In short
Rule 8.7.11 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 governs advertisements in commercial, industrial and public districts, on any lot where a commercial, industrial, agricultural industrial, agricultural commercial, tourist commercial, tourist residential or residential commercial use has been permitted, and on any land whose owner is the Government of Puerto Rico or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions. Everything is measured by the lanes of the public way the lot fronts. In ground size: up to two lanes, two hundred square feet; three to five lanes, four hundred; six lanes or more, in commercial and industrial zone, six hundred and seventy-two. In quantity: up to two lanes, two advertisements per lot; three to five lanes in a commercial zone, up to four; six or more in an industrial zone, up to five. In spacing, and only between advertisements on the same side of the road and with the same orientation: five hundred feet up to two lanes, three hundred and fifty for three to five, and two hundred from six up, applying also to road confluences. And in height, sixty feet as the cap, except the advertisement meant to be seen from an elevated way such as a bridge or ramp, which may reach thirty feet above the outer protective barrier without being subject to the sixty-foot cap.
What is it?
It is Rule 8.7.11 of Chapter 8.7 of Joint Regulation No. 9473. Its heading titles it for advertisements whose owner is the Government of Puerto Rico or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions, but the heading’s body also reaches advertisements in commercial, industrial and public districts and on any lot with an authorized commercial, industrial, agricultural industrial, agricultural commercial, tourist commercial, tourist residential or residential commercial use. It is the rule setting the hard numbers for the ground advertisement: how big it may be, how many fit, how far apart they must stand and how high they may rise.
Who can do it?
The rule reaches advertisements in commercial, industrial or public districts; advertisements on any lot or building in any calification district or non-calificated area where a commercial, industrial, agricultural industrial, agricultural commercial, tourist commercial, tourist residential or residential commercial use has been permitted; and any land located in any calification district or non-calificated area whose owner is the Government of Puerto Rico or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions.
Requirements
- Complying with the provisions established in Rule 8.7.1 (Standards on Signs and Advertisements) of the Chapter.Verified against the official source
- For every advertisement to be sited in Tourist Interest Zones or in Tourist Calification districts: the recommendation of OGPe’s Uses Manager.Verified against the official source
- That illumination characteristics take into consideration what is provided in DRNA’s Regulation for the Control and Prevention of Light Pollution in force.Verified against the official source
- For every advertisement on façades: the recommendation of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager and the notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists.Verified against the official source
- Ground advertisements on lots fronting public ways of up to two (2) lanes: maximum size of two hundred (200) square feet and up to two (2) advertisements per lot.Verified against the official source
- Ground advertisements on lots fronting public ways of three (3) to five (5) lanes: maximum size of four hundred (400) square feet; and in a commercial zone or non-calificated area with an authorized commercial use, up to four (4) advertisements per lot.Verified against the official source
- Ground advertisements on lots fronting public ways of six (6) lanes or more, in commercial and industrial zone: maximum size of six hundred and seventy-two (672) square feet; and in an industrial zone, up to five (5) advertisements per lot.Verified against the official source
- Spacing between advertisements installed on the same side of the public way and with the same orientation: five hundred (500) feet up to two lanes; three hundred and fifty (350) feet for three to five lanes; two hundred (200) feet for six lanes or more, in both commercial and industrial zone, applying also to road confluences.Verified against the official source
- Maximum height of sixty (60) feet for ground advertisements; and thirty (30) feet above the road’s outer protective barrier where the advertisement is installed to be seen from an elevated public way, such as bridges or ramps, without being subject to the sixty-foot limit.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: How far this rule reaches
The heading covers three things at once: advertisements in commercial, industrial or public districts; advertisements on any lot or building, in any calification district or non-calificated area, where a commercial, industrial, agricultural industrial, agricultural commercial, tourist commercial, tourist residential or residential commercial use has been permitted; and any land whose owner is the Government of Puerto Rico or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions. That is, public land enters by ownership, regardless of how it is calificated.
Step 2: Two prior conditions
Section 8.7.11.1 sets two conditions before any measurement. Advertisements are subject to compliance with the provisions established in Rule 8.7.1, the general standards on signs and advertisements. And every advertisement to be sited in Tourist Interest Zones or in Tourist Calification districts must have the recommendation of OGPe’s Uses Manager. Besides, illumination characteristics must take into consideration what is provided in DRNA’s Regulation for the Control and Prevention of Light Pollution in force.
Step 3: Size on the façade, and who must sign
The size section says, for façades, that advertisements may be installed with a size equivalent to the total of the area visible from the public way of the lateral and rear façades, of fifty percent of the visible area of the front façade. A note on the source: the sentence is broken, joining without a connector the lateral-and-rear allowance and the front façade’s fifty percent; we publish it as printed and do not rewrite it into two rules. What is unambiguous is the process: every advertisement on façades must have the recommendation of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager and the notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists.
Step 4: Ground size is measured in lanes
There are three tiers, and the criterion is the public way the lot fronts. Lots fronting public ways of up to two lanes: the maximum size of the ground advertisement is two hundred square feet. Three to five lanes: four hundred square feet. Six lanes or more, in commercial and industrial zone: six hundred and seventy-two square feet. A note on the source: that list’s first item is marked "iw." and the rest carry no marker at all.
Step 5: How many fit, and the rule’s gap
On the building’s façades more than one advertisement occupying the area visible from the public way is permitted. On the ground the count again goes by lanes: up to two lanes, up to two advertisements per lot; three to five lanes in a commercial zone or non-calificated area where a commercial use has been authorized, up to four per lot; and six or more lanes in an industrial zone, up to five per lot. There is a gap worth saying: the list publishes no quantity for ways of six lanes or more in a commercial zone, even though the size and spacing sections do govern that case. We do not infer the missing figure.
Step 6: Spacing, and when it counts
The section first clarifies its reach: the spacing limitations apply only to advertisements installed on the same side of the public way and with the same orientation toward it. Within that universe: up to two lanes, five hundred feet of spacing; three to five lanes, three hundred and fifty feet; six lanes or more in a commercial zone or non-calificated area with an authorized commercial use, two hundred feet; and six lanes or more in an industrial zone or unzoned area with an authorized industrial use, also two hundred feet. In the last two tiers, the spacing requirement applies also to road confluences.
Step 7: Height, and the bridge exception
Ground advertisements have a maximum height of sixty feet. The exception is worth reading slowly: where the advertisement is installed for the purpose of being seen from an elevated public way, such as bridges or ramps, its maximum height is thirty feet above the outer protective barrier of the public way it faces, without being subject to the sixty-foot limitation. That is, the measuring point changes — no longer the ground but the elevated way’s barrier — and the sixty-foot cap stops applying.
Where to do it
The advertisement permit is processed before OGPe or the autonomous municipality with the corresponding hierarchy. Within that process, advertisements in Tourist Interest Zones or in Tourist Calification districts require the recommendation of OGPe’s Uses Manager, and advertisements on façades require the recommendation of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager plus the notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists. Illumination characteristics are measured against DRNA’s Regulation for the Control and Prevention of Light Pollution.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
Everything starts by counting lanes, not square metres. The public way the lot fronts decides the size, quantity and spacing of ground advertisements, and all three read in the same direction: the more lanes, the larger the advertisement, the more advertisements per lot and the shorter the required distance between them. Keep in mind that spacing is not measured against just any advertisement: it counts only against those on the same side of the road and with the same orientation toward it, and in the six-or-more-lane tiers the requirement also applies at road confluences. For façades there are two signatures that cannot be skipped: the recommendation of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager and, where there is a Condominium Association, its notarized authorization. If the advertisement is meant to be seen from a bridge or ramp, the sixty-foot cap is not the one ruling: it is thirty feet above that road’s outer protective barrier. And if the lot falls in a Tourist Interest Zone or a tourist calification district, the recommendation of OGPe’s Uses Manager comes first.
Common mistakes
- Sizing the advertisement without looking at how many lanes the public way the lot fronts has, which is what sets size, quantity and spacing.
- Installing an advertisement of more than two hundred square feet fronting a way of up to two lanes.
- Putting more than two advertisements per lot fronting a way of up to two lanes, or more than four where the rule allows four.
- Counting spacing against advertisements on the other side of the road or with a different orientation, when the limitation applies only to those on the same side and the same orientation.
- Forgetting that on ways of six lanes or more the spacing requirement applies also to road confluences.
- Raising a ground advertisement more than sixty feet where it is not meant to be seen from an elevated way.
- Measuring from the ground an advertisement oriented to a bridge or ramp, when its cap is thirty feet above that road’s outer protective barrier.
- Installing a façade advertisement without the recommendation of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager.
- Installing a façade advertisement on a building with a Condominium Association without its notarized authorization.
- Filing an advertisement in a Tourist Interest Zone or Tourist Calification district without the recommendation of OGPe’s Uses Manager.
- Designing illumination without taking into consideration DRNA’s Regulation for the Control and Prevention of Light Pollution.
Frequently asked questions
How big may a ground advertisement be?
It depends on the lanes of the way the lot fronts: up to two lanes, two hundred square feet; three to five lanes, four hundred; and six lanes or more, in commercial and industrial zone, six hundred and seventy-two square feet.
How much spacing must there be between advertisements?
Five hundred feet up to two lanes, three hundred and fifty for three to five lanes and two hundred for six lanes or more, in both commercial and industrial zone. The limitation applies only to advertisements installed on the same side of the public way and with the same orientation toward it, and in the six-or-more-lane tiers also to road confluences.
What is the maximum height of a ground advertisement?
Sixty feet. But where the advertisement is installed for the purpose of being seen from an elevated public way, such as bridges or ramps, the maximum height is thirty feet above the outer protective barrier of the road it faces, without being subject to the sixty-foot limit.
What is needed for an advertisement on a building’s façade?
The recommendation of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager and the notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists.
How many advertisements are allowed on a six-lane way in a commercial zone?
The Regulation does not publish it. The quantity section sets up to two advertisements per lot for up to two lanes, up to four for three to five lanes in a commercial zone, and up to five for six or more lanes in an industrial zone, but says nothing for a commercial zone of six or more lanes. We do not infer the missing figure.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)
OGPe
docs.pr.gov
- OGPe Single Business Portal
ogpe
www.permisos.pr.gov
- Department of Natural and Environmental Resources
drna
www.drna.pr.gov
- Planning Board
jp
jp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 6, 2026
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