Who this is for: administrators who set up club waivers and agreements, and members who need to sign them. Permission required: Manage Documents and Waivers to create documents and assign them to groups. Signing a document needs no permission.
Boathouse Connect lets your club write its own documents (a liability waiver, a code of conduct, a photo release) and collect electronic signatures from members. Each document is assigned to one or more groups. Anyone in those groups is expected to sign it, and anyone joining one of those groups must sign it before they can join.
Every signature is saved as a PDF that holds the document text as it read when the person signed, their drawn signature, their name, and the date, time and IP address. You never have to chase paper forms or wonder which version someone agreed to.
USRowing waivers are separate. They are imported from USRowing, not signed in Boathouse Connect. See USRowing & SafeSport compliance.
Create a document
- Go to Waivers & Docs → Manage Docs. The All Documents table lists every document in your organization.
- Click the green + button, enter a Document Name and click Create Document. The document editor opens.
- Open the Document tab and type or paste the text into the editor. You can use bold, underline, fonts, colors, lists, tables and links. Images can be added by URL, but not uploaded.
- Set the signing window (see below).
- Click Save Document.
The editor has four tabs:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Users | All Eligible Users: everyone in the assigned groups, with the date they signed or Not Signed. Click View Document to open a signed copy. |
| Groups | Groups Assigned: the groups that must sign the document. |
| Document | The name, signing window and text of the document. |
| Signatures | All Signatures: every signature collected for this document. |
The Signed Documents counter at the top of the editor shows how many signatures the document has.
Tip. To start next season's waiver from this season's, click Duplicate next to it on Manage Docs. The copy is named "Copy of …" and keeps the text, signing window and groups. It does not keep any signatures, so everyone signs the new version.
Set the signing window
A document can be signed at any time, or only between two dates. Set this on the Document tab:
| Setting | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Always open for signing (no open/close dates) | Members can sign at any time, and the document always applies to people joining its groups. The date fields are disabled. |
| Signing Opens / Signing Closes | Members can only sign between these dates (inclusive). Outside the window the document does not block anyone from joining a group. |
A new document opens for signing on the day you create it and closes one year later. The close date must be on or after the open date, or the document will not save. On Manage Docs, the Signing Window column shows Always open or the date range, with a Closed badge when today falls outside the window.
Require a document for a group
- Open the document from Waivers & Docs → Manage Docs by clicking Manage.
- Go to the Groups tab.
- Choose a group from Select Group to Add. It is added right away as a required group.
- Repeat for each group. To stop requiring the document for a group, click Remove next to it.
The Self Join Allowed column reminds you which groups members can join on their own. Those are the groups where the document is collected as part of joining. To create groups or change their join settings, see Groups.
Sign a document (members)
From My Waivers & Docs
- Go to Waivers & Docs → My Waivers & Docs. The Required Documents and Waivers table lists the documents assigned to groups you belong to.
- Click Sign Now next to any document marked Not Signed Yet!.
- Read the document, then draw your signature in the box with your mouse or finger. Click Clear Signature to start again.
- Click Submit Document.
When you are done, the table shows the date you signed, and View Signed Document lets you view or Download your PDF.
While joining a group
On Groups → My Groups, a group's Documents section lists its documents with their type (Required or Optional) and your status: Signed on a date, Not currently open for signing, or a Sign Now button.
When you click Join Group or Request To Join on a group that has unsigned required documents, a Sign Required Documents window walks you through them one at a time (for example "1 of 2"). The last button tells you what happens next:
| Button | What happens |
|---|---|
| Sign & Join Group | You are added to the group. |
| Sign & Request To Join | Your request is sent to the group's managers. You sign now, not when they approve. |
| Sign & Continue to Payment | The group has a join fee. You choose how to pay next. See Paying as a member. |
Click Cancel to stop. You will not join the group, but any document you already signed stays signed.
What blocks a group join
A member cannot join a group, or send a request to join it, while a document is:
- assigned to that group as required,
- open for signing today (always open, or within its signing window), and
- not yet signed by that member.
These do not block a join:
- Closed documents. If the signing window has not opened yet or has already closed, the document does not block anyone.
- Members added by an administrator. When someone with Manage Groups adds a member on Groups → Manage Groups, the member is added straight away. The unsigned document then appears on their My Waivers & Docs page and as outstanding on the Compliance page.
Track who has signed
- Manage Docs. The Total Signatures column shows each document's signature count and the percentage of eligible members who have signed. Use the table's export buttons to download the list.
- The document's Users tab. See exactly who has and has not signed.
- Waivers & Docs → Compliance. See outstanding documents by group, practice, regatta or for everyone. See USRowing & SafeSport compliance.
Boathouse Connect also emails reminders to members who have an unsigned document and have used your organization in the last 60 days. The reminder links straight to My Waivers & Docs.
FAQ
If I edit a document after people have signed, do their signatures change? No. Each signed PDF is created at the moment of signing and keeps the text the person agreed to. If the change matters, duplicate the document and assign the new version so everyone signs again.
Can a parent sign for their child? A signature is always recorded against the person who is signed in. Each person has their own account (see Stakeholders for how parents are usually set up), so the athlete signs from their own account.
How do I delete a document? There is no delete button. To retire a document, remove all of its groups on the Groups tab, or set a Signing Closes date in the past. Its existing signatures are kept.
A member says they cannot find My Waivers & Docs. On the Small Teams and Standard plans the My Waivers & Docs menu item is hidden. Members can still sign their groups' documents from Groups → My Groups. Compare plans on the pricing page.
Who can see signed documents? Members see their own on My Waivers & Docs. Members with Manage Documents and Waivers can open anyone's signed copy from the document's Users or Signatures tab.
Can I email a waiver to the members who still need to sign it? There is no button to send a document. Boathouse Connect already emails reminders to members who have an unsigned document and have used your organization in the last 60 days. To follow up sooner, find who has not signed on the document's Users tab or on Waivers & Docs → Compliance, and send them a message asking them to sign from Waivers & Docs → My Waivers & Docs (or Groups → My Groups on the Small Teams and Standard plans).