In short
Section 2.1.9.12 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 governs the white sign with black letters that appears on a lot’s fence when someone has applied for a permit. On filing a discretionary application or a construction permit before OGPe, an Authorized Professional or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III, the applicant shall install a sign at the main entrance of the property where the work will be carried out. For discretionary matters, that sign must be installed within no more than thirty days from filing; for ministerial construction permits, no less than five days before the application is adjudicated. The sign shall remain in place until the authorized activity ends, and where this requirement is not met the work may not be carried out. Once installed, the applicant must accredit the installation by a written document, filed within the next three days. Non-compliance is understood as a defect of notification under Article 9.9 of Law 161-2009, and any non-compliance with the section implies the archiving of the application. The sign carries five items: application number, type of application, type of project, owner and proponent, and the agency’s postal and electronic address to receive comments. And it has measurements: four by eight feet for location consultations and use variances, and a minimum of two by four feet in all other cases.
What is it?
It is Section 2.1.9.12 of Chapter 2.1 of Joint Regulation No. 9473. The filing sign is neither advertising nor a business sign: it is the public notice that an application has been filed over that lot, with the details for anyone to send comments to the agency. That is why the section treats it as part of notification and punishes its absence with the application’s archiving.
Who can do it?
The requirement falls on the applicant filing a discretionary application or a construction permit before OGPe, an Authorized Professional or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III, and in those cases where the regulations so require. Processes under a declared state of emergency are governed by the terms provided for them.
Requirements
- Installing a sign at the main entrance of the property where the work will be carried out, on filing a discretionary application or a construction permit.Verified against the official source
- For discretionary matters: installing the sign within a period of no more than thirty (30) days from the application’s filing.Verified against the official source
- For ministerial construction permits: installing the sign no less than five (5) days before the application is adjudicated.Verified against the official source
- Keeping the sign in that place until the authorized activity ends; where this requirement is not met, the work may not be carried out.Verified against the official source
- Accrediting the installation by a written document certifying it was installed per the section, filed within the next three (3) days after the sign was installed.Verified against the official source
- Placing the sign at the main entrance, whether vehicular or pedestrian, parallel to the public ways adjoining the lot, in a place comfortably visible from the public way.Verified against the official source
- For lots adjoining more than one public way: placing one (1) sign facing each way.Verified against the official source
- That the signs neither invade nor project over the public ways’ land and be located entirely within the lot’s boundaries.Verified against the official source
- That the sign state the application number, the type of application filed, the type of project proposed, the work’s owner and proponent, and the postal and electronic address of OGPe, the JP or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III to receive comments.Verified against the official source
- For location consultations and use variances: a sign no smaller than four (4) feet high by eight (8) feet wide, with black letters on a white background, legible from the public way.Verified against the official source
- For all other cases: a minimum size of two (2) by four (4) feet, with black letters on a white background, legible from the public way.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: When it must go up
Filing a discretionary application or a construction permit before OGPe, an Authorized Professional or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III — and in those cases where the regulations so require — obliges the applicant to install a sign at the main entrance of the property where the work will be carried out. For discretionary matters, the sign must be installed within a period of no more than thirty days from the application’s filing. For ministerial construction permits, it must be installed no less than five days before adjudication. And processes under a declared state of emergency are governed by the terms provided for them.
Step 2: How long it stays
This sign shall remain in that place until the authorized activity ends. And the section adds a direct consequence: where this requirement is not met, the work may not be carried out. It is not a step that expires the day it is installed; it is a condition accompanying the whole work.
Step 3: The three days to prove it
Once the required sign is installed, the applicant must accredit that installation by a written document certifying it was installed per this section’s provisions, and that evidence must be filed within the next three days after the sign was installed. That term runs from installation, not from filing.
Step 4: Not posting it is a notification defect
Failure to comply with the obligation to place the sign, per this section and Article 9.9 of Law 161-2009 as amended, is understood as a defect of notification. And the section says it even more plainly a paragraph later: any non-compliance with this section implies the archiving of the application. The underlying reason is that the sign is how the neighbours find out: hence its absence is treated not as a minor slip but as a failure of notification.
Step 5: Where exactly it goes
The sign is placed at the main entrance, whether vehicular or pedestrian, parallel to the public ways adjoining the lot, in a place comfortably visible from the public way. For lots adjoining more than one public way, one sign is placed facing each way. And there is a physical limit: they may neither invade nor project over the public ways’ land and shall be located entirely within the lot’s boundaries.
Step 6: The sign’s five items
The sign must meet these specifications: application number; type of application filed; type of project proposed; the work’s owner and proponent; and the postal and electronic address of OGPe, the JP or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III to receive comments on the application. That last item is what turns the sign into a channel: it is how a neighbour knows where to write.
Step 7: The size by type of process
For location consultations and use variances, the sign shall be no smaller than four feet high by eight feet wide, with black letters on a white background, legible from the public way. All other cases shall have a minimum size of two by four feet, with black letters on a white background and legible from the public way. Note the section sets minimums, not maximums, and requires black-on-white contrast in both cases.
Where to do it
The sign is installed on the lot itself, at the main entrance. The document accrediting the installation is filed before OGPe, the Authorized Professional or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III where the application was filed, within three days of installation. The public’s comments on the application are sent to the postal and electronic address the sign itself must state.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
This is one of the requirements that archives the most applications, and almost always through forgotten dates. There are three clocks: thirty days from filing to install it in discretionary matters; five days before adjudication in ministerial construction permits; and three days from installation to file the document accrediting it. That third one is most often lost, because people install the sign and consider the matter done. As for the sign itself, measure before ordering it: four by eight feet if the process is a location consultation or a use variance, and no less than two by four feet otherwise, always with black letters on a white background and legible from the street. It goes parallel to the road, at the main entrance — vehicular or pedestrian — and if the lot faces two streets, two signs are needed, one facing each. It may not project toward the public way: it must sit entirely within the lot. And once up, it stays until the authorized activity ends; if it is not there, the work may not be carried out, and non-compliance is treated as a defect of notification under Article 9.9 of Law 161-2009.
Common mistakes
- Installing the sign but not filing within three days the written document accrediting the installation.
- Letting thirty days from filing pass without installing the sign in a discretionary matter.
- Installing a ministerial construction permit’s sign less than five days before adjudication.
- Removing the sign before the authorized activity ends.
- Posting a two-by-four-foot sign for a location consultation or use variance, where the minimum is four by eight feet.
- Using colours or contrasts other than black on a white background.
- Placing a single sign on a lot adjoining more than one public way, when one goes facing each way.
- Installing it perpendicular to the road or at a point not comfortably visible from the public way.
- Projecting the sign over the public way’s land instead of keeping it entirely within the lot’s boundaries.
- Omitting from the sign the agency’s postal and electronic address for receiving comments on the application.
- Treating non-compliance as a minor fault, when it implies the archiving of the application and is understood as a defect of notification.
Frequently asked questions
What size must the sign be?
For location consultations and use variances, no smaller than four feet high by eight feet wide. For all other cases, a minimum of two by four feet. In both, black letters on a white background and legible from the public way.
When must it be installed?
In discretionary matters, within a period of no more than thirty days from the application’s filing. In ministerial construction permits, no less than five days before adjudication. Processes under a declared state of emergency are governed by the terms provided for them.
What happens if I do not post the sign?
Where this requirement is not met the work may not be carried out; non-compliance is understood as a defect of notification under Article 9.9 of Law 161-2009, and any non-compliance with the section implies the archiving of the application.
What information does the sign carry?
Application number, type of application filed, type of project proposed, the work’s owner and proponent, and the postal and electronic address of OGPe, the JP or the autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III to receive comments on the application.
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
- Planning Board
jp
jp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 6, 2026
MiPRFácil is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Puerto Rico or any government agency.
MiPRFácil does not submit applications on your behalf.
Was this guide helpful?
Did you find out-of-date information?
Filing a permit in the SUI: 10% on submission, five days to validate and the remaining 90%
The application is not deemed filed and no term runs until it is validated, and it is archived if not cured within thirty days.
Notifying adjoining owners of a permit: who is on the list and how it is delivered
If a street or creek adjoins, the properties across it count; if a condominium, its association. Certified mail or personal delivery.
Intervening in someone else’s permit: seven factors, substitution of parties and the agencies’ thirty days
Any interested person may request intervention; the criteria are applied liberally and denial comes by grounded resolution.
Who may apply for a permit: proving you are owner, optionee or lessee
Deed, lease, purchase option, registry certification or heirship declaration: one suffices, but one is required.
Location consultation: which projects need one and what is filed
The seven situations requiring a location consultation, the commercial categories by square feet, and the process’s fifteen- and ten-day terms.
The variance: when your lot does not meet its district
There are two different variances and a hard requirement. The Joint Regulation says variances are not favoured.
The construction permit: what it asks for and why yours may not be “ministerial”
One permit covers urbanization, construction and demolition. If it is ministerial it moves fast; OGPe publishes exactly what disqualifies it.