Agreements, attestations and e-signature
Signed before the visit, and provable afterwards.
The service agreement is not a formality. It is the document that defines the scope of your engagement and protects you if a dispute arrives two years later. That only holds if you can prove what was signed, by whom, and when.
Actually signing, not ticking a box
- A handwritten signature drawn with a finger or a mouse, not a checkbox.
- A timestamp of the exact moment of signing.
- The document is frozen at signature: the signed text can no longer change afterwards.
- A SHA-256 fingerprint of the signed document, computed and kept, to demonstrate that a copy produced later is the one that was signed.
Sign before, not after
The agreement is best signed before the visit, and that is not an administrative preference. A document signed on the doorstep, between two handshakes, by a client in a hurry who has not read it, protects far less than it appears to.
Sent through the portal at booking, it is read calmly, signed remotely, and you arrive with the engagement already framed. You also know who has not signed, which saves a wasted trip.
Why freezing the document matters more than the signature
Everyone understands the idea of an electronic signature. The decisive point is elsewhere: being able to demonstrate, two years later, that the text produced in front of a tribunal is exactly the one your client signed.
That is what the freeze and the SHA-256 fingerprint are for. The signed document can no longer change, and its fingerprint lets anyone verify that a later copy is the same one, character for character. Without that, a valid signature on an editable document proves nothing.
The same logic applies to language. A client who signed an English version must find that version again, not a translation redone afterwards. That is why the locale is frozen at signing.
Two documents, not one
- The service agreement, signed before the inspection, which sets the scope and the limits of the engagement.
- The attestation that accompanies delivery of the report.
- Any appendices you attach to either.
- All of them exist in English and French, and the language freezes at signature so the copy on file is exactly the one the client read.
FAQ
Can my client sign from a phone?
Yes. They draw the signature with a finger inside the portal, with no app to install and no account to create.
Why does freezing the document matter?
Because a signature on a document that can still be edited proves very little. Habita freezes the signed text and keeps a SHA-256 fingerprint of it, so a copy produced two years later can be shown to be the same document, character for character.
Can I have the agreement signed before the inspection?
Yes, and that is the intended flow. You send the portal at booking, the client signs at their own pace, and you arrive on site with the engagement already framed.
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