Digital Signature Tutorial Background:

Digital signatures are permitted by the State of Florida Administrative Code that governs each Professional Engineer, Architect, Professional Surveyor and Mapper, Professional Geologist, and so on.

Governing Boards and Florida Statutes:

FS 668 Electronic Signature Act of 1996 61G15-23 PE Rules FAC FS 471 Engineering FS 61G1-16 Architects Rules FAC FS 481 Architects and Landscape Architects FS 61G10 Landscape Architects Rules FAC 5J-17 Surveyors Rules FS 472 Surveyors FS 61G16-2 Professional Geologists FS 492 Geologists FS

Requirements

Certificate-based digital signature registration:

Adobe Acrobat includes a certificate signature utility that lets you sign PDF files with a certificate-based digital ID, also known as a digital signature. With Acrobat you may create your own certificate ID which the City will maintain on file for all of your permit projects.

You create this certificate ID by completing a Digital Signature Affidavit form online, signing and sealing the physical form, then hand delivering or couriering to the building division.

You must purchase Adobe Acrobat in order to use this option. It is highly recommended that you review this tutorial before creating your certificate ID.

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Tutorial Overview

This example uses the Digital Signature Affidavit through Adobe to prompt the user to either browse and find an already created Digital ID or prompts them to create a new Digital ID. Below is an example of what the finished product should look like.

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City of Boca Raton | Digital Signature Affidavit Tutorial

Open the Digital Signature Affidavit File

Double click the Digital Signature Field then follow the prompts (make selections as pictured

in screen shots below.

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Enter your PE or AA number as part of your name in the Name field (i.e. John Smith P.E. 01564

The screen shot below doesn’t show a PE or AA number as this person isn’t a PE or AA)

Caution: Do not use special characters as part of the Organization Unit or Organization Name.

Example of special characters: #$%^&*()!_+

Be sure to leave the Enable Unicode Support box unchecked

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Choose the location on your computer or flash drive where you would like to store

your Digital ID file (you will need to know where it is in order to use it in the future.)

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Create a password (memorize your password ‐ do not share your password) and enter it into

the necessary fields.

Enter the password you created and press Sign.

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You can change how your Digital ID appears by using the pull down menu and selecting an image file. We

have several Engineers and Architects that have an image of their seal in their Digital ID.

To find your unique Digital ID Serial Number and to find the Expiration Date of the Digital

ID, double click the Digital ID

Select the Info tab.

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Select, Show Certificate

Select Details and Scroll down until you see Validity Ends and Serial Number

You can use “cut and paste” to get the information to put on the Electronic Signature

Affidavit.

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Once you’ve digitally signed the Affidavit, print it, seal it with your wet or hard seal, sign it in front of a

notary and then send the original hard copy to us by mail or drop off at.

City of Boca Raton - Building Administration

200 Northwest 2nd Avenue

Boca Raton, FL 33432

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