.
Certificates you hand over, not e-sign
Building control completion certificates, electrical installation certificates and gas safety records come from building control, the electrician and the gas engineer through their own schemes. Sign PDF does not issue them. What you can do is send a completion sign-off for the client to sign, listing those certificates as handed over, so there is a record that they received them.
Where Sign PDF fits
We handle signatures and the sealed evidence. We do not do estimating, project scheduling, valuations, invoicing or payments, and we do not replace an industry standard form of contract if your client or lender insists on one. Upload that form as a PDF and it can be signed through us the same way.
Questions people ask
Do both homeowners need to sign a building contract?
If the house is jointly owned, it is wise. It avoids one owner later saying they never agreed to the price or a variation.
Can I start work during the cancellation period?
Generally only if the client asks in writing. Include an early-start request with the contract and keep the signed copy. This is not legal advice.
Is an e-signed variation order enforceable?
For ordinary building contracts an electronic signature is normally valid in the US, UK and EU. What matters more is that the variation is clear about the work, the price and the time.
Can I upload drawings with the contract?
Yes. Combine them into one PDF with the contract, or reference them by revision number. Ask for initials on each drawing page if you want proof each was seen.
Can I use a standard form contract?
Yes. Upload the PDF you are licensed to use; Sign PDF places the signature boxes and seals the signed copy.
Send your next building works contract for signature
Upload it from your phone or laptop. The boxes go in the right places, your client signs on their phone, and you get a sealed copy back.
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