How Austin sizes your sign
Austin ties your wall-sign area to your Sign District and your facade. Commercial corridors get 20% of your facade area; Neighborhood Commercial (LO, LR, CR) and Scenic Roadway overlays get 10%. Only the first 15 feet of building height counts toward the facade area.
This tool reads your zoning, maps it to your sign district, and applies the right percentage to the first-15-ft facade — so you know where your plan stands before you commit. Downtown (CBD/DMU) and Expressway Corridor sites have their own rules and route to a pro.
How to apply for an Austin sign permit
Austin decides your allowance from your Sign District, then runs everything through one portal. The contractor registration is the step most owners find out about too late.
1. Map your zoning to your Sign District
The percentage follows from the district: 20% of the facade in commercial corridors, 10% in Neighborhood Commercial (LO, LR, CR) and Scenic Roadway overlays.
2. Compute the facade area
Width × height, with height counted only up to 15 feet — then apply your district percentage.
3. Check whether you are outside the base rules
Downtown (CBD/DMU) and Expressway Corridor sites have their own rules, and historic-district signs need Historic Review.
4. Register as an Outdoor Advertising Contractor
With a certificate of insurance naming the City — this must be done before the application is processed, not after.
5. File through Austin Build + Connect (AB+C)
Illuminated signs need a separate electrical permit. A variance goes to the Board of Adjustment, which meets monthly with advance filing deadlines.
Steps assembled from the confirmed items on this page. Fees and what drives the schedule are covered in "Cost, timeline & temporary banners" below — not repeated here.
Questions owners ask
How is my allowance figured?
Your facade area (width × height, height counted up to 15 ft) × your sign district's percentage — 20% in commercial corridors, 10% in neighborhood commercial and scenic districts.
Pole or monument (detached) sign?
Detached signs follow separate rules (height, setback, spacing) and aren't covered here — we'll route you to a pro for those.
Digital / LED display?
Digital and changeable-message displays face separate restrictions (§Ch. 25-10.216) and many districts limit them. This screen covers static/illuminated attached signs.
Special sign district?
Some districts override these rules with committee review. If your address is in one, confirm with a pro.
Is this an official ruling?
No. It's a first-pass risk filter on the public code, not a permit or legal advice. Final dimensions are confirmed by Austin Building Inspection and a licensed sign contractor.
Cost, timeline & temporary banners
What does an Austin sign permit cost?
You pay a review fee to open the review and a permit fee at issuance. Illuminated signs need a separate electrical permit, and you must register as an Outdoor Advertising Contractor with a certificate of insurance naming the City before the application is processed.
How long does approval take?
Austin publishes no service level for sign reviews, so this page gives no number. Everything runs through the Austin Build + Connect (AB+C) portal. A variance goes to the Board of Adjustment, which meets monthly with advance filing deadlines, and historic-district signs need Historic Review — those meeting calendars are the one part of the schedule you can read in advance.
Can I hang a "Grand Opening" banner first?
Temporary signs and banners need a temporary sign permit, typically allowing display for up to 60 days per calendar year across a limited number of separate periods. The hard rule to remember: never place a temporary sign in the public right-of-way — Austin fines add up fast and removal hurts your launch. Over-the-street and lamppost banners are a separate Transportation program limited to charitable or community content, not business promotion.
Source: City of Austin Development Services (Sign Permits; Development Services fee schedule); Austin Land Development Code Ch. 25-10. Fees and timelines change — confirm current figures with Austin Development Services before filing.
Sources and official references: Austin City Code — Title 25 Land Development, Chapter 25-10 Sign Regulations and Austin Development Services — Other Permits and Fees schedule. Measured on 21 September 2026: a headless read of the code chapter returns the sign regulations as text, and the weekly automated check finds the percentage figures quoted on this page inside it. The fee amounts are not in the chapter at all; they come from the fee schedule, which carries the line “Update: 9/29/2025 - Effective: 10/01/2025” and lists sign review under Other Permits and Fees. That schedule is published inside a PDF viewer, and our collector reads only the viewer shell from its address, so the weekly check cannot confirm the fee amounts — they were read from the document itself on the date above. The check compares digits, not meanings.
Last inspected against the official code: June 2026 · confirm current rules with the city before you file