Online waivers and consent forms: collect signatures with one link
Replace clipboards and paper waivers with a single signing link for your website, a QR code or an email. Each person signs their own copy, with an audit trail.
Gyms, climbing walls, yoga studios, tour operators, clinics, camps, salons and event organizers all need the same thing: a signed waiver or consent form from every person, before they start. Paper means clipboards, illegible handwriting and filing cabinets. Emailing each person a document doesn't scale for walk-ins. A public signing link solves both.
How a public link works
You publish one link, such as https://app.parapho.com/f/abc123. Anyone who opens it:
- Enters their name and email.
- Agrees to sign electronically.
- Fills in the form and signs, on their phone, tablet or computer.
- Receives their own sealed, signed copy by email.
Every submission becomes its own envelope in your account with its own certificate of completion, so a thousand visitors means a thousand individual, verifiable waivers, not one shared document.
Set it up in five minutes
- Create a template from your waiver PDF. Add one role, such as Participant, and its fields: name, date of birth, emergency contact, a checkbox for each acknowledgment, signature and date. (Template guide.)
- Make the important fields required, so nobody can submit without ticking the acknowledgments.
- Add conditional fields where answers vary, for example a guardian name and signature shown only when Participant is under 18 is ticked, or a medication field shown only when I have a medical condition is ticked.
- Go to Templates, click the globe icon on the template, and choose Create public link.
- Share the link.
Where to share it
- Your website: a "Sign the waiver" button on your booking or class pages.
- Booking confirmations: add the link to the email or text customers get when they book, so they sign before arriving.
- A QR code at reception: generate one from the link, print it, and let walk-ins sign on their own phones while they wait.
- A tablet at the front desk: open the link and hand the tablet over; each person starts a fresh copy.
Finding and proving a signed waiver
Submissions appear in your envelope list marked Public form; open one to see who signed it and download the sealed PDF. Each signed PDF includes a certificate of completion showing when it was signed, from which IP address and device, and every step in between. If a signature is ever questioned, anyone can check that the PDF hasn't changed since it was signed.
Developers can connect submissions to other systems: each one sends the usual envelope.sent and envelope.completed webhooks, so you can mark a booking as "waiver signed" automatically, and the API can list envelopes by signer email to look up a person's waiver.
Good uses for public links
- Liability waivers and release forms
- Photo and media consent
- New-patient intake and consent to treat (use HIPAA mode for PHI)
- Volunteer and event registration agreements
- Rental and equipment hire terms
- Parental permission slips
A word on enforceability
An electronic signature on a waiver is generally as valid as ink under the ESIGN Act, UETA and similar laws. Whether the waiver itself protects you depends on what it says and on local law, which varies, especially for minors and serious negligence. Have a lawyer review your waiver's wording; Parapho takes care of collecting and proving the signatures.
Public links are included on Solo ($3 a month) and Team ($15 a month for your whole workspace). Create your waiver link
Frequently asked questions
Are online waivers legally valid?
Electronic signatures on waivers are generally as valid as paper ones under laws like the US ESIGN Act and UETA. Whether a particular waiver is enforceable depends on its wording and on local law, such as rules on gross negligence or minors, so have a lawyer review the text itself.
How do people sign a waiver from a QR code?
Turn your public link into a QR code with any QR generator and print it at reception. Visitors scan it with their phone camera, enter their name and email, and sign on the phone.
Can a parent sign a waiver for a child?
Yes. Add fields for the participant's name and date of birth and have the parent or guardian sign. Conditional fields can show the guardian section only when the participant is under 18.
Do I get notified when someone signs?
Each signed submission appears in your envelope list as a public form submission, and webhooks send envelope.completed so you can update a booking system automatically.
Can two people sign the same public link copy?
No. Public links use the template's first role, so they're for single-signer documents. For documents that need several signers, send an envelope instead.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by country, state and document type; check with a lawyer for anything high-stakes.