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Refacing polycarbonate lightbox sign - pull permits?

J

Jumpshoutmedia

New Member
I've owned a little commercial sign company for 15 years, but I've always focused on small cut decals and inkjet signs, decals, banners etc.

My sister recently bought her own business and I need to help her reface her sign.

Since I've never taken on a job like this before I have no idea what the requirements are as far as pulling permits etc!

I'm 100% confident in myself as far as being able to do the job, I'm just concerned about doing it legally.

What do municipalities usually require when applying for a permit to reface a commercial sign?

I'm a legitimate sign company, but do they usually require any sort of certifications, or anything like that (in order to keep the general public from doing sign work, etc?)

I'm not going to be doing any electrical work inside the cabinet, outside of possibly re-lamping the fixtures, so I shouldn't need an electrical permit, or a master electrician certification, right?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!
 
gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
It may depend on your locality. None of the cities in my area require a permit for refacing existing signs. I called first and checked with them beforehand just to be sure. If you're just swapping out panels there won't be any electrical work done, so you're fine.
Check with your Planning/Building department about their requirements or the municipal sign code. If it is required have the business owner or property owner take care of it, it's not your problem.
 
J

Jumpshoutmedia

New Member
Thanks for the great info! Unfortunately in this scenario, the business owner is my little sister! So I have a deep brotherly obligation to try to help her out as much as possible.

I will call the city tomorrow and ask (or do you think I should I GO there in person to inquire?)

Thanks!
 
Boudica

Boudica

I'm here for Educational Purposes
Who ownes the building her business is in? I might start there... Otherwise, around here it's like gnubler mentioned... Simply replacing a panel should be fine.
 
Texas_Signmaker

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
One of three scenarios...

- Reface it without asking and no permit. 95% of the time no one cares.
- Call up the building inspector and ask. They either say no permit needed or require one and it's a simple one-page application that gets approved.
- The city says you need a permit, which requires you to be registered, and you have to fill out a bunch of paperwork, sign up for a portal, provide insurance, pay a good chunk of money and find out you don't have proper licenses and can't approve you.
 
2B

2B

Active Member
Texas_Signmaker said:
- The city says you need a permit, which requires you to be registered, and you have to fill out a bunch of paperwork, sign up for a portal, provide insurance, pay a good chunk of money and find out you don't have proper licenses and can't approve you.
Click to expand...

Just did this song and dance with a 1 sided, NON-Illuminated monument sign
An old sign with a faded face and the customer wanted a new color scheme. changed from tan to grey, and all other information was unchanged on the design & layout
(mind you ZERO structural changes) using the existing frame, taking the old face off and the new face on.

The City then required
* Current and stamped plot survey
* Detailed CAD drawing of the EXISTING frame structure
* Time on-site, what tools will be used, and the type of power supply used by said tools
* Insurance
* Proof of workers' injury comp
* $100 to review the application
** Each revision / additional information requested by the city was treated as a "NEW" application
* The Sign permit fee was a separate cost from the application fee

In the end, the Sign permit and application fees were going to be MORE than the sign.

End customer is currently fighting the city and we walked away from the labor service
They paid for the sign portion and took it with them
 
Last edited:
gnubler

gnubler

Active Member
Jumpshoutmedia said:
Thanks for the great info! Unfortunately in this scenario, the business owner is my little sister! So I have a deep brotherly obligation to try to help her out as much as possible.

I will call the city tomorrow and ask (or do you think I should I GO there in person to inquire?)
Click to expand...
I just meant that if it turns out a permit is required you're better off not being involved in it. It's a legal document, let it fall on either the business or property owner. As a small shop, I stopped pulling permits entirely, it became a time consuming nightmare.

Like Tex said, you're probably okay just swapping it out without permission, but it wouldn't hurt to brush up on the sign code for that city.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
The reason behind these ridiculous codes and payments is easy.

Like the OP said, these things are in place to keep morons from setting up shop and doing things which will later cause fires, fall down, fall over & lotsa other things and if you're the last person working on it and there's no evidence that you had the right insurance or a novice, you'll be out the rest of your life, if someone gets hurt in the meantime.

We don't have all the details, like how high it is in the air, the sizes or how it's hooked up, but simply swapping out faces don't always go that well. A good wind could come along and you drop one. While the sign is open, some kid could throw a rock and knock something apart. Who's gonna fix it ?? Any number of things can go wrong and that's what the proper insurance is about. You don't want it, but it's for accidents which go bad. That way, all these cities and municipalities are hungry for money, not to get sued by some innocent person getting struck in the head with a fallen screw gun.

Those of you who say they don't care in your area....... just wait, they'll eventually catch on and join the club.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
We don't need permits to reface signs in our area.


You do however need insurance, and a business license.... Which is dumb. Where we live within 30 miles, you need an operating license in about 7 different zones... All which costs a few hundred a year each.

Ive only had a city person pull up once and ask if we were licensed though.
 
Black Star

Black Star

Not A New Member
Gino said:
The reason behind these ridiculous codes and payments is easy.

Like the OP said, these things are in place to keep morons from setting up shop and doing things which will later cause fires, fall down, fall over & lotsa other things and if you're the last person working on it and there's no evidence that you had the right insurance or a novice, you'll be out the rest of your life, if someone gets hurt in the meantime.

We don't have all the details, like how high it is in the air, the sizes or how it's hooked up, but simply swapping out faces don't always go that well. A good wind could come along and you drop one. While the sign is open, some kid could throw a rock and knock something apart. Who's gonna fix it ?? Any number of things can go wrong and that's what the proper insurance is about. You don't want it, but it's for accidents which go bad. That way, all these cities and municipalities are hungry for money, not to get sued by some innocent person getting struck in the head with a fallen screw gun.

Those of you who say they don't care in your area....... just wait, they'll eventually catch on and join the club.
Click to expand...
I convinced my local municipality to not require permits for this kind of project. If we are blocking a sidewalk or using electric tools, we still have to file for those permits but refacing a simple sign is not worth their time. Otherwise, we'd have to wait 2-3 months to finish a simple project, which used to happen.
 
R

RabidOne

New Member
ikarasu said:
We don't need permits to reface signs in our area.


You do however need insurance, and a business license.... Which is dumb. Where we live within 30 miles, you need an operating license in about 7 different zones... All which costs a few hundred a year each.

Ive only had a city person pull up once and ask if we were licensed though.
Click to expand...
Just 7? So you aren't doing anything on the North shore then? West Van, Squamish, Whistler.......
 
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