How a sign is measured and installed: size, twelve inches and eight clear feet

It is Rule 8.7.4 of Chapter 8.7 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, the signs and advertisements chapter. This rule does not say how much sign each district allows — that is in the following rules — but how it is measured, where it may go, how it is designed, who certifies it, how it is maintained, what happens to old signs that no longer comply, and what rules govern electronic boards, digital screens and advertising vehicles. It is the rule to read before sizing any sign.

The rule applies to signs to be installed in any qualification district or unqualified area, with the express exception of façades parallel to National Highway System roads, where installation is prohibited regardless of size. Roof-fixed signs are permitted only in individual letters and only on buildings of architectural and cultural value where necessary to conserve that value. Electronic message boards on the ground may be considered at cultural and intensive active recreation centres with capacity for two thousand people or more. Revolving or moving signs may be authorised at marketing centres or extensive commercial recreation centres. And the rotulista’s certification is required for every application except signs affixed to the structure of one hundred square feet or less.

• Computing a façade sign’s area on the area within the outline of the building’s or premises’ façade; a ground post sign’s on the panel’s total area including the frame; and an individual-letter sign’s on the area the letters or figures occupy.Verified against the official source
• Computing each face individually, treating each side of a multi-sided structure as a separate sign or advertisement.Verified against the official source
• Not siting the sign so as to obstruct a required means of egress nor to interfere with the building’s required ventilation or lighting.Verified against the official source
• Not extending the sign, in whole or in part, beyond the periphery of the original façade outline of the structure where it is sited.Verified against the official source
• On façades bordering the pavement: not invading or projecting over the pavement’s ground by more than twelve inches, and observing a clear height of no less than eight feet beneath the sign.Verified against the official source
• Not installing ground signs that invade or project over the public road’s ground; the sign must remain wholly within the lot’s limits.Verified against the official source
• Not installing signs on a property without the written consent of the owner, lessee or possessor.Verified against the official source
• Not installing signs on façades parallel to National Highway System roads, regardless of size.Verified against the official source
• On the building’s roof: only individual-letter signs, with the frame fixed to the structural elements under the Construction Code, certified by a licensed engineer or architect, and only on buildings of architectural and cultural value where necessary to conserve that value.Verified against the official source
• That the sign’s electricity consumption be measured by an electric meter.Verified against the official source
• Accompanying the application with a licensed engineer’s or architect’s certification where a frame is proposed, with the rotulista’s certification save on affixed signs of one hundred square feet or less, and with an expert electrician’s certification that the electrical connection complies with the applicable law and regulations.Verified against the official source
• In signs with mechanical movement: that the face transition time take no more than two seconds and that the advertisement remain fixed for no less than six seconds.Verified against the official source
• Giving adequate maintenance to the sign and its accessories, maintaining its structural safety, and keeping its immediate surroundings in good sanitary and ornamental condition.Verified against the official source
• Not indiscriminately eliminating pre-existing trees around the sign.Verified against the official source
• In advertising vehicles and trailers: that the wheelbase be no greater than the towing vehicle’s nor less than half of it, that the board’s length be no greater than the towing vehicle’s length, that its height be no greater than twice that vehicle’s height, and that the lighting be fixed and directed at the board.Verified against the official source

• Certification by a licensed engineer or architect that the frame’s design conforms to the regulations in force.
• The rotulista’s certification that the sign complies with the chapter’s provisions, except on signs affixed to the structure of one hundred square feet or less.
• An expert electrician’s certification that the electrical connection complies with the applicable legal and regulatory provisions.
• Written consent of the owner, lessee or possessor of the property where the sign will be installed.
• DTOP permit and recommendation of OGPe’s Infrastructure Manager, for advertising vehicles and trailers.
• Recommendation of OGPe’s Environment Manager prior to installation, in the areas that correspond.

1. 1

   Step 1: How each type of sign is measured

   There are three distinct rules by type. The area permitted for a sign to be installed on a building’s façade is the percentage indicated later in the chapter, applied to the total area within the outline of the façade of the building or premises where it will be installed. The size of a post sign on the ground is determined on the panel’s total area including the frame, if any. And the size of an individual-letter sign, installed on façades or on ground posts, is computed on the area the individual letters or figures occupy. For the area computation, each face is computed individually.

2. 2

   Step 2: What does not count at a petrol station

   There is a practical exclusion that saves metres: the size of directional and safety signs, petrol and diesel price signs, and the menu or services panel, and any other sign required by federal or local regulation at petrol stations and drive-through service businesses, is not counted toward the maximum size of the signs installed on the façade or on the ground of those establishments. And on variances, the rule sets out two caps in advance: variances of up to ten per cent may be granted as to height, and of up to twenty per cent as to the sign’s size.

3. 3

   Step 3: The twelve inches and the eight feet

   Signs installed on the façade of a building bordering the pavement may not invade or project over the pavement’s ground by more than twelve inches. Where the Code permits the pavement to be invaded by a canopy extending from the façade, a sign is permitted under the canopy for that canopy’s width and a depth no greater than twelve inches. In both cases they may be installed parallel or perpendicular to the pavement and must observe a clear height of no less than eight feet beneath. On the ground the rule is simple: the sign may not invade or project over the public road’s ground and shall remain wholly within the lot’s limits.

4. 4

   Step 4: The roof, the outline and the National Highway System

   Three prohibitions that define the façade. Signs may not extend, in whole or in part, beyond the periphery of the original façade outline of the structure where they are sited. Signs fixed on the building’s roof are permitted only in individual letters, with the frame fixed to the structural elements under the Construction Code and certified by a licensed engineer or architect, and only on buildings of architectural and cultural value where necessary to conserve that value. And installation is permitted on any façade in any district or unqualified area, except on façades parallel to National Highway System roads, where installation is prohibited regardless of size. Separately, signs installed within the façade outline but not wholly affixed to it are permitted only in individual letters, panel signs being prohibited, save wall ones on a frame fixed or anchored to the façade projecting no more than twelve inches.

5. 5

   Step 5: Corners and sides

   Two counting rules that change the result. For signs installed on the ground on corner lots, the maximum size and number are computed individually for the signs oriented toward each public road. And the structures on which signs are installed may have more than one side, it being provided that to compute the maximum size each side is computed individually and each side of the structure counts as a separate sign. Besides, a sign’s maximum size is not taken into account in computing the size of adjoining advertisements and vice versa, except on the front fascia because of the area limitation the chapter establishes.

6. 6

   Step 6: The three certifications and the meter

   Every sign must be designed per the best engineering practices under the applicable Construction Code in force. Every application proposing a frame must be accompanied by the licensed engineer’s or architect’s certification that the design conforms to the regulations in force. Every application must additionally be accompanied by the rotulista’s certification that the sign complies with the chapter — except signs affixed to the structure of one hundred square feet or less — and by an expert electrician’s certification that the electrical connection complies with the applicable legal and regulatory provisions. And there is a requirement that surprises: it is a requirement for authorising every sign that its electricity consumption be measured by an electric meter, though the sign’s owner may agree with the property owner on paying that consumption, duly endorsed by the AEE.

7. 7

   Step 7: The two seconds and the six seconds

   OGPe may authorise revolving or moving signs, as well as others not specifically covered by the chapter that future technological advances develop, provided their size, siting, lighting and content harmonise with the chapter’s purposes; and that authorisation shall not be unreasonably denied. For signs with mechanical movement there are two fixed times: the face transition time shall take no more than two seconds for the change, and the advertisement shall remain fixed for no less than six seconds. That provision also applies to electronic message boxes and others.

8. 8

   Step 8: Maintenance, trees and the Environment Manager

   Every sign and its accessories must receive adequate maintenance. It is the owner’s responsibility to maintain the sign’s structural safety and to keep its immediate surroundings in good sanitary and ornamental condition. The indiscriminate elimination of pre-existing trees around the sign is prohibited, though that is not to be read as prohibiting the pruning of trees and the elimination of vegetation or scrub where necessary to guarantee the sign’s structural safety, its components’ good functioning and the general public’s safety. And in the areas that correspond, the recommendation of OGPe’s Environment Manager is required before installation.

9. 9

   Step 9: The old sign that no longer complies

   Section 8.7.4.6 defines precisely what a sign permitted under earlier regulation is: it is considered such only where it was installed in compliance with the regulation in force at its installation date, the corresponding permit was applied for or issued, and its annual renewal has been kept paid, and the sign does not conform to this chapter. That is four conditions at once, and the annual renewal is the one most often lost. It adds that every sign suffering damage in excess of fifty per cent of the gross construction area, or structural damage, will need a new permit to be processed. And it closes with an evidentiary rule: the absence of the installation permit and the certification of validity is prima facie evidence that the sign’s installation lacks legal authorisation.

10. 10

    Step 10: Electronic boards, screens and advertising vehicles

    Electronic message boards on the ground may be considered at cultural and intensive active recreation centres with capacity for two thousand people or more, and their size, height and siting requirements are authorised considering the premises’ size, the principal use’s intensity and the sector’s characteristics, including proximity to residential areas; the advertising is limited to what can be conveyed through the electronic message. Time-and-temperature boards affixed to the wall may also be considered in commercial, industrial and public-use districts. Where the board is on trailers or vehicles, moving or parked, the corresponding OGPe permit must be obtained. Digital screen signs must comply with the light pollution regulation. And advertising vehicles and trailers must obtain the DTOP permit and the recommendation of OGPe’s Infrastructure Manager, with three parameters: the wheelbase shall be no greater than the towing vehicle’s nor less than half of it; the board’s length shall be no greater than that vehicle’s length and its height no greater than twice its height; and the lighting shall be fixed and directed at the board.

Sign permits are processed before OGPe or the municipality of the corresponding hierarchy. OGPe is the one that authorises revolving and moving signs and those not specifically covered by the chapter, and the one that issues the permit for electronic boards on trailers or vehicles. The permit for advertising vehicles and trailers is given by DTOP, with the recommendation of OGPe’s Infrastructure Manager. The recommendation of OGPe’s Environment Manager is requested in the areas that correspond before installing. And the endorsement of the electricity consumption payment agreed between the sign’s owner and the property owner is given by AEE.

• Measuring an individual-letter sign by the rectangle enclosing it, when it is computed on the area the letters or figures occupy.
• Measuring a ground post sign without including the frame in the panel’s total area.
• Counting a two-faced structure as one sign, when each side is computed individually and counts as a separate sign.
• Counting directional, safety, petrol and diesel price signs or the menu panel within a petrol station’s or drive-through’s maximum size.
• Extending the sign beyond the periphery of the structure’s original façade outline.
• Invading the pavement by more than twelve inches, or leaving less than eight feet of clear height beneath a sign or a canopy.
• Installing a ground sign that projects over the public road’s ground instead of staying within the lot.
• Installing a panel sign on the roof, when only individual letters are permitted there and only on buildings of architectural and cultural value.
• Installing a sign on a façade parallel to a National Highway System road, where it is prohibited regardless of size.
• Installing a sign without the written consent of the property’s owner, lessee or possessor.
• Filing the application without the rotulista’s certification when the affixed sign exceeds one hundred square feet.
• Omitting the expert electrician’s certification on the electrical connection.
• Wiring the sign to the premises’ consumption without an electric meter measuring its consumption.
• Programming a screen with transitions over two seconds or with the advertisement fixed under six seconds.
• Assuming an old sign remains covered under earlier regulation without having kept its annual renewal paid.
• Repairing without a new permit a sign that suffered damage over fifty per cent of the gross construction area or structural damage.
• Cutting pre-existing trees around the sign beyond the pruning necessary for its structural safety.

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