Sign permits: a buyer's guide

Sign rules are local. A city, a county or a planning authority decides which signs need approval, how large they can be and where they can go. A sign can be exempt in one place and need a permit in another. No guide can tell you the rule for your building, so this one tells you which questions to ask, who can ask them, and what to have in hand when you do.

This guide is for a buyer who orders a sign from a manufacturer, in the same country or another one. Many permit guides are written by local sign shops or permit services that work in one area. If your maker is in another state or another country, that maker usually cannot apply for your permit. The work then splits between you, the maker and a local installer, and the documents must pass between all three. This guide lists the document pack to get from a remote maker, the questions to ask the authority, and the rules in England and New South Wales.

01 The approvals a sign can need

A sign can need up to five separate approvals, and each has a different owner. “Sign permit” is often used for all of them.

1. Sign permit, or advertisement consent. The planning or zoning approval for the sign itself: its size, height, position, lighting and sometimes its type. The city or county issues it in the US. In England the local planning authority issues advertisement consent.
2. Electrical permit. An illuminated sign is electrical equipment fixed to a building. Some US authorities, such as Austin, issue an electrical permit for a lit sign, and an inspector checks it.
3. Building or structural approval. Large, projecting, roof and freestanding signs put loads on a wall or on the ground. The authority can ask for a design that an engineer has sealed.
4. Heritage approval. A sign on a listed or heritage building, or in a protected area, can need a separate consent.
5. Landlord approval. This is a private approval, not a public one. A lease or a set of tenant sign criteria can fix the size, colour, lighting and position of every sign on the building.

A sign that has one of these approvals does not have the others. A city permit does not give a tenant the landlord’s permission, and a landlord’s approval does not replace the city permit. Ask about each approval separately, and get each answer in writing.

02 Which signs usually need a permit

Lit signs, projecting and freestanding signs, large or high signs, and signs on protected buildings usually need approval. Each authority makes its own list.

• Lit signs. Channel letters, neon signs, lightbox signs and digital displays usually need a sign approval and an electrical connection that someone must inspect.
• Signs that project or stand alone. Blade signs that project over a footpath, monument signs and pylon signs carry structural and safety risks, so authorities often ask for drawings and engineering.
• Large signs and high signs. Codes commonly set a maximum sign area and a maximum height. England’s deemed consent rules below are one example.
• Signs on protected buildings or in protected areas. Historic districts, conservation areas and heritage items often have stricter rules.

Some authorities exempt small or unlit signs, or a like-for-like change of a sign face. Others do not. Do not assume that your sign is exempt. Ask the authority, and keep its answer.

03 Who applies for the permit

The applicant is usually the company that installs the sign, but there is no single rule. In a 2010 Signs101 thread, sign companies disagreed. Some said that whoever installs the sign should get the permit. Others leave it to the customer, and many said that it depends on the local rules. One poster added that where he works, a business that is not licensed for the work cannot apply, and a tenant cannot apply at all.

• The City of Austin asks the sign contractor to register for an Outdoor Advertising Registration account before it can submit a sign permit application. The registration needs a certificate of insurance that names the City as an additional insured. For a lit sign, the electrical permit must be activated by a registered Electrical Sign Contractor.
• Los Angeles states, for permits in general, that you may obtain the permit as an agent, an owner or a contractor.

The licence is the reason that a remote maker usually cannot apply. Where a city asks for a registered or licensed contractor, the applicant must hold that registration or licence, and a factory in another state or country usually does not. In a 2023 Signs101 thread, a Michigan sign shop asked for a Texas company to put its licence on a permit. The advice it got was to subcontract the installation and the permit together to a local company.

So when your maker is far away, plan for three parties. The maker makes the sign and supplies the documents. A local installer, often a sign company or an electrical sign contractor, applies for the permit, installs the sign and books the inspection. You, the buyer, get the landlord’s approval and make sure that each party knows what the others need.

04 The document pack to get from a remote maker

Ask a remote maker for eight documents at quote stage, and make them part of the order. A local sign shop makes its own permit drawings. When the sign comes from another maker, the installer must get the drawings from that maker, and the authority judges the sign on those drawings.

Some wholesale makers already supply much of this. Wholesale Sign Pro, a sign manufacturer, says that its orders can come with shop drawings, wiring diagrams and full-size installation patterns, and that permits, field measurements, installation and site electrical work are quoted separately. It says that inclusions vary, so confirm them in the quote, and it tells buyers to name the installation country and the listing they need when they ask for a quote. Use that as your rule: put the destination and the listing in the brief, not in a later email.

The structural design needs care. Austin asks for a construction drawing of any freestanding, roof or projecting sign sealed by an architect or engineer licensed by the State of Texas. An overseas maker’s own calculations can be a useful input, but where the authority asks for a sealed drawing, the seal must come from an engineer licensed where the sign goes. Ask your installer who will do this before you order.

05 Questions to ask the authority

Ask the building or planning department these questions before you order. Give it the address, the sign type, the size, the position on the building and whether the sign is lit.

1. Does this sign need approval at this address? Ask whether the site is in a historic district, a conservation area or another special zone, because the rules there are often stricter.
2. Which approvals apply? Ask whether the sign needs a sign permit, an electrical permit, a building or structural approval and a heritage consent, and whether one application covers them.
3. Who may apply? Ask whether the applicant must hold a licence or a registration, and whether a tenant or an agent may apply.
4. What must the application include? Ask for the checklist or the form, and whether the structural design must be sealed by a locally licensed engineer.
5. What are the limits? Ask for the maximum sign area, the maximum height and any rules on lighting, brightness, animation or projection over the footpath.
6. Which listing or mark does the inspector accept? In the US, ask whether a UL mark is required or whether the mark of another recognised laboratory is accepted.
7. What happens after approval? Ask which inspections apply, who books them, and whether the sign can be fitted before the inspection.
8. How long does review take, and what is the fee? Ask for the current figure, because review times and fees are set by each authority and change.

Write down the name of the person you spoke to and the date, or keep the email. Send the answers to your installer and to the maker with the brief.

06 Lit signs: the electrical permit and the listing

In the US, NEC Article 600 generally requires electric signs to be listed. UL 48 is the standard that covers electric signs. An inspector may accept a UL mark or the mark of another nationally recognised testing laboratory with UL 48 in its scope, so ask the inspector which marks are accepted.

Check three points for a sign made far away.

• The listing must be on the finished sign. Listed LED modules and a listed power supply inside an unlisted sign do not make a listed sign. Wholesale Sign Pro states this plainly, and adds that a field-evaluation label, the fallback for a sign without a listing, usually applies only to the one unit examined. The local authority decides what it accepts.
• The listing does not cover the structure. UL 48 is an electrical and fire safety standard. A seller’s guide from AOOS makes the point that a listed sign which is poorly anchored is still poorly anchored, so the structural review is a separate step.
• Some inspectors do not know the 2024 marking change. The International Sign Association warned in August 2024 that inspectors may fail compliant channel letter signs that carry one mark under the new rule, and advises giving the inspector a copy of its alert. The channel letters guide explains the change.

Outside the US the marks differ: the CE mark under the Low Voltage Directive in the EU, the UKCA mark or CE in Great Britain, and the RCM in Australia. The channel letters guide explains each mark and the mains voltages. For a permit, the practical step is the same everywhere: name the mark and the site’s mains supply in the brief, and get the certificate with the sign.

07 Landlords and sign criteria

The landlord’s approval comes first if you lease the building. A sign company’s guide from Econoline Signs says that some properties attach a separate sign criteria package to the lease, that shopping centres usually have more detailed standards, and that office buildings may restrict illuminated signs. Some property managers want to review a preliminary concept first.

The same guide puts the order clearly: a city permit does not give a tenant permission to install a sign on a landlord’s building, so get the current written criteria before you finish the design. A permit application can also ask for the owner’s consent. The NSW rules quoted below make written landowner consent a condition of exempt signage.

Get three things from the landlord before you order: the written sign criteria, written approval of the drawings, and the name of the person who can sign a consent form.

08 The order of steps

Get the landlord’s rules and the authority’s answer before the maker starts production. A sign that does not fit the code or the criteria must be changed or made again, and a remote maker cannot alter it on site. This order keeps the risk low.

1. Read the lease and the criteria. Get the landlord’s written sign rules and the name of the person who approves signs.
2. Ask the authority what applies. Use the questions above, and keep the answers in writing.
3. Find the local installer. Choose the company that will apply for the permit and install the sign, and confirm that it holds the licence or registration the authority asks for. Agree in writing who pays the permit fees.
4. Brief the maker. Send the design, the site details, the destination country, the listing or mark you need, and the document pack in the table above.
5. Get the permit drawings and approve them. Check them against the criteria and the code limits. Send them to the landlord for approval.
6. Apply for the permits. The installer applies with the drawings, the site plan, the elevation, the structural design if needed and the landlord’s consent.
7. Release production. Ask the maker to start production once the permit is approved, or once you accept the risk in writing.
8. Install and inspect. The installer fits the sign as drawn, the electrician connects it, and the inspector checks it. Keep the permit, the inspection record and the listing documents with your lease.

To start production before approval saves time, but it puts the cost of any change on you. If the sign is large, lit, projecting or in a protected area, wait for the approval.

09 Outside the US: England and New South Wales

England and New South Wales both set rules that differ from US city codes. England uses advertisement consent with deemed-consent classes, and NSW exempts some signs from planning approval.

England. The Planning Portal says that the majority of illuminated signs normally need advertisement consent, as do signs above 4.6 metres on a building that sit above the bottom of the first-floor windows, and signs on gable ends. Some signs have “deemed consent”, which means that you do not need to apply, depending on their size, position and lighting. When an authority decides an application, it considers only amenity and public safety. A sign on a listed building also needs listed building consent.

The deemed consent for a lit business sign is Class 4B in Schedule 3 of the 2007 Advertisement Regulations. It has more conditions than the ones below, including a minimum height of 2.5 metres above ground, a maximum height of 4.6 metres or the bottom of any first-floor window, a limit of 0.75 metres on the height of each character, and luminance limits. These are the conditions that most affect the choice of sign type.

• It does not apply in a conservation area, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a National Park or the Broads.
• On a shop, the sign must be on a wall that contains a shop window. The class allows one sign parallel to the wall and one projecting sign.
• The lighting must be static. The class excludes intermittent light, flashing lights, moving parts, animation, retroflective material and exposed cold cathode tubing, which in practice covers exposed glass neon tube.
• The lighting must be a halo, or each letter or symbol lit from within with none of the background lit.

So a halo-lit set of letters on a shopfront outside a protected area may need no application if it meets every condition, while an exposed glass neon sign on the same wall will need consent. Check the full conditions, and ask the local planning authority if you are not sure.

New South Wales, Australia. The NSW Planning Portal says that some signs are exempt development and need no planning approval, if they meet the general requirements. Among them: written consent from the owner of the land, approval under section 138 of the Roads Act 1993 if any part of the sign projects over a public road or footpath, and secure fixing to the building in accordance with Australian Standards. The rules also limit the number of business identification signs on a building, and exempt development generally cannot be carried out on land or a building listed on the State Heritage Register or under an interim heritage order. A sign that falls outside the exempt rules needs an application.

Rules in other UK nations, other Australian states and other countries differ again. Use these two as a model for the questions to ask, not as the answer for your site.

10 Why permits and inspections fail

These gaps between the documents, the sign and the site cause delay and rework.

• The sign is larger or higher than the code allows. Check the sign area and height against the frontage before you approve the drawings.
• The sign was built before approval and does not match the approved drawings. An inspector checks the sign against the permit. Changes after approval need a revision.
• There is no listing on the finished sign, or the mark covers only parts inside it.
• The power supplies do not suit the site, for example a supply built for a different mains voltage, or one that is not rated for the location.
• The landlord’s consent or the structural design is missing from the application.
• The applicant is not licensed for the work in that city.

The document pack and the order of steps above deal with these before the sign ships.

11 What to put in the quote request

Make the permit part of the brief, so that every maker quotes the same scope. Add these lines to the brief you send.

1. Site. The full address and the delivery country, with a photograph of the wall and its measurements.
2. Approvals you know about. The landlord’s sign criteria, and any answer you already have from the authority.
3. Listing or mark. The listing the sign needs in the delivery country, where the mark will sit, and the certificate you need to receive.
4. Mains supply. The voltage and frequency at the site.
5. Document pack. Ask the maker to state which of these it supplies: permit drawing, elevation, fixing detail, structural design, electrical schedule, cut sheets and mounting pattern.
6. Who applies. State that a local installer will apply for the permit, or ask the maker whether it has a partner who can.
7. Inclusions. Ask each maker to mark permit drawings, engineering, permit fees, freight, installation and the electrical connection as included or excluded.

The signage RFQ template has a full brief to copy. The business sign cost guide and the channel letter cost guide list the costs that sit around the sign itself, including permits and engineering. For the sign types, read the types of business signs guide.

12 How Find Sign Makers fits in

Find Sign Makers is a directory, not a seller. It does not make, sell or install signs, it does not set prices, and it does not apply for permits. It lists manufacturers so that you can compare them and contact them.

1. Open a sign type page, for example channel letters or neon signs, or start with all sign manufacturers.
2. Check the countries each maker ships to on its profile. The delivery countries list shows which makers ship to your country.
3. Do not read the Verified badge as a permit check. It does not confirm an electrical listing such as UL, a licence, insurance or a certification. The verification criteria explain what it does mean.
4. Send your brief from a profile’s quote form. The brief goes to that manufacturer and to up to two others that Find Sign Makers picks from profiles that list the sign type and ship to your country. It is free, and you do not need an account.
5. Ask each maker in writing which permit documents and which listing it can supply, then compare the replies line by line.

Each manufacturer owns its quote, its terms and its documents. The authority decides the permit.