Does your sign need council approval?

Both New South Wales and Queensland regulate business signage, and in both states it is administered locally — your council is the authority that matters, and neighbouring councils genuinely differ. Broadly:

• Signs fixed to a building — fascia signs, pylon signs, projecting signs, illuminated boxes, fabricated letters — are generally the most regulated, and the most likely to need consent.
• Illumination changes the answer. A lit sign is treated differently from an unlit one almost everywhere, and moving or flashing displays are more restricted again.
• Footpath signs — A-frames outside your shop — are usually regulated separately, because they sit on public land. Many councils require a permit and set rules about width, placement and leaving clear passage.
• Some smaller, unlit signage is exempt in both states under state-level codes, but the exemptions depend on size, position, zone and illumination — which is precisely why nobody can tell you over the phone whether yours qualifies.
• Heritage items and conservation areas are tighter, and often remove exemptions that would otherwise apply.

We are a print and signage supplier, not a planning consultant. Nothing here is legal or planning advice, and none of it overrides what your council tells you. Treat this as the list of questions to ask, not as the answer.

Search your council's website for "signage" or "advertising" and look for a development control plan, or call their duty planner — most councils have one, and the call is free. Have these ready:

• The address and what the property is zoned.
• What the sign is — fascia panel, fabricated letters, window graphics, pylon, A-frame.
• Its dimensions and total area, and how high off the ground it sits.
• Whether it is illuminated, and if so how.
• Whether the building is heritage listed or in a conservation area.
• How many signs are already on the premises — limits are often cumulative.

Ask them directly: "Is this exempt development, or do I need consent?" That is the question that determines everything else. Write down who you spoke to and when.

Your landlord or strata. Council consent is not permission from the building owner. Most commercial leases require written approval before you fix anything to the structure, and strata schemes commonly have their own rules about the common property your sign is bolted to. Get it in writing.

An electrician, for anything illuminated. A lit sign needs a licensed electrician to connect it, and that is a separate trade from the people who fabricate and install it. Factor in both the cost and the scheduling.

Once you know what you are allowed to display, we make it. If you are preparing an application, we can supply what councils usually want to see: dimensioned drawings, a scaled elevation showing the sign on the building, and the materials and finishes. Ask when you book your site measure, and we will produce them as part of the quote.

The add dimensions to a photo tool is free and often enough on its own for an early conversation with a planner — photograph the shopfront, draw the proposed sign on it with real measurements, and you have something concrete to ask about.

If a sign turns out to need consent, that timeline runs alongside ours rather than after it. Tell us at the site measure and we will schedule fabrication around it instead of finishing early and storing your sign.