Atlanta sign permit at a glance

Question	Short answer
How big can building signs be?	In C-1, C-2, C-3, I-1 and I-2: ten percent of your front wall, no individual sign over 200 sq ft, and at least 60 sq ft for every business establishment; in C-4 and C-5 the ten percent is measured against the ground-floor front wall (sizing). Other cities compared.
Does my district change it?	Yes: Atlanta sets its sign limits district by district (district table).
Which signs need no permit?	§16-28A.008 lists them, among them temporary signs, signs inside a building, lights and decorations, and flags; they still have to meet the chapter (no-permit signs). Other cities compared.
What does it cost?	Chapter 28A sets no amount, so this page prints none (cost).
How long does it take?	The City shall process all complete and accurate sign permit applications within 45 days of submission; if it fails to act, the ordinance deems the permit approved. Other cities compared.
Special district?	A historic-district committee or the Urban Design Commission reviews signs in those areas (how to apply). Other cities compared.
How is sign area measured?	The smallest square, circle, rectangle, triangle or combination of them that encloses the writing, emblem or display, plus any background material or color that sets it apart from the wall; the supporting framework is not counted (other cities compared).
Sidewalk A-frame sign?	An A-frame or T-frame is a portable sign: allowed only in C-1 through C-5, I-1, I-2, SPI-1 and SPI-9, with a sign permit, for one continuous 30-day period, and for no more than 30 consecutive days within a 365 day period (§16-28A.007(a)). Other cities compared.
Grand opening banner?	Banners are prohibited except where §16-28A.012(a)(5) and §16-28A.007 allow them. (details) Other cities compared.
When does the permit run out?	It lapses automatically if the business license for the premises lapses, is revoked or is not renewed, or if the activity on the premises stops for 180 days or more and is not renewed within 30 days of the city’s notice. Other cities compared.
Digital or LED sign?	Allowed under the changing-sign rules of §16-28A.007(x): each message static for at least ten seconds. Other cities compared.
Window signs?	Signs inside a building need no permit; illuminated and changing signs inside may cover no more than 30 percent of any window or door, less than 12 sq ft in total and no single sign over 6 sq ft, or they need a permit (§16-28A.007(q), §16-28A.008). Other cities compared.
Already installed without a permit?	A fee of double the usual permit fee is charged for signs erected without a permit, but the penalty portion may not exceed $1,000 (Building Code amendments §104.2(g)). Each sign in violation of the sign ordinance is a separate violation for each day it continues (§16-28A.015). Other cities compared.

This checks building signs (wall, projecting, suspended and the extra corner-lot sign) in Atlanta’s O-I, C-1 to C-5, I-1 and I-2 districts. Freestanding signs, billboards, SPI, NC, MRC, landmark and historic districts are not covered.

Your Atlanta business address

Storefront wall width (ft)

Width of the building wall your sign goes on.

Storefront wall height (ft)

Height of that wall face.

Zoning district

C-4 and C-5: enter the ground-floor front wall only.

This sign is

This sign’s area (sq ft)

Your other building signs, total (sq ft)

Leave out the corner-lot sign; it has its own limit.

Building signs in total, including this one

Of those, projecting or suspended

Extends over the property line onto the sidewalk or street

Animated, flashing or changing (LED message) sign

Internally illuminated

Within 100 ft of a residential district and visible from it

Sizing District table Billboards How to apply FAQ Cost & timeline No-permit signs Prohibited signs Portable & lighting Sign companies

How Atlanta sizes your sign

Oversized or unpermitted signs get cited and removed. Enter your wall size for a clear read before you build.

Atlanta writes its sign limits district by district, not city-wide. In C-1, C-2, C-3, I-1 and I-2 the combined area of your building signs may not exceed ten percent of the front wall of the business establishment, no individual sign may exceed 200 sq ft, and every business establishment is entitled to at least 60 sq ft of combined sign area. In C-4 and C-5 the same figures apply to a narrower wall — ten percent of the front wall of the ground floor — and those two districts carry a restriction the others do not: of the three permitted building signs, only one may be a suspended or projecting sign. O-I is a different regime entirely — one sign per street frontage, 30 sq ft, mounted flat to the wall or set back at least 20 feet from the street property line. A Carolinas location is a separate exercise — Charlotte sizes signs through its Unified Development Ordinance, which we cover in the Charlotte sign rules.

This tool figures your front-wall area from your dimensions, applies the ten percent rule with the 200 sq ft cap and the 60 sq ft floor, and tells you where your plan stands before you commit. It reads the business-district rule. In C-4 and C-5 enter the ground-floor front wall only; in C-1, C-2, C-3, I-1 and I-2 enter the whole front wall. O-I and the residential districts are not sized this way and the tool does not cover them.

What your zoning district allows

These rows are transcribed from the district subsections of §16-28A.010. The eight districts below are the ones a storefront or an industrial tenant lands in. Atlanta's residential, SPI, planned-development, landmark and historic districts each carry their own sign subsection and are not sized this way — this page does not cover them.

§16-28A.010 — building and freestanding signs by district

District	Building signs	Ten percent measured against	Per-sign cap	Guaranteed minimum	Freestanding sign	Shopping center sign	Freestanding height	Billboards
O-I (office-institutional)	One sign per street frontage	Not used	30 sq ft	—	Mounted flat to the wall, or not nearer than 20 feet to the street property line	—	24 ft	Prohibited
C-1 (community business)	3	The total area of the wall of the front of the establishment	200 sq ft	60 sq ft	60 sq ft in the required front yard setback; inside the buildable area enlargeable to 100 sq ft (corner lots 90 sq ft, enlargeable to 130 sq ft)	200 sq ft, in lieu of the freestanding sign	35 ft	Prohibited
C-2 (commercial service)	3	The total area of the front wall of the establishment	200 sq ft	60 sq ft	Same as C-1	200 sq ft, in lieu of the freestanding sign	35 ft	Prohibited
C-3 (commercial-residential)	3	The total area of the front wall of the establishment	200 sq ft	60 sq ft	Same as C-1	200 sq ft, in lieu of the freestanding sign	35 ft	Prohibited
C-4 (commercial residential)	3, only one suspended or projecting	The total area of the front wall of the ground floor	200 sq ft	60 sq ft	Same as C-1	200 sq ft, in lieu of the freestanding sign	35 ft	Prohibited
C-5 (central support)	3, only one suspended or projecting	The total area of the front wall of the ground floor	200 sq ft	60 sq ft	Same as C-1	200 sq ft, in lieu of the freestanding sign	35 ft	Prohibited
I-1 (light industrial)	3	The total area of the front wall of the establishment	200 sq ft	60 sq ft	Same as C-1	200 sq ft, in lieu of the freestanding sign	35 ft	Permitted, subject to §16-28A.007(b)
I-2 (heavy industrial)	3	The total area of the front wall of the establishment	200 sq ft	60 sq ft	Same as C-1	200 sq ft, in lieu of the freestanding sign	35 ft	Permitted, subject to §16-28A.007(b)

Corner lots, C-1 through C-5 and I-1 and I-2: one additional building sign is permitted for the establishment occupying the corner space, oriented toward the additional street frontage, not exceeding ten percent of that wall or 60 sq ft, whichever is less.

I-1 and I-2 only: where an existing nonconforming building sits immediately adjacent to the street, one sign not exceeding 60 sq ft may project into the public right-of-way.

Freestanding signs may not be constructed before the principal building is on the lot.

Over the sidewalk, and moving signs. In O-I, C-1, C-2 and C-3 no sign may extend over the property line onto the sidewalk or street. In C-4 and C-5 such a sign is allowed, subject to the rest of the chapter, including the insurance rule in step 3 below. Animated, flashing and changing signs are prohibited in O-I, C-1 and C-2. C-3, C-4 and C-5 allow them except within 100 feet of an adjoining residential district if visible from it; I-1 and I-2 apply the same 100-foot rule to animated and flashing signs and permit changing signs. O-I also prohibits internally illuminated signs.

Billboards: two districts, and a list of distances

Billboards are not banned in Atlanta. The code defines a billboard sign as a sign over 200 square feet but not greater than 672 square feet, and §16-28A.010 permits them in I-1 and I-2 only — every other district subsection prohibits them by name. In I-1 and I-2 a billboard may not exceed 672 sq ft in total sign area, must sit within the buildable area of the lot, and may not exceed 50 feet in height above ground level; where the ground is lower than the adjoining pavement it may be raised to not more than 25 feet above the pavement.

§16-28A.007(b) then adds the separations. No billboard may be located within 300 feet of a residential district boundary, within 500 feet of another billboard, or within 1,000 feet of another billboard on the same side of an interstate highway where both are adjacent to it. The same 300-foot separation applies to National Register and locally designated historic properties and districts, to any government building, and to any MARTA station structure. No billboard may be within 1,000 feet of Freedom Parkway, and none may be placed so that any part of it is visible from Freedom Parkway. None may be within 500 feet of the boundaries of a public park, and none may be stacked on top of another. In I-1 and I-2 a billboard may not be within 300 feet of a freestanding sign of 72 sq ft or greater but less than 200 sq ft.

Changing-message billboards carry their own distances: 5,000 feet from another changing-technology billboard adjacent to an interstate, and 2,500 feet from another on the same side of an arterial or connector street.

How to apply for an Atlanta sign permit — 4 steps

The size check above is the what. This is the order the approvals come in — and two Atlanta-specific conditions attach before you file.

1. Size the sign against the wall cap

Atlanta caps building signs at ten percent of your front wall, up to 200 sq ft, with a 60 sq ft floor, in the business districts. Everything after this assumes the number holds.

2. Check for a special sign district

Some districts override the base rules with committee review, and a historic-district committee or the Urban Design Commission reviews signs in those areas. If your address is in one, the cap above is not the final word.

3. Handle illumination and projection

Lighting must meet §16-28A.007(i): external lights from the top, aimed down at the sign face and shielded from residential districts and streets. Search listings for the city’s Trade Permits sign packet show a sign lighting affidavit and an electrical permit for every illuminated sign, but the city’s document server refused our reader, so confirm the forms with the Office of Buildings. A projecting or suspended sign that hangs over a public street, public sidewalk or other public thoroughfare carries an extra condition: under §16-28A.007(e) the permit is conditioned on the owner obtaining and continuously maintaining liability insurance for that sign of not less than $1,000,000.00 per occurrence per sign, on a policy whose deductible may not exceed $1,000.00. Before the permit issues you give the director a certificate of insurance naming the City of Atlanta as an additional named insured and requiring notice to the City at least 30 days before cancellation or termination, and you sign a statement on the face of the permit indemnifying the City against claims relating to the sign. The insurance must be maintained for the life of the sign: a sign whose policy lapses is automatically deemed illegal as of the lapse date and must be removed immediately by the owner.

4. File with the Atlanta Office of Buildings

Final dimensions are confirmed by the Atlanta Office of Buildings. By ordinance the City processes a complete and accurate application within 45 days of submission, and the director gives notice of the decision on or before the 45th day.

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.

What other cities ask you to submit: sign permit application checklists by city.

Questions owners ask — 5 questions

How is my allowance figured?

Ten percent of your front wall area (width × height), capped at 200 sq ft per sign, in C-1, C-2, C-3, I-1 and I-2. In C-4 and C-5 the ten percent is measured against the front wall of the ground floor only. Every business establishment is guaranteed at least 60 sq ft even where ten percent is less. O-I allows one sign per street frontage at 30 sq ft instead.

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 have their own subsection — §16-28A.007(x), "regulations for changing signs and signs employing changing sign technology" — and its numbered items are cited as §16-28A.007(x)(1) and following. Two of them set the pace: each message on a changing display must stay static for at least ten seconds after it finishes transitioning from the previous message, and where the message changes mechanically the transition must be done in three seconds or less. "Static" is defined in the subsection as a display fixed in one position with no part of it moving or changing in color or light intensity. Many districts limit changing displays further. This screen covers static and 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 the Atlanta Office of Buildings and a licensed sign contractor.

Cost, timeline & temporary banners

What does an Atlanta sign permit cost?

The ordinance sets no amount. §16-28A.013(b)(1) requires only that each application "be accompanied by the applicable fees established by the governing authority from time to time," and that no application is deemed accepted by the director until all fees are paid and all information the director reasonably requires is provided. Confirm the current amount with the City of Atlanta before you file, and budget for the separate forms an electrical or illuminated sign adds.

How long does approval take?

One timing figure here is ordinance text, and it is the only one this page gives: the City shall process all complete and accurate sign permit applications within 45 days of submission, and the director shall give notice of the decision on or before the 45th day.

Detail

So the amount is not in Chapter 28A and this page prints none — a stale fee is worse than none. The one cost figure Chapter 28A does fix is the insurance limit on projecting and suspended signs over public right-of-way, which is covered in step 3 above.

If the City fails to act within that 45-day period, the ordinance deems the permit approved (Atlanta Code of Ordinances, Part 16 Zoning, Ch. 28A, §16-28A.013(b)(2)). A separate 30-day clause in the same subsection is not a processing deadline: it provides that no illegal sign becomes legally non-conforming by reason of the director's failure to deny the permit within 30 days. Beyond the 45 days the City publishes no processing time, so this page gives none.

Can I hang a "Grand Opening" banner first?

Watch which rule you are reading. The 30-consecutive-days limit belongs to portable signs: §16-28A.007(a) permits them in C-1 through C-5, I-1, I-2, SPI-1 and SPI-9 districts “only for a period of time not exceeding 30 consecutive days within a 365 day period,” not to banners. Banners are prohibited by §16-28A.009(1) except as authorized in §16-28A.012(a)(5) and §16-28A.007, and a sign allowed in the right-of-way under §16-28A.012(a)(5) does require a permit (§16-28A.008(5)). Temporary signs, by contrast, need no permit at all under §16-28A.008(1) but carry the area limits in “Portable signs, temporary signs and sign lighting” below. The code defines a temporary sign as one displayed no more than 180 consecutive days. Signs inside a building, window signs included, need no permit under §16-28A.008(2), with one limit in §16-28A.007(q)(1): an illuminated or changing sign inside a window or door may cover no more than 30 percent of that window or door, must total less than 12 sq ft, and no one sign may exceed six square feet. Past those limits it is treated as an outside sign and needs a permit.

Source: City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances, Part 16 Zoning, Chapter 28A (Sign Ordinance) — §16-28A.007(e), §16-28A.013(b)(1) and (b)(2). Chapter 28A contains no fee amount; confirm current fees with the City of Atlanta before filing.

Signs that need no Atlanta permit — and signs Atlanta prohibits

§16-28A.008 opens with the sentence that decides how to read the whole list: these signs “shall not be required to obtain a sign permit. Notwithstanding, they are subject to all applicable requirements in this part and in City Code.” No permit is not no rules — every area, placement and lighting standard still applies.

Temporary signs. (1) — their area limits are in the section below.
Any sign inside a building, provided it otherwise complies with the requirements of the chapter. (2)
Lights and decorations. (3)
Flags. (4)
Signs otherwise allowed within public rights-of-way under §16-28A.012 — except those under §16-28A.012(a)(5), which do require a permit. This is the exception that catches people: being allowed in the right-of-way does not by itself mean permit-free. (5)
Parking lot identification signs required by §§16-14.011(5), 16-15.010(5), 16-18A.012(5), 16-18B.012(5), 16-18C.012(5) and 16-18D.012(5) of Part 16. (6)
Approved historic markers (§16-28A.007(w)). The subsection is specific: an approved historic marker is created through a program directly administered by a non-profit organization chartered for research and education in Georgia history, and it must be a freestanding, two-sided, cast aluminum marker of the same size, shape and height — support pole included — as the marker formerly used in the State of Georgia Historical Marker Program. Total plate size 38" × 42", black background with silver text, lettering exactly one inch high, the same text on each side, and any seal of the sponsoring historic society painted in the text colour and not exceeding 96 square inches. (7)
Signs not visible from the public right-of-way at private universities with a physical campus of over 50 acres within city limits. (8)

Item (7) adds that a marker which does not meet §16-28A.007(w) on size, shape, height, plate size and text is not an approved historic marker and needs a permit, even if it commemorates history. Item (8) closes the list, read in full on 10 October 2026.

Prohibited signs — §16-28A.009 — 8 items

§16-28A.009 starts from a closed list: all signs not expressly permitted under Chapter 28A are prohibited. It then names eight, each with the exception that belongs to it.

Banners — except as authorized in §16-28A.012(a)(5) and §16-28A.007.
Beacons — except as authorized in §16-28A.007(a).
Pennants.
Strings of lights not permanently mounted to a rigid background — except as authorized in §16-28A.008(3).
Inflatable signs.
Balloons — except as authorized in §16-28A.007(a).
Roof signs. No exception. A roof sign is prohibited everywhere in Atlanta.
Rotating signs.

The closed-list opening matters more than the eight items. A sign type that Chapter 28A never mentions is prohibited by default, not permitted by silence.

Source: Atlanta Code of Ordinances, Part 16 Zoning, Chapter 28A — §16-28A.008 (Signs not requiring a permit) and §16-28A.009 (Prohibited signs, Ord. No. 2015-54(15-O-1394), § 1(Att. A), 11-11-15), read 30 September 2026. Every exception is reproduced with the item it belongs to. §16-28A.012, §16-28A.013 and §16-28A.007(w) are cited but not described, and no fee or review time appears in this source.

Portable signs, temporary signs and sign lighting — 9 items

§16-28A.007 sets general regulations that “shall apply to all signs located in the city.” Three of them decide most storefront questions.

Portable signs — §16-28A.007(a)

Portable signs, subject to §16-28A.013(e), “shall be permitted in districts C-1 through C-5, I-1, I-2, SPI-1, and SPI-9 and only for a period of time not exceeding 30 consecutive days within a 365 day period.” The section then closes the door: “At no other time and in no other place shall such signs be permitted, except as may be specifically authorized within public rights-of-way under section 16-28A.012.” Outside those districts, or past those 30 days, there is no portable sign.

Temporary signs — §16-28A.007(j)

Temporary signs “are permitted in all zoning districts, subject to the applicable sign regulations governing temporary signs in such districts.” The figures below are the fallback: they apply “in the event the sign district regulations do not set forth limitations on temporary signs,” so a district rule, where one exists, comes first.

Two unlighted temporary signs per lot, each not to exceed six square feet — in R-1, R-2, R-2A, R-2B, R-3, R-3A, R-4, R-4A, R-4B, R-5, PD-H, SPI-5, SPI-6, SPI-8, R-G and MR districts. (j)(1)
Two unlighted temporary signs per lot, each not to exceed 25 square feet — in R-LC and O-I districts. (j)(2)
Two unlighted temporary signs per lot, each not to exceed 50 square feet — in the remaining districts. (j)(3)
Frontage multiplier in R-LC through I-2: "two unlighted signs of the sign area specified in the applicable district are allowed for each 400 feet of street frontage or portion thereof, for each separate street on which the property faces." So a corner lot counts its streets separately, and the allowance scales with frontage in whole-or-part 400-foot steps. (j)(3)
Where the sign may stand: where the building is set back more than ten feet along the front or side street, a temporary sign may not be placed closer than ten feet to the property line. Where the setback is less than ten feet the sign may go on the building wall or anywhere in the zone between the wall and the street. In every case no temporary sign may be erected within ten feet of an interior side lot line. (j)(4)

Sign lighting — §16-28A.007(i)

A sign erected after the amendment’s effective date, if externally lighted, shall be lighted from the top and the lighting directed downward onto the sign.
Lighting associated with a sign shall be directed at the sign face.
All sources of light associated with a sign shall be effectively shielded from adjacent residential districts and streets.
Lighting associated with a sign shall not exceed one and one-tenth (1.1) foot candles in intensity when measured within any portion of a residential district. The 1.1 figure is a reading taken inside a residential district, not a limit at the sign itself — the condition travels with the number.

Source: Atlanta Code of Ordinances, Part 16 Zoning, Chapter 28A — §16-28A.007(a), (i) and (j), read 30 September 2026. District lists, day counts, areas and the foot-candle figure are reproduced as the ordinance states them, and the truncation in (j)(3) is marked rather than filled. §16-28A.012 and §16-28A.013(e) are cited but not described.

Sources & how this page is maintained

Sources and official references: Atlanta Code of Ordinances — Part 16 Zoning, Chapter 28A Sign Ordinance. Measured on 21 September 2026: a headless read of this chapter returns the sign ordinance as text, and the twice-monthly automated check finds every figure quoted on this page inside it. That check compares digits, not meanings, so it tells you the number appears in the code — not that we have read the clause around it for you.

Last inspected against the official code: October 2026 · confirm current rules with the city before you file

Atlanta sign companies that say they handle the permit

Compiled from each company's own public website. We are not affiliated with any of them and we are not paid to list them. Confirm licensing and pricing yourself before you hire.

Company	Phone	Location	What their site says about permits	In-house
Advantage Graphics & Signs	404-325-5302	3740 Dekalb Technology Parkway, Suite F, Atlanta, GA 30340	Our team handles sign permitting as a core service, managing the application, drawing preparation, and communication with the city or county on your behalf.	handling everything from design and fabrication to permit filing and installation
FASTSIGNS of Atlanta, GA - Downtown	(404) 620-3439	141 North Avenue, NE, Atlanta, GA 30308	we are more than capable of handling the entire permit acquisition process on your behalf	we have a team of skilled signage installers who excel in all these duties
United Signs	(800) 935-8094	853 South Peachtree St., Norcross, GA 30071	we handle all local permitting, including preparing digital plans and submitting for approval with city officials	Full-service design, engineering, permitting, and installation. No outsourcing.

Each company's website is linked from its name. Source pages read 7 October 2026.

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Ask us how the code reads for your sign

Send your dimensions and we will reply with what the Atlanta code allows for that sign. No charge. We are not a sign contractor and not a permit agent.