While most incidents follow a standard sign-off process, there may be situations where a parent or guardian is unable to provide a signature.
For example:
A child has already left the service.
A parent is unavailable for an extended period.
An authorised family member is involved instead.
Multiple attempts have been made to obtain a signature without success.
To support these situations, the Incident Form Builder includes advanced signature options that help services maintain accurate records while ensuring incidents can still be appropriately reviewed and closed.
This article explains how to configure and use the Signed by Other workflow.
What Does the Advanced Tab Do?
The "Change Signature Status" option in the Advanced tab lets you link a manager sign-off question to a parent signature field. When a manager signs the linked field, the parent signature status changes automatically from Unsigned to Signed by Other. The register updates from a red pencil to an orange pencil, and the incident no longer appears as unsigned.
Before |
| After manager signs |
| Register icon |
Parent Signature Status: Unsigned | → | Parent Signature Status: Signed by Other | → | Orange pencil  |
You'll also see a link icon on questions that are connected to each other in the builder, so it's always clear which signatures affect each other. |
Setting it up: Step-by-Step
This workflow lives in your Investigation section. Parents don't need to see these internal steps, which is exactly what Investigation groupings are for.
Add a qualifier question
Create a Select question: "Were you able to obtain the parent's signature?" with options Yes and No. This is the trigger question.
Add a conditional manager sign-off
Add a Signature question: "Centre Manager sign-off to move out of unsigned status." Set it to only appear when the previous question is answered No.
Open the Advanced tab
Click Edit on the manager sign-off question. Go to the Advanced tab and find the "Change Signature Status" option.
Link it to the parent signature
Select "Parent Signature" as the signature question you want this to affect. Save.
Add a reason field (recommended)
Add a text question: "Reason parent unable to sign." Set it to appear when the qualifier question is answered No. This becomes part of your audit trail.
Tip: This question should also live in the Investigation section, not Details.
What this Creates: A Complete Audit Trail
When a manager uses this process, the documentation covers every step an auditor would expect to see.
Attempted | Parent was sent the form link and asked to sign. |
Documented | "Reason parent unable to sign" is recorded in the Investigation section. |
Verified | Centre Manager signs the manager sign-off field, changing status to Signed by Other. |
Closed | Register updates to orange pencil. Incident is no longer shown as unsigned. |
Auditors understand that sometimes parents are unable or unwilling to sign. What matters is that you have a clear process, proper documentation, and manager oversight. This feature gives you all three. |
Common scenarios and how to handle them
Situation | How to handle it |
Parent repeatedly doesn't sign | Document attempts, record reason, have centre manager sign off. Status changes to Signed by Other. |
Child has left the centre | Same process. Document reason, manager verifies, incident is closed in register. |
Authorised family member signs (e.g. grandparent, older sibling) | Document who signed and their relationship. Manager verifies. Move forward with clear audit trail. |
Important:
This feature only works for incidents submitted after you configure it. Existing unsigned incidents in your register will need to be handled using your normal process. Any new incidents submitted after setup will have this option available. |
Up next: Publishing your incident type
In the next video, we'll walk through publishing your incident type and setting up categories, permissions, and notifications.
Spotted an issue or have feedback?
Contact our support team at support@1placeonline.com.