The design is approved. The dimensions look right. Everyone likes the rendering. Are we ready to manufacture?
Not necessarily.
Before a commercial sign becomes aluminum, acrylic, LEDs, or steel, we need to know whether that design can actually be permitted at the property where it will be installed.
That is why permitting should not be treated as paperwork that happens after the “real” sign work is finished. Permitting is part of the sign project, and most of the time customers forget that.
Let’s talk about Permits for Signs in South Florida, a very important stage of a signage project.
There Is No Single “South Florida Sign Permit”
The first thing we need to know is surprisingly simple:
What is the property address?
South Florida is made up of different counties and municipalities, and the authority responsible for your project depends on where the property is located. Even within Miami-Dade County, municipalities have their own building officials and permitting processes.
The City of Miami, for example, regulates signs through Article 10 of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. Other municipalities have their own requirements.
This means that experience permitting a sign in one South Florida jurisdiction does not mean you can simply apply the same rules to another. Before we can determine what can be permitted, we need to know where the sign is going.
What Is Actually Being Reviewed for a Sign Permit?
A sign permit is not simply an authority saying, “Yes, you can have a sign.” Depending on the project, several aspects may need to be reviewed.
Zoning and sign regulations can determine what types of signs are allowed, where they can be located, their dimensions, height, sign area, and other design limitations.
Building and structural requirements deal with whether the sign, its attachments, structure, or foundation are appropriately designed for the installation.
And when a sign is illuminated, electrical requirements can also become part of the project.
Miami-Dade’s published sign-permit procedures illustrate this clearly. Illuminated exterior signs can require Zoning, Building, Structural, and Electrical review, while exterior non-illuminated signs follow a different review path. The County also requires plans and project information appropriate to the type of sign being proposed.
In other words:
A sign can look perfectly buildable and still not be permit-ready.
Permitting Can Change the Design
This is one reason Saul Signs considers permitting requirements during project development rather than treating them as an afterthought.
Imagine designing a monument sign, getting everyone excited about it, getting approval for the rendering, and only then discovering that its proposed dimensions or location conflict with property requirements. Now we have to redesign.
The same can happen with wall signs, channel letters, pylons, illuminated signs, and other commercial signage. This doesn’t mean design should be dictated entirely by code. It means that good commercial sign design has to work within the property’s real conditions.
There is little value in developing an extraordinary sign that cannot be installed as designed. With that in mind, we would like to add that our design team is highly experienced, and our proposals aim to meet the regulations and the customer’s vision simultaneously. Not an easy job, but doable, and our team excels at it.
What Does the Permitting Process Require?
There isn’t a universal document package for every commercial sign in South Florida. Requirements depend on the jurisdiction, property, sign type, and scope of work.
A permitting package may involve items such as property information, sign drawings and dimensions, elevations, site information, structural details and calculations, electrical information when applicable, and the appropriate applications and authorizations.
For example, Miami-Dade requires detailed drawings for many sign applications and specifies information such as sign and building dimensions, construction details, electrical information when applicable, and site information for certain sign types.
Some projects also require signed and sealed engineering drawings and calculations.
This is particularly relevant for freestanding structures such as monument and pylon signs, where the project isn’t simply about what appears above ground. The structure and foundation have to be considered as part of the system.
At Saul Signs, engineering coordination is a defined part of these projects. When required, we coordinate stamped engineering calculations and drawings based on the project location and existing physical conditions.
That documentation then becomes part of moving the project toward approval.
Landlord Approval Is Not Permit Approval
For tenants in shopping centers, plazas, and managed commercial properties, there may be another layer of requirements before installation. The landlord can have its own signage criteria.
But landlord approval and government approval answer two different questions. The landlord is determining whether the proposed sign complies with the requirements established for the property. The permitting authority is determining whether the project complies with the applicable regulations and codes. A project may need both.
This is why landlord criteria should be identified early. Finding them after design or permitting has already begun can mean unnecessary revisions.
Does Every Sign Require the Same Permit?
No, and this is another reason not to determine permit requirements based simply on how “easy” a sign looks.
In unincorporated Miami-Dade, fixed outdoor signs and certain interior signs visible from the street require permitting before installation, while specific categories can follow different procedures.
The City of Miami also identifies particular categories of signs that are exempt from sign-permit requirements, subject to the conditions established in its regulations.
So the correct question isn’t: “This is a small sign. Do we really need a permit?” It is: “What requirements apply to this sign at this specific property?” Those are very different questions.
Permit Approved. Are We Done?
Not always. Permit approval allows the project to move into its next stages, but permitted work may also require inspections after installation.
That means the full process can look more like:
At Saul Signs, permitting is a specific part of the project scope rather than something we leave for the property owner to figure out after the sign has been manufactured.
We prepare, submit, and manage the necessary permit documentation and applications for the sign-related work we handle. When engineering is required, we coordinate the necessary drawings and calculations. If the reviewing authority requests corrections or additional information, those become part of managing the permit process.
And after installation, we coordinate required post-installation inspections with the appropriate officials so the permitted work can be verified and the process properly completed.
A Better Time to Think About Signs Permitting
The best time to discover a permitting problem is before fabrication, not after it. That is ultimately why permitting belongs inside the commercial sign workflow.
It influences what can be designed, what needs to be engineered, what documentation has to be prepared, when fabrication can begin, and what must happen after installation.
For a property owner, developer, contractor, or tenant, you don’t need to become an expert in every South Florida sign code. But you should know that the address matters, requirements vary, approvals can involve several disciplines, and a rendering is not the same thing as a permit-ready project.
At Saul Signs, we manage commercial signage from design and engineering coordination through permitting, fabrication, installation, and required inspections—so those pieces can be considered as parts of one project, rather than problems discovered one at a time.