Legal validity of electronic design approvals: what makes them stand up in court

A designer shows the client a kitchen mood board. The client writes "looks great" in chat. Two months later: "Can we go back to the white one we discussed at the beginning?" Sound familiar?

The question: does "looks great" carry legal weight?

Short answer: not by itself. For an electronic approval to function as a signed document, four specific conditions must be met. We break them down and show how Roomix handles each by default.

What the law actually says

Most modern jurisdictions recognize electronic signatures and approvals if certain conditions are met:

• Russia: Article 160(2) of the Civil Code allows electronic signatures and other analogs of handwritten signatures when permitted by law or by agreement of the parties.
• EU: Regulation eIDAS distinguishes "simple," "advanced," and "qualified" electronic signatures, each with different evidentiary weight.
• USA: ESIGN Act and UETA give electronic signatures legal equivalence to handwritten ones, provided both parties consent.

The pattern is the same everywhere: electronic approval works, but only when specific technical and contractual conditions are satisfied. Without them, you hold correspondence that a court will evaluate "in totality," and not always in your favor.

The four conditions

1. Identification of parties

The court needs to know who exactly clicked "Approve." A Telegram account tied to a phone number not listed in the contract is weak identification. Counsel will reasonably ask: "Why do you assume this was your client and not their spouse, assistant, or anyone else with access to the phone?"

What you need:

• The contract lists the client's email or phone
• Platform login uses the same email or phone
• An additional anchor: name on the account matches the contract

2. Message integrity

Telegram, WhatsApp, personal email, all allow message deletion or editing. A client can delete "I approve" within 24 hours and you would have a hard time proving it ever existed.

What you need:

• Server-side storage that parties cannot edit
• Audit log with server-side timestamps (not from the user's device)
• No way to retroactively change the file version that was approved

3. Unambiguous subject

"OK, looks great" refers to what exactly? The last message? The image above? Version 3 or version 5? Without an explicit link to a specific version of the artifact, you end up disputing what was actually approved.

What you need:

• Each version of a mood board has a unique identifier
• Approval is tied to that identifier, not "the chat in general"
• Versions are immutable: once approved, the file stays as-is, with new versions created for changes

4. Contract clause

This is the most underrated point. Even with a perfect platform and immutable audit log, a court may refuse to recognize an electronic approval if the contract has no such clause.

A working clause looks like this:

The Parties agree that exchange of messages and approvals through the [Platform Name], linked to the Client's registered account (email/phone), is equivalent to exchanging written documents. Approval through the "Approve" action on the platform constitutes an analog of the Client's handwritten signature within the meaning of applicable electronic signature law.

Without this clause, you are building on sand.

What does NOT work

Common mistakes that make approvals legally useless:

• Chat screenshots without notarization. Screenshots are trivially fakeable in Photoshop, courts know this. Without a notary's protocol of inspection, evidentiary value is minimal.
• "I approved verbally on the phone." A call without a recording is no evidence at all. A recorded call with prior notice is evidence, but weak, you also need voice attribution and expert analysis.
• Group chat approvals. If five people are in the chat and someone wrote "ok," the court may doubt it was your specific client.
• Editing without a new version. You got "ok," then quietly swapped the sofa color without creating a new version. What was actually approved is now disputable.

How Roomix handles this

The platform addresses all four conditions by default:

1. Identification: the client signs in via a magic link tied to the email from the contract. Account impersonation is technically prevented.
2. Integrity: every approval is recorded in the audit log with a server-side timestamp. Neither party can delete or modify the record.
3. Subject clarity: approval is anchored to a specific file version. Creating a new version does not overwrite the previous approval, the history is preserved.
4. Contract scaffolding: our recommended contract template includes the required clause on electronic approval recognition.

When you export a project to a PDF report, the audit log is included in the document, you can attach it to a claim or use it pre-trial. See more in our guide to PDF reports.

What to do right now

A minimum checklist for your next two projects:

1. Add a clause to your contract recognizing electronic approvals (sample wording above)
2. Move project communication off Telegram to a platform with an audit log
3. Stop accepting "ok" as approval, require an explicit action (a clicked button, a separate email)
4. Export a PDF report 30 days after project delivery

These four steps separate "his word against mine" from "I have legally valid proof."

CTA

In Roomix, the audit log is included on all plans by default. To try it on one project, create an account. Importing your contract and onboarding a client takes 10 minutes.

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Important: this article describes general legal principles. Specific disputes are decided by courts based on the totality of circumstances. Before using sample wording in your contracts, consult a qualified lawyer familiar with service agreements in your jurisdiction.