Ontario Construction news staff writer
The City of Barrie has gone digital in two key areas relating to construction and other procurement. It will now only accept “digital bonds” for any bids issued on or after June 1. And it is switching to a “digital signature” model for contract documents.
The Barrie Construction Association reports in a bulletin to members that the city won’t accept scanned bonds (PDFs), including Bid Bonds and Agreements to Bond. “A scanned/pdf bond will result in a non-compliant bid,” the city told the BCA.
“Vendors are encouraged to contact their surety provider well in advance of submitting a bid as the process may take several weeks. More information about digital bonds can be found on the Surety Association of Canada (SAC) website.”
Meanwhile, effective May 10, the city implemented DocuSign digital signatures for purchasing agreements with successful vendors.
Successful vendors will not be required to acquire any software and will be able to successfully execute the agreements in a secure manner without physical contact,” the city reports. “When an Agreement is ready for signature, the vendor’s authorized signatory(ies), as indicated in the submission, will receive an automated email requesting signature via DocuSign.”
Helpful resources:
- DocuSign instructional videos
- How to sign a DocuSign document
- DocuSign Support Centre
- DocuSign mobile app