Sign and sign-maker registry: ten dollars, a two-hundred penalty and the sign-maker licence

These are the final four rules of Chapter 8.7 of Joint Regulation No. 9473. They do not say how a sign must look — that is in the parameter and district rules — but what must be registered, who may manufacture and install it, what happens to signs that already existed before the Regulation, and how a variance is requested when the literal requirement does not fit. Two distinct registries live here: the one for signs and advertisements, which registers objects, and the one for sign-makers, which registers persons and firms.

Registration in the Registry of Signs and Advertisements falls on every sign and advertisement, and is compulsory; the certification is issued to the owner or holder. The fee and penalty provisions of Section 8.7.14.2 and Rule 8.7.16 apply only to signs or advertisements installed before the Regulation’s effectiveness and for which no proceeding has been started against them. Registration in the Sign-Makers Registry is needed by every person engaged in the sale, manufacture, installation, maintenance and removal of signs and advertisements. The variance is requested by the owner, the owner’s authorized representative or that of the property.

• Registering every sign and advertisement in the Registro de Rótulos y Anuncios de Puerto Rico: registration is compulsory and OGPe holds control of the Registry.Verified against the official source
• Paying OGPe ten dollars ($10.00) for a sign’s or advertisement’s first registration in the Registry; signs or advertisements holding a valid installation permit are excluded from payment.Verified against the official source
• Paying a penalty of two hundred dollars ($200.00) in addition to OGPe where the sign or advertisement was not registered, in order to register it.Verified against the official source
• Removing within the ten (10) days following OGPe’s order any sign or advertisement not registered within the period provided, unless the accrued fees or penalties are paid.Verified against the official source
• For the sign-maker: certification of non-existence of tax debt with the treasury, or of being under and complying with a payment plan authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury.Verified against the official source
• For the sign-maker: certification of payment of municipal licence tax, chauffeur’s social security, State Insurance Fund policy, and social security or employer social security number, as applicable.Verified against the official source
• For the sign-maker: certification of Existence and Good Standing issued by the Department of State in the case of corporations, and a copy of the partnership agreement in the case of partnerships.Verified against the official source
• For the sign-maker: a public liability policy for damages to third parties from the negligent or culpable manufacture, installation, maintenance and removal of signs or advertisements, with coverage not less than one million ($1,000,000) dollars.Verified against the official source
• For the sign-maker: a public liability policy for damages to third parties from the negligent driving and use of equipment and motor vehicles used in manufacture, installation, maintenance and removal, with coverage not less than three hundred thousand ($300,000) dollars.Verified against the official source
• For the sign-maker: paying fifty dollars ($50.00) for the sign-maker licence OGPe issues, annually renewable and non-transferable.Verified against the official source
• Being registered in the Sign-Makers Registry in order to engage in the sale, manufacture, installation, maintenance and removal of signs and advertisements.Verified against the official source
• To request a variance for advertisements or signs on a building’s façades: accompanying it with the notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists, and that of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager.Verified against the official source
• To request a variance in Tourist Interest Zones or in Tourist Calification districts: having a favorable recommendation from the CT.Verified against the official source

• Certification OGPe issues to the owner or holder after the sign’s or advertisement’s first registration in the Registry.
• Certification of non-existence of tax debt with the treasury, or of the payment plan authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury.
• Certification of payment of municipal licence tax, chauffeur’s social security and State Insurance Fund policy.
• Certification of Existence and Good Standing from the Department of State (corporations) or a copy of the partnership agreement (partnerships).
• Certification of the public liability policy with coverage not less than one million dollars.
• Certification of the public liability policy with coverage not less than three hundred thousand dollars for equipment and motor vehicles.
• Sign-maker licence issued by OGPe, annually renewable and non-transferable.
• The form designated for requesting a variance, stating motives, grounds and reasons.
• Notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists, and of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager, for façade variances.

1. 1

   Step 1: Registering the sign: the rule and the price

   Rule 8.7.14 leaves no margin: every sign and advertisement must be registered in the Registro de Rótulos y Anuncios de Puerto Rico, and registration is compulsory. The Registry is controlled by OGPe. OGPe charges ten dollars for the first registration and issues a certification to the owner or holder. There is an exclusion worth knowing before paying: signs or advertisements holding a valid installation permit are excluded from payment. That is, the sign that already came out through the permit route does not pay the registration fee.

2. 2

   Step 2: Which signs the fee and penalty apply to

   Section 8.7.14.2 itself limits its reach: its provisions apply only to signs or advertisements installed before the Regulation’s effectiveness and for which OGPe has not started proceedings against them. A note on the source: Rule 8.7.16 describes almost the same universe in different words — "for which no prior enforcement proceeding was started against them". We publish both wordings as they stand and do not harmonize them, because the Regulation does not.

3. 3

   Step 3: Two hundred dollars for not registering, and ten days to remove

   The sanction for omitting registration is direct: any person who does not register a sign or advertisement must pay a two-hundred-dollar penalty in addition to OGPe in order to register it. And if it still is not registered within the period provided, any sign or advertisement must be removed within the ten days following OGPe’s order to that effect, unless the fees or penalties accrued from the Regulation’s effectiveness are paid. The penalty, then, does not replace the fee: it adds to it.

4. 4

   Step 4: Signs that already existed: three months

   Rule 8.7.16 split the universe of pre-existing signs in two. Every existing sign or advertisement that does not meet the parameters established in the Chapter must be removed within three months from the Regulation’s effectiveness. Every sign existing at effectiveness that does meet the parameters must be registered in OGPe’s Registro de Rótulos y Anuncios. Whoever does not remove the sign in violation, or does not register the compliant one within those three months, is subject to the actions, fines and penalties imposed by the Planning Board.

5. 5

   Step 5: The Board’s fines and legal action

   The Planning Board may impose on anyone infringing the provisions of Law 355-1999 and of this Chapter a fine or penalty in accordance with the regulations in force. And it does not stop at the fine: the Board may bring any appropriate legal action to implement and enforce those provisions. The Regulation does not reproduce the schedule of fines — it refers to "the regulations in force" — so we publish no figure for that line.

6. 6

   Step 6: The Sign-Makers Registry: five certifications

   To qualify as a sign-maker and register, five things must be met. First, certification of non-existence of tax debt with the treasury, or of being under and complying with a payment plan authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury. Second, certification of payment of municipal licence tax, chauffeur’s social security, State Insurance Fund policy, and social security or employer social security number, as applicable. Third, certification of Existence and Good Standing issued by the Department of State for corporations, and a copy of the partnership agreement for partnerships. Fourth and fifth, the two policies.

7. 7

   Step 7: The two policies: one million and three hundred thousand

   The first policy is public liability, to secure payment of any indemnification for damages third parties suffer from the negligent or culpable manufacture and installation, maintenance and removal of signs or advertisements, and must have coverage not less than one million dollars. The second is public liability for damages to third parties from the negligent driving and use of equipment and motor vehicles used in that same process, and must have coverage not less than three hundred thousand dollars. These are two distinct risks — the sign and the vehicle — and the Regulation asks for a policy for each.

8. 8

   Step 8: The sign-maker licence and the prohibition

   OGPe issues an annually renewable sign-maker licence, which is non-transferable, upon payment of fifty dollars. And the consequence of not holding it is flat: no person may engage in the sale, manufacture, installation, maintenance and removal of signs and advertisements without being registered in that registry. Note the reach of that list: it covers not only installing, but also selling, maintaining and removing. A note on the source: the fee sentence is printed "previo el pago de cincuenta dólares ($50.00) los derechos correspondientes", with a missing preposition; we reproduce it as is.

9. 9

   Step 9: The variance: who grants it and where it cannot

   Rule 8.7.13 says OGPe or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III authorizes variances to the Chapter’s requirements. Three conditions bound that power. It may not grant variances to signs or advertisements located adjoining or projecting onto roads included in the National Highway System: there, no variance is possible. To grant variances in Tourist Interest Zones or in Tourist Calification districts it must have a favorable recommendation from the CT. And any variance petition on a building’s façades must be accompanied by the notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists, and that of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager. A note on the source: the section refers to "Section 8.7.3.1 (Size of Signs and Advertisements)", but size is in Rule 8.7.4; Rule 8.7.3 is the permits rule.

10. 10

    Step 10: How the variance is requested and on what criteria it is decided

    The declared purpose is to avoid the literal application of the requirements resulting in a diminution of the enjoyment of the property to the detriment of what Law 355-1999 authorizes. The initiative belongs to the owner, the owner’s authorized representative or that of the property, using the form designated for such purposes and stating motives, grounds and reasons. The criteria are three. That the variance not adversely affect infrastructure availability, the context where it is located, the street environment, or the neighbours’ safety and tranquility. That it be consonant with the requirement’s purpose and with public policy. And that its magnitude be the one necessary to ensure the installation’s viability and avoid a detriment, and that no other alternatives be viable.

The Registro de Rótulos y Anuncios de Puerto Rico and the Registro de Rotulistas de Puerto Rico are controlled by OGPe, which charges the fees, issues the sign’s registration certification and issues the sign-maker licence. The variance is authorized by OGPe or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III, and is requested on the form designated; on façades it further requires the notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists, and that of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager, and in Tourist Interest Zones or Tourist Calification districts, the CT’s favorable recommendation. Fines and penalties for existing signs in violation are imposed by the Planning Board, which may also bring any appropriate legal action.

• Confusing the sign’s installation permit with registration in the Registry: registration is compulsory for every sign and advertisement.
• Paying the ten-dollar registration fee while holding a valid installation permit, when that case is excluded from payment.
• Assuming registering late costs the same, when the two-hundred-dollar penalty is in addition to the fee.
• Ignoring OGPe’s removal order, which gives ten days to remove the unregistered sign.
• Believing an old sign is protected for being old, when one that does not meet the parameters had to be removed within three months from the Regulation’s effectiveness.
• Engaging in selling, manufacturing, installing, maintaining or removing signs without being registered in the Sign-Makers Registry.
• Presenting a single public liability policy, when the Regulation asks for one of a million for signs and another of three hundred thousand for equipment and motor vehicles.
• Treating the sign-maker licence as permanent or transferring it to another person, when it is annually renewable and non-transferable.
• Requesting a variance for a sign adjoining a National Highway System road, where it cannot be granted.
• Filing a façade variance without the notarized authorization of the Condominium Association, if one exists, and that of OGPe’s Health and Safety Manager.
• Requesting a variance in a Tourist Interest Zone without the CT’s favorable recommendation.
• Filing the variance in a third party’s name, when it is requested by the owner, their authorized representative or that of the property.

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