Sign permit and landlord approval services in Southern California We handle the paperwork so your sign goes up.

In most cases, yes. Nearly every city in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and Los Angeles counties requires a permit for permanent exterior signs, including channel letters, monument signs and wall cabinets. Lit signs usually need electrical review as well.

Each city writes its own sign code. The rules commonly cover:

• Sign area, often based on the width of your storefront.
• Height and placement, such as how high a wall sign can go or how far a monument must sit from the street.
• Number of signs allowed per business or per building face.
• Illumination, including brightness limits in some areas.
• Window signs, which some cities count toward your total sign allowance.

A sign put up without a permit can lead to fines or an order to take it down, and it can cause trouble with your landlord. We check the code for your address before design starts, so the sign in your mockup is a sign the city can approve.

If you lease your space, the city is only half of the approval. Most shopping centers and commercial properties have sign criteria, a document that sets the rules for every tenant sign. It is often attached to your lease as an exhibit.

Sign criteria commonly specify:

• Maximum letter height and sign length.
• Allowed colors, and whether corporate brand colors are permitted.
• Lighting type, such as front-lit, halo-lit or non-lit.
• Mounting method, often raceway or flush mount.
• Installation requirements, such as insurance and work hours.

Most landlords want to approve your sign before it goes to the city. We prepare a landlord approval package with scaled drawings, a mockup on the building, materials and electrical details. If the property manager asks for changes, we revise and resubmit. Once the landlord signs off, we move on to the city permit, so there are no surprises later.

A sign permit application is only as good as the drawings behind it. Incomplete drawings are one of the most common reasons for plan check corrections and delays. Our permit packages typically include:

• Site plan showing the building, property lines and the sign location.
• Building elevation with the sign drawn to scale and the storefront width noted for the sign area calculation.
• Sign details covering dimensions, materials, colors and construction.
• Electrical details for lit signs, including UL-listed components and how the sign connects to power.
• Structural details for monument footings or heavy wall attachments when the city asks for them.

We submit to the city, respond to plan check comments and keep you updated. Review times differ from city to city, so we give you a realistic expectation based on where your business is. When the permit is issued, we fabricate the sign, and our crew installs it and is ready for any final inspection. Call 951-552-0709 to get started.