How Nashville sizes your sign
In Nashville's commercial and industrial districts, each building facade is limited to building signage of 15% of that facade's area (Metro Code 17.32.130). On top of that, you can transfer permitted ground-sign area onto your building signage — and Nashville adds a 20% bonus on whatever you transfer. Roof signs are prohibited, and the commercial attraction (CA) district has its own large caps (up to 900 sq ft per sign).
This tool figures your front-wall area from your dimensions, applies the 15%-of-facade rule, and tells you where your plan stands before you commit. Your ground-sign allowance comes from a separate frontage table (17.32.130D), so we flag when a pro should confirm the exact transfer math.
How to apply for a Nashville sign permit
Nashville needs two permits for most signs, and an overlay district can replace the base numbers entirely — so the overlay check comes first.
1. Check your overlay first
The Downtown Code (17.37), Broadway Historic Preservation, and Urban Design Overlays set their own sign standards that override base zoning.
2. Size against the facade share
In commercial and industrial districts each building facade is limited to building signage of 15% of that facade’s area (Metro Code 17.32.130). Roof signs are prohibited.
3. Decide whether to transfer ground-sign area
You can transfer permitted ground-sign area onto your building signage, and Nashville adds a 20% bonus on whatever you transfer.
4. Clear Use & Occupancy if your activity type changed
If your business activity type changes — food service to retail, say — you need a Use & Occupancy permit before the sign permit can be issued.
5. File both permits with Metro Codes
A zoning permit and a building permit are required for most signs; illuminated signs add electrical permit costs. Label property lines and easements on the site plan — an unlabelled site plan is the most common delay.
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?
15% of the facade area (width × height) for building signs. You can also transfer ground-sign area onto the building, with a 20% bonus on the transferred amount — a pro confirms that figure from the frontage table.
Pole or monument (ground) sign?
Ground signs are sized from a separate lot-frontage table (17.32.130D) with its own height and setback rules, so they aren't computed here — we route those to a pro.
Digital / LED display?
LED message boards and digital displays are prohibited in many Nashville districts (17.32.050) and need a special exception in others. This screen covers static/illuminated wall signs.
Overlay or Downtown Code district?
The Downtown Code (17.37), Broadway Historic Preservation, and Urban Design Overlays set their own sign standards that override base zoning. 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 the Metro Codes Department and a licensed sign contractor.
Cost, timeline & temporary banners
What does a Nashville sign permit cost?
Nashville requires both a zoning permit and a building permit for most signs, with fees set by the Metro Nashville permit fee schedule based on sign type, size, and valuation — the Codes Department calculates the exact total after review. Illuminated signs add electrical permit costs. One catch that trips owners up: if your business activity type changes (say food service to retail), you need a Use & Occupancy permit before the sign permit can be issued.
How long does approval take?
Metro publishes no review or processing time for sign permits, so this page gives no number. What it does fix is the extra steps: Urban Design Overlay or Historic Zoning Commission review is an added approval, and a sign anywhere near a public right-of-way can trigger a "Mandatory Referral" to Metro Council. The most common delay is a site plan that doesn't label property lines and easements.
Can I hang a "Grand Opening" banner first?
Banners count as temporary signs and need their own permit. In commercial districts the limit is one square foot of temporary signage per 10 feet of frontage, up to 32 sq ft max and 10 ft tall (Metro Code 17.32.060), and a temporary permit typically allows up to 30 consecutive days, three periods per year. Temporary signs can't be electrical, electronic, or mechanical — and can't sit in the public right-of-way.
Source: Metro Government of Nashville & Davidson County Code Ch. 17.32 (§17.32.060); Nashville.gov Codes Department (Sign Permit Process). Fees and timelines change — confirm current figures with the Metro Codes Department before filing.
Sources and official references: Metropolitan Code of Laws — Title 17 Zoning, Chapter 17.32 Sign Regulations. Measured on 21 September 2026: the chapter reads as text through our collector, and each figure quoted on this page — the facade share for building signs, the bonus on transferred ground-sign area, the per-sign cap in the commercial attraction district, and the temporary construction-sign size and height — appears in it. The chapter writes its numbers as words, so the weekly check, which compares digits, does not always match them.
Last inspected against the official code: June 2026 · confirm current rules with the city before you file