In short
Rule 8.7.9 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 groups twelve calification districts under one sign regime: the tourist RT-I and RT-A, the general rural R-G, the agricultural A-G, A-P and A-B, the conservation C-R and C-H, the S-H, the public P-P and P-R, and R-E. The logic is containment. The installation of signs whose design, in its aesthetic aspect, harmonizes with the character of the area is permitted, and one single sign per building or premises is allowed plus one on the ground where one is permitted. Content is bounded too: signs are permitted to identify the area, premises or activity being carried out at the place, to inform about precautions and measures related to the conservation of the area or resource, and to identify species of flora and fauna, some particular natural resource and others. In size, the sign on the façade shall not be greater than thirty-five percent of the area of the façade where it is installed. Illumination may be non-flashing, but only where it does not conflict with the conservation, preservation or investigation of the natural resource to be protected. The sign shall not project beyond the property’s boundaries and its height on the ground shall not exceed thirty-five feet. Only one sign on the ground is permitted, except on corner lots, where there may be one facing each public way. And in the RT-I and RT-A districts everything is conditioned on the Tourism Company’s recommendation.
What is it?
It is Rule 8.7.9 of Chapter 8.7 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, the signs and advertisements chapter. It gathers into one regime the districts where landscape, natural resource or tourist character weigh more than commercial visibility: tourist, rural, agricultural, conservation and public. It is neither the commercial-district rule nor the residential one, which run separately in this same chapter.
Who can do it?
The rule applies to signs and advertisements installed in the RT-I, RT-A, R-G, A-G, A-P, A-B, C-R, C-H, S-H, P-P, P-R and R-E districts. In the RT-I and RT-A districts signs and advertisements are further conditioned on the Tourism Company’s recommendation.
Requirements
- That the sign’s design, in its aesthetic aspect, harmonize with the character of the area.Verified against the official source
- One (1) single sign per building or premises, and one (1) sign on the ground where one is permitted.Verified against the official source
- That the sign serve to identify the area, premises or activity being carried out at the place, to inform about precautions and measures related to the conservation of the area or resource, or to identify species of flora and fauna, some particular natural resource and others.Verified against the official source
- That the sign on the façade not be greater than thirty-five percent (35%) of the area of the façade where it is installed, as determined by the provisions of Rule 8.7.7 of the Chapter.Verified against the official source
- That illumination be non-flashing and only where it does not conflict with the conservation, preservation or investigation of the type or class of natural resource to be protected.Verified against the official source
- That the sign be sited on the ground or fixed to any of the building’s façades, and that it not project beyond the property’s boundaries.Verified against the official source
- That the height of the sign on the ground, measured from ground level to its highest part, not exceed thirty-five (35) feet.Verified against the official source
- One (1) single sign on the ground, except on corner lots where one (1) sign may be sited facing each of the public ways.Verified against the official source
- In the RT-I and RT-A districts: the Tourism Company’s recommendation, on which signs and advertisements are conditioned.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Which districts the rule covers
The heading lists them: RT-I, RT-A, R-G, A-G, A-P, A-B, C-R, C-H, S-H, P-P, P-R and R-E. These are the tourist districts, the general rural, the agricultural, the conservation ones, S-H, the public ones and R-E. If the lot falls in any of them, the sign is governed by this rule and not by the commercial or industrial district one. A note on the source: the heading prints the last code as "YR-E", running the conjunction into the code; we reproduce it as is.
Step 2: Two general provisions
Section 8.7.9.1 holds up everything else with two sentences. The first is qualitative: the installation of signs whose design, in its aesthetic aspect, harmonizes with the character of the area is permitted. The second is a count: the installation of one single sign per building or premises and one sign on the ground where one is permitted is allowed. There is no exception for lot size or for the number of businesses in the building.
Step 3: What the sign may say
Section 8.7.9.2 bounds the content before the format. Signs are permitted to identify the area, premises or activity being carried out at the place; to inform about precautions and measures related to the conservation of the area or resource; and to identify species of flora and fauna, some particular natural resource and others. It is a catalogue of identification and information, not of promotion.
Step 4: The size: 35% of the façade
The size of the sign on the façade shall not be greater than thirty-five percent of the area of the façade where it is installed, as determined by the provisions of Rule 8.7.7 of the Chapter. For the ground sign, the section says the maximum size shall be determined in accordance with "Rule 8.7.3". A note on the source: Rule 8.7.3 is the permits rule; sizes are in Rule 8.7.4. It is the same wrong reference four other sections of this chapter carry, and we do not correct it on our own.
Step 5: Light, conditioned on the resource
Signs may have non-flashing illumination when it does not conflict with the conservation, preservation or investigation of the type or class of natural resource to be protected. These are two chained conditions: light may never be flashing, and even steady it yields where it clashes with the resource the district protects. In a conservation district, that second condition is the one that rules.
Step 6: Where it goes and how high it may rise
Signs shall be sited on the ground or fixed to any of the building’s façades, and the sign shall not project beyond the property’s boundaries. The height of the ground sign, measured from ground level to its highest part, shall not exceed thirty-five feet. And only one sign on the ground is permitted, except on corner lots, where one may be sited facing each of the public ways: that is the only way to have two.
Step 7: RT-I and RT-A: the Tourism Company decides
The rule closes with a condition that changes the process: signs and advertisements in the RT-I and RT-A districts are conditioned on the Tourism Company’s recommendation. It is neither an optional consultation nor a parallel process: without that recommendation the sign does not proceed in those two districts. A note on the source: that paragraph appears lettered "b" although the section’s items are numbered 1, 2 and 3, so the letter belongs to no visible list.
Where to do it
The sign permit is processed before OGPe or the autonomous municipality with the corresponding hierarchy, through the routes Chapter 8.7 itself establishes for sign and advertisement permits. In the RT-I and RT-A districts the Tourism Company’s recommendation must be added, without which the sign does not proceed.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
The count here is short and worth doing before ordering anything made: one sign per building or premises, plus one on the ground where one is permitted, and nothing else. On a corner lot one may be had facing each public way, and that is the only exception. The façade takes up to thirty-five percent of its area, ground height up to thirty-five feet, and the sign may not extend past the property’s boundaries by a foot. If the project is in a conservation district, the question that decides illumination is not whether the light is steady — that is already required — but whether it clashes with the conservation, preservation or investigation of the protected resource. And if the lot is in RT-I or RT-A, the first thing to seek is not the permit but the Tourism Company’s recommendation, because the sign is conditioned on it. As for content, this rule is not meant for promotion: it identifies the area, premises or activity, informs about conservation precautions and identifies flora, fauna or a natural resource.
Common mistakes
- Installing one sign per business in the building, when the rule allows only one per building or premises.
- Putting two ground signs on a lot that is not a corner lot.
- Going beyond thirty-five percent of the area of the façade where the sign is installed.
- Raising the ground sign more than thirty-five feet from ground level to its highest part.
- Projecting the sign beyond the property’s boundaries.
- Using flashing illumination, which the rule does not permit in any of these districts.
- Lighting even steadily where the light conflicts with the conservation, preservation or investigation of the protected natural resource.
- Processing a sign in RT-I or RT-A without the Tourism Company’s recommendation, on which the rule conditions it.
- Designing the sign without attending to its aesthetic aspect harmonizing with the character of the area.
Frequently asked questions
How many signs may I put up in a conservation or agricultural district?
One single sign per building or premises and one sign on the ground where one is permitted. On corner lots one ground sign may be sited facing each of the public ways.
What is the maximum height of the ground sign?
Thirty-five feet, measured from ground level to the sign’s highest part.
May the sign be lit?
It may have non-flashing illumination when it does not conflict with the conservation, preservation or investigation of the type or class of natural resource to be protected.
What is needed for a sign in an RT-I or RT-A tourist district?
Signs and advertisements in RT-I and RT-A are conditioned on the Tourism Company’s recommendation, in addition to this rule’s size, height, siting and illumination parameters.
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
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Your business sign: when you do not need a permit
Up to 35% of the façade or a hundred square feet, whichever is greater, with no permit. And the Single Permit already authorises fifty.
How a sign is measured and installed: size, twelve inches and eight clear feet
Each face counts separately, you may not project more than twelve inches over the pavement, and every sign needs its own electric meter.
Tourist Interest Zones: no billboards, cross-street banners or commercial tarpaulins
In a Tourist Interest Zone the sign runs parallel to the façade, stays under 25% of the area and needs the Tourism Company’s recommendation.
Business signs: thirty-five per cent at the front and fifty on the sides
The ground sign depends on the lot’s frontage, and with under twenty-five feet of frontage none is permitted.
Tourist residential districts RT-I and RT-A: what is allowed and on what parameters
Intermediate and high density in the Tourist Interest Zones, holiday mobile-home projects and the guest-house rules.
Conservation districts A-B, C-R and P-R: the forest, the resource and what is untouchable
What each conservation district allows, the fifty metres around caves, the hundred-metre riparian strip and the five mangrove types.
Agricultural districts A-G and A-P: what is allowed on a farm and in an agricultural reserve
The fifty-cuerda segregation in a reserve, the fifty-metre buffer zone, the accessory uses and the ban on commercial advertising.
Sign and sign-maker registry: ten dollars, a two-hundred penalty and the sign-maker licence
Registering a sign costs ten dollars and not registering it costs two hundred. The sign-maker licence is fifty a year and demands two policies.