We get asked about sign permits all the time, usually right around the moment a customer realizes the new sign they’re thinking about can’t just go up on the wall tomorrow. Almost every permanent sign we install needs a permit…and most of our customers never have to think about it because we take care of it for them. In Kansas City, where we do much of our work, that’s a bigger job than it sounds like. The metro spans two states and dozens of cities, and each one has its own sign rules. We also work in all of the states immediately surrounding us, where the rules change all over again.
We’ve been installing signs since 2006, so we figured it was time to write down what we’ve learned about the permit process and how we keep it from holding up your project.
Do You Need a Permit for a Business Sign?
If the sign is permanent and it’s on the outside of your building, you can pretty safely assume it needs a permit from the municipality in which the building is located.
That goes for channel letter signs on a storefront, monument signs out by the parking lot and just about anything that lights up.
For examples, Kansas City, Missouri’s zoning code says signs may only be built after a sign permit has been issued, and Olathe’s code calls it unlawful to put up or alter a sign without one.
The exceptions are narrow and vary by city. Olathe doesn’t require a permit for routine maintenance, repainting in the same colors, or signs inside your windows. Replacement faces are where a lot of folks get tripped up. In Kansas City, KS, the Unified Government requires a permit to reface an existing sign, the same as it does for a brand new one, so it’s worth a phone call before anything gets ordered.
Who Issues a Sign Permit? Where Do I Get a Sign Permit?
For a sign on your own property, the permit comes from the city where your building sits. Each office has its own way of doing things. Kansas City, MO takes applications through its online CompassKC system, while Kansas City, KS handles them through the Unified Government’s Planning and Urban Design office. Overland Park uses its own portal called ePLACE. The state usually isn’t involved at all. Missouri’s Department of Transportation says in its outdoor advertising rules that signs for a business on the same property don’t need a MoDOT permit, since the state is mostly concerned with billboards.
What Goes Into a Sign Permit Application
A sign permit application is really a set of drawings with some paperwork clipped to the back. The Unified Government’s application in Kansas City, KS is typical of what we see. It asks for a scaled drawing of the building showing the sign, a site plan with the property lines, a detailed drawing of the sign’s dimensions, materials and mounting, and a notarized statement from the property owner. If you lease your space, that owner is your landlord. It also asks for the sign company’s licenses and a $10,000 surety bond, which is one reason the installer usually handles the application.
Most of that comes out of work we’re already doing for you. We come out to photograph your storefront and take measurements, then put together a free rendering of your new sign on a photo of your actual building. Those photos and drawings become the heart of the permit package. Once you approve the design, we submit it and handle any revisions the city asks for.
The Other Approvals That Tag Along
The sign permit rarely travels alone. Anything that lights up has to meet the National Electrical Code, which requires electric signs to be listed by a recognized testing lab and to have a disconnect switch within sight of the sign. Our installation includes hooking your sign up to existing power when it’s within about ten feet, and some cities want that connection made by a licensed electrician under a separate electrical permit.
Big ground signs bring structural questions with them. About 95 percent of the signs we build never need an engineer, but a large sign set in the ground can, along with footings and power run underground.
Our article on large pylon sign projects covers how we handle those.
Shopping centers usually have written sign criteria covering letter heights, colors and mounting, and your sign has to satisfy both the landlord and the city. In a historic district in Kansas City, Kansas, the State Historic Preservation Office has to sign off before the city will, and that review can take up to 30 business days.
How Local Sign Codes Shape Your Design
Every sign code sets limits on size, height, placement and lighting, and those limits will then shape the design itself. A few examples from around the metro show how much they vary.
The Unified Government’s sign code in Kansas City, Kansas doesn’t allow new pole or pylon signs at all, so a freestanding sign there will be a monument sign on a masonry, stone or concrete base no more than five feet tall. Just across the state line, Kansas City, Missouri wants monument signs set at least ten feet back from the property line, and it only allows digital message boards on them in certain zoning districts, at least 250 feet from occupied residential property, with the message changing no more than once an hour. Down in Olathe, neon or fluorescent tubes can’t be left exposed to view, and a sign that changes color can only do it once every 24 hours.
Variances are possible, but they add weeks or months to a project. Our approach is to design within the code from the very first rendering, so the sign you see on your building is one we’ve already checked against your city’s rules.
Replacing or Updating an Existing Sign
Plenty of our work is on signs that have been up for years, from sign servicing to LED retrofits, and older signs come with a wrinkle of their own. A sign that was legal when it went up but doesn’t meet today’s code is called nonconforming. Cities usually let those signs stay, but they limit what you can change. Kansas City, Missouri won’t let you add lighting or a digital face to one, and in KCK an old pole sign can get new faces only if the poles get covered. Before you order anything for an older sign, give us a call and we’ll tell you what your city allows.
How Long Does a Sign Permit Take?
It depends on the city, the sign and how busy the permit office happens to be that month.
Some cities put a clock on themselves, where the building official may have to approve or deny a sign permit within 30 days. A missing piece of the application slows everything down, and in KCK an application left incomplete for 30 days gets closed, which is why we’re so careful with the paperwork up front.
For our customers, the whole project usually takes four to six weeks from start to finish, and plenty of storefront signs are done in about four. Monument signs and pylons take a little longer because of the excavation and masonry involved.
How Much Does a Sign Permit Cost?
The good news is that the permit is usually one of the smallest line items on a sign project. In our experience, permit fees average somewhere around $150, and we include that in our sign coswts. Our quotes itemize all of it, and our guides to business sign costs and channel letter sign costs cover the rest of the picture.
Sign Permits Beyond Kansas City
Our work regularly takes us to Topeka, Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines and Springfield, and every state line changes who’s allowed to do the work. Kansas leaves electrical licensing to its counties and cities. Nebraska licenses special electricians at the state level, a category that specifically includes sign installation, and Des Moines requires sign installers to hold a city sign erector license. Each of those cities has its own sign code too, and part of our job is doing that homework before the work begins.
Let Us Worry About the Paperwork
Nobody opens a business dreaming about site plans and surety bonds! That’s exactly why we fold the whole permit process into every project we take on, from the drawings and applications to the back-and-forth with the city and the inspections.
If you’re thinking about a new sign or updating an old one, give us a call or schedule a free consultation. We’ll put together a free design and quote with a 3D rendering of your new sign on your own storefront. We’re a locally owned Kansas City sign company that’s been doing this since 2006, and we’d love to help you get your sign up the right way.
