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Frequently Asked Questions
- Why isn’t my digital signature passing validation?
- A certificate authority (CA) is a trusted entity that issues electronic documents to verify the identity of a digital entity. The CA that issued the certificate with which these signatures were signed is not trusted by the agency because it does not meet the professional board rules security standards. Self-signed documents are not accepted per the Florida Administrative Code 61G15-23.003. The new requirement states that you must have your own identity, digital seal and signature validated by a 3rd party Certificate Authority. Local Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors are using Entrust, IdenTrust, VeriSign, and GlobalSign most frequently.
DocuSign , is a secure signing service and is not recognized as a third party certificate authority, or a SSL/TLS certificate which provides root certificates or private keys. If you research these authorities, you will see that DocuSign is more of a loan style signing service. It may have been accepted in the past in error, but the Digital Plan Room is designed to verify that proper certificates are being used. Please see our Guide to Digital Signatures for more information on digital signatures.Any Certificate Authorities not listed in our Guide to Digital Signatures that are certified by either GSA's FPKI and/or the WebTrust Consortium will be acceptable to the City of Tampa.
- Why do my plans say they have been modified, but I have not made any changes?
- Some third party products will slightly modify the plan. Please use Adobe Acrobat Reader instead of other PDF creation products like Foxit Phantom PDF. These products will cause you to receive an error that the plans have been modified after signing. If you continue to receive the error, please watch Digitally Signing Documents with Adobe.
- Why can’t I see the Plan Room when I log into the Citizen Access Portal?
- You must be a contact on the record. To be added, the primary contact on the record must complete the “Add Contact” steps in the Citizen Access portal. Contacts can be added at the time of submittal or after the fact by using the “Add Contact” record.
- Why are my plans taking so long to process during the upload process?
- File processing speed will vary depending on the file size and number of sheets. It is ok to navigate to other items while the plans are being processed. You will receive an email with a link when the file processing is complete.
- What is an issue versus a condition?
- Issues are code related concerns that must be corrected by correcting the appropriate drawings.
Conditions are concerns that can be corrected in the field by the inspection staff and are similar to drawings. - What do I need to submit when I am uploading revised plans?
- When submitting revised plans, provide written responses to each issue on the record and upload only the corrected sheets. Corrected sheets must still have third party verified digital signatures in order to upload the corrections. It is no longer necessary to resubmit the entire plan set.
- What are the document submission guidelines?
- View the document submission guidelines
- What is a Certificate Authority?
- A Certificate Authority (CA) (or Certification Authority) is an entity that issues digital certificates.The digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate. This allows others (relying parties) to rely upon signatures or assertions made by the private key that corresponds to the public key that is certified.
- How do I obtain a digital signature?
- Please see the City's Guide to Digital Signatures.
- Where can I find more information on the error message I am receiving?
- Please see Error Messages and How to resolve them.
- Can I make mid-cycle changes and upload new plans?
- The plan review cycle must be completed before new plans can be uploaded. Mid-cycle uploads are not permitted. At the conclusion of the plan review cycle, you will receive notification that the plan review cycle is complete.