Being a custom sign company, we offer a wide range of products and services to our customers. Signs can range from the temporary, such as stickers, yard signs, banners and point of presence signs to encourage those impulse buys, to more permanent interior and outdoor signs like lobby signs, room markers, wall murals, lighted signs and monument signs. While most signs don’t require a sign permit, how do you know if your new sign will?
Dealing With Sign Ordinances
Since most sign ordinances are designed to keep certain aesthetic standards in a community, generally, sign permits are required for outdoor signs and not on indoor signage. In addition to knowing whether or not a permit is required, it is more important that you know the jurisdiction that will be granting the permit, as each have different rules.
Keep in mind that almost any type of outdoor sign, whether lighted or not, if the sign will be seen by the public, it will likely include a permit. This includes signs on the buildings as well as signs found on separate structures, such as a monument sign. In some instances, even the vinyl put on windows or temporary banners fall under these code restrictions. This is why it is important to know the jurisdiction and what it covers.
Now to Get the Sign Permit!
So, now that you’ve determined your new sign requires a permit, then what? Again, the sign permit ordinances will determine what information is required as well as the size(s) allowed. For a building sign, both the square footage of the owned or rented space as well as that of the front face of the building are important. This is because some municipalities regulate signs based on a percentage of just the face of the building, while others allow the sign size to be determined by a percentage of the total square area for the building.
Once you’ve determined the governmental restrictions for your signs, you’re not quite done yet. If your business is part of a multi-tenant building or complex, you may have additional guidelines as most leases have clauses for the types of signs allowed. So even if a certain type of sign is allowed by the governmental jurisdiction, the owner of the complex might not allow it.
Sounds a bit confusing, doesn’t it? That is the bad news. The good news is that an experienced sign contractor that covers a wide range of jurisdictions in a market such as Atlanta, is familiar with many of the local ordinances and can guide you in what is allowable during the initial design stages. We procure dozens of permits monthly for our customers, and offer this as a service for a flat fee of $250 plus the sign permit cost. If you’d rather get your permit on your own, we can provide all the information you will need to get the permit. Don’t get caught in the permit trap. Have us be your guide.
