Is an e-signature on a change order valid? ESIGN, UETA, typed names and finger signatures

What makes an electronic signature valid

Four things, each from the statute text (15 U.S.C. section 7001 and section 7006).

• Intent. The signature is a sound, symbol or process "executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record" (section 7006(5)). A finger-drawn mark on a phone, a typed name in a signature box, a tap on a button labelled as a signature: each can carry that intent. A mark the customer did not know was a signature cannot.
• Association with the record. The same definition requires the signature to be "attached to or logically associated with" the contract or record. The signature has to belong to something: the change order with its scope, its price and its new total, not a thread of messages where the price is three texts up.
• Consent, where a law requires the record in writing. Section 7001(c) sets consumer-consent rules for that case. They are in the next section, as the statute states them and no further.
• Retention. Section 7001(d)(1): a rule that a record be kept is met by an electronic record that "(A) accurately reflects the information set forth in the contract or other record; and (B) remains accessible to all persons who are entitled to access" it, "in a form that is capable of being accurately reproduced for later reference."

And one limit the statute puts on itself. Section 7001(b)(1): ESIGN does not affect any legal requirement "other than a requirement that contracts or other records be written, signed, or in nonelectronic form." Read against a state rule like California's, that means ESIGN removes the paper-and-ink objection and nothing else. A change order that must state its scope, its amount and its effect on the schedule must still state them, electronic or not. Both rules have to be met.

California's UETA says the same from the state side. Civil Code section 1633.7 (section 1633.7): an electronic record satisfies a law that requires a writing, and an electronic signature satisfies a law that requires a signature. Its definition of an electronic signature, section 1633.2(h) (section 1633.2), reads "electronic record" where ESIGN reads "contract or other record" and is otherwise the same.

Consumer consent for electronic records: section 7001(c)

Where a statute, regulation or other rule of law requires information to be given to a consumer in writing, section 7001(c)(1) lets an electronic record satisfy that requirement only if three things hold. As the statute states them:

• the consumer "has affirmatively consented to such use and has not withdrawn such consent";
• before consenting, the consumer got "a clear and conspicuous statement" covering the right to have the record on paper, the right to withdraw consent and any fees or consequences of doing so, whether the consent covers one transaction or categories of records, how to withdraw consent and update contact details, and how to get a paper copy and at what fee; and
• the consumer was given "a statement of the hardware and software requirements" for access, and "consents electronically, or confirms his or her consent electronically, in a manner that reasonably demonstrates that the consumer can access information in the electronic form".

One clause that is routinely left out. Section 7001(c)(3) says the validity of a contract "shall not be denied solely because of the failure to obtain electronic consent or confirmation of consent" in the manner the third item describes. So a missed consent step is a defect in the disclosure, not a hole in the contract.

Whether a given change order is a record a law requires in writing depends on the state rule that reaches it; this page does not decide that for any state. What it can say is what the rule looks like when it applies: tell the customer they will get the record electronically, tell them they can have it on paper, and send the link to a phone they can open it on.

What a text-message "yes" is, and is not

A text that says yes, ok or go ahead is consent to the work. It is not an agreed price unless the price is in the record the customer said yes to, and it is not a change order under a state rule that requires the order to state its scope, its amount and its effect on the schedule. A yes with no price and no new total is a conversation, not a change order, even when it is in writing.

The problem with a text yes is not the signature. It is that there is no record with the scope, the price and the new total for the signature to attach to. Whether a one-word reply counts as a signature to some record is a question about which record it was attached to, and this page does not answer it. It does not need to: put the three things in one record, and the yes has something to sign.

The spoken yes is answered by the statute directly. Section 7001(c)(6): "An oral communication or a recording of an oral communication shall not qualify as an electronic record for purposes of this subsection except as otherwise provided under applicable law." So for the consumer-consent rules above, the homeowner's yes on the phone, even recorded, is not an electronic record.

What to keep

The retention rule in section 7001(d)(1) wants a record that accurately reflects what was agreed and stays accessible, in a form that can be reproduced later. For a change order that means keeping, with the job:

• the record itself: the change in one line, the price of this change, the new job total, and the effect on the schedule if any;
• the name of the person who signed, and the time;
• the device it came from, and the internet address, which is what ties the signature to a real phone at a real moment;
• the signature image, or the typed name as typed;
• a copy for the customer.

The free paper template holds the record and the two ink signatures; a photo of the signed page sent to the customer's phone is their copy. For shops on Jobber, Volta Change Orders builds the record this way: the customer signs with a finger or types their name and taps Approve, and the app keeps that signature with the change, along with the name on the job, the time, the internet address and the kind of device it came from, as the approval record. The help center describes it, in English and in Spanish. The app does not replace a written contract; if your contracts call for a particular form of signature, check with whoever wrote them.

How the field-service tools capture a signature

Each of these is the vendor's own help page, read on 2026-09-22. Jobber: in client hub the client "can select to draw or type their name to approve", and in person the tech can collect a signature on their own device, where the client can "draw to sign to approve the quote" (Quote Approvals). Jobber's page also says that editing an approved quote removes the client's signature from the quote and from client hub, and keeps the earlier signed version as a PDF in an internal note; that PDF is the copy that survives an edit. Workiz: "Signatures are automatically required for all estimates approved through the client portal. You will not be able to disable the signature requirement. Once signed, the signature will appear on the estimate document itself." (Estimates FAQ). ServiceTitan: customers sign documents from a link to its Visit Assistant, finger-drawn on a mobile device and typed on a computer, and its page adds: "If you are using e-signature by email, your customers are limited to typing their name as a signature rather than physically signing it." (Use the contactless experience). The same page says online estimates are not accessible through that link, and ServiceTitan's change order is an estimate; no page reconciling the two was found.

None of these pages says which form of signature a given state accepts. That is the statute's job, above. The full comparison, tool by tool, is on how the tools compare.

To cite this page, link to voltaorbit.com/change-orders/e-signature/. The statute text is at the URLs under Sources.

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