Jacksonville sign permit at a glance

Question	Short answer
Do I need a permit?	Yes for freestanding or ground, wall, awning, under-canopy, projecting and roof signs; window graphics generally need no permit but count against the wall allowance (how to apply). Other cities compared.
How big can a ground sign be?	1 square foot for each linear foot of street frontage, capped by your zoning district (sizing). Other cities compared.
How big can wall signs be?	10% of the wall your business occupies. Other cities compared.
Do I need a bond?	A $5,000 bond is filed before the permit issues unless the owner applies and the sign is not illuminated, not over 32 sq ft and not over 8 ft high (§326.106) (sign bond).
What does it cost?	$8.25 for each 20 sq ft up to 100 sq ft and $12.50 for each additional 100 sq ft, with an $80.00 minimum; every illuminated sign also needs an electrical permit (cost).
How long does it take?	Outside downtown no review time is stated; inside the Downtown Sign Overlay Zone, §656.1336 sets five-working-day steps (downtown). Other cities compared.
Who files?	A property owner or an approved licensed and registered contractor, through the JAXEPICS online portal. Other cities compared.
How is sign area measured?	A framed sign counts everything inside the frame, frame included. Loose letters count the smallest triangle, rectangle, square or circle around the outermost letters that gives the least area, border trim included; parallel double faces count the larger face (other cities compared).
Sidewalk A-frame sign?	Chapter 326 makes a temporary sign that is not permanently anchored, such as an A-frame, unlawful. Inside the Downtown Sign Overlay Zone, §656.1333 allows one per business: up to 24 inches wide and 30 inches tall per side, a message face up to 4 sq ft per side, on the same block and side of the street as the main entrance, during business hours only, showing the business name and hours (downtown). Other cities compared.
Grand opening banner?	With a banner permit: up to 100 sq ft, for 30 days. (details) Other cities compared.
Digital or LED sign?	A changing message device may be part of any allowable sign unless otherwise prohibited; the changing part must stay static for at least eight seconds and change all at once within one second (§656.1302, §656.1303). They are prohibited in residential districts and in the CO and CRO districts. Other cities compared.
When does the permit run out?	Permits for on-site signs do not expire, but become void if any sign surface is enlarged without prior approval; off-site sign permits expire every October 1 (§320.410). Other cities compared.
Window signs?	Permits are not generally required for window advertising and graphics, but anything on the windows that can be construed as advertising counts against the wall sign allowance for that elevation (city Sign Laws page). Other cities compared.
Already installed without a permit?	When work that needs a permit starts before the permit is obtained, the permit fee is twice the regular fee, and paying it is no defense to prosecution (§320.408(c), the permit Part that §326.105 sends sign permits to). Other cities compared.

Checks one on-site sign against Zoning Code §656.1303 for the commercial and industrial districts (CN; CCG, CCBD and CR; industrial; CO and CRO; RO). The code sizes two things separately: the street frontage sign (ground, freestanding or roof) from your lot's street frontage, and wall signs from the wall they sit on. The Downtown Sign Overlay Zone (§656.1331 onward), historic districts and other overlays have their own rules and are not modeled.

Zoning district

Industrial districts take the CCG, CCBD and CR rules (§656.1303(d)). Confirm your district with the Zoning Department before you file.

Sign type

Window advertising and graphics count against the wall-sign allowance for that elevation (city sign laws page).

Street frontage of the lot (ft)

Property line along the street, excluding alleys. Used for the street frontage sign.

Proposed sign area (sq ft)

Area of this sign, including border trim.

Your occupancy frontage on that side (ft)

Wall signs only: the length of the building your business occupies on the side facing the street or approved private street.

Wall height on that side (ft)

Wall signs only: occupancy length × height gives the wall area the 10% applies to.

Existing wall signs and window graphics on that side (sq ft)

Include an under-canopy sign here too; its area comes off the wall allowance.

Top of sign above ground (ft)

50 ft limit (65 ft for commercial and industrial signs within 660 ft of an interstate exit and the interstate).

Illuminated?

Who applies for the permit?

Decides the $5,000 bond (§326.106).

CO / CRO only: a monument sign on the lot?

With a monument sign the wall sign is 5 sq ft; without one it can be 32 sq ft (§656.1303(c)(1)).

Wall signs: does it rise above the roof or parapet?

Sizing Sign bond Sign FAQ How to apply Cost & timeline District caps Unlawful signs Sign companies

How Jacksonville sizes your sign

Zoning Code §656.1303 sizes two kinds of sign separately. A street frontage sign is a ground, freestanding or roof sign sized from the lot: one per lot, per street, at 1 square foot for each linear foot of street frontage, up to 200 sq ft for every 200 ft of frontage in CN and 300 sq ft for every 300 ft in CCG, CCBD, CR and the industrial districts, with street frontage signs at least 200 ft apart. The same frontage-based idea turns up in Charlotte, but with its own caps and district names.

A wall sign is not sized from the lot. In CN, CCG, CCBD and CR the district text says only that wall signs are permitted; the limit is in the special criteria: “Wall signs shall not exceed ten percent of the square footage of the occupancy frontage or respective side of the building abutting a public right-of-way or approved private street.” A storefront 30 ft wide with an 18 ft wall has 540 sq ft of wall, so 54 sq ft of wall signs on that side. Window advertising and graphics count against that allowance (city sign laws page), and so does an under-canopy sign: one per occupancy, up to 8 sq ft, “subtracted from the allowable square footage that can be utilized for wall signs.”

CO and CRO work differently again: one monument sign up to 24 sq ft and 12 ft high plus one 5 sq ft wall sign, or one wall sign up to 32 sq ft in lieu of both. RO allows 5 sq ft of signage collectively, with no illumination.

Source: Jacksonville Zoning Code, Part 13 (Municode), §656.1303(c)(1)–(5), (d) and (j)(3), read 10 October 2026; the street frontage sign definition is in §656.1302. The storefront figures are our worked example, not code figures.

This calculator checks one sign against the §656.1303 area limits for the districts listed, the §656.1304 awning rules, the height limit and the §326.106 bond condition. It does not apply the Downtown Sign Overlay Zone (see the downtown section below), historic districts, other zoning overlays, setbacks or site-specific conditions. It is not a permit or legal advice. Always confirm with the Jacksonville Building Inspection Division and, where needed, a licensed sign contractor before designing, ordering, or installing a sign.

Before you order: the $5,000 Sign Bond

This is the Jacksonville condition to check first. Chapter 326 makes the bond the rule, not the exception: “Except where the applicant is the owner and the proposed sign is not illuminated and does not exceed 32 square feet in area or eight feet in overall height above the ground, an applicant for a sign permit shall file with the Building Inspection Division a bond in the amount of $5,000 prior to the issuance of the permit.” So a contractor applying for you files the bond whatever the sign, and an owner applying in person avoids it only for a small, unlit, low sign. The bond is in a form approved by the Office of General Counsel and issued by a surety company licensed in Florida; the city page says its cost varies and to ask your surety. Bond forms are at the Sign Plan Review Office, Ed Ball Building, 214 N. Hogan Street, room 258.

A sign permit is required for freestanding or ground signs, wall signs, awning signs, under-canopy signs, projecting signs and roof signs. Applications are reviewed and permits issued by the Building Inspection Division through the JAXEPICS online portal, and plans are submitted electronically by a licensed contractor; the city page adds that “a licensed sign contractor is required in most cases.”

Source: Jacksonville Ordinance Code §326.106 (Bond required) and Building Inspection Division — Sign Laws, both read 10 October 2026.

Jacksonville sign FAQ — 4 questions

Jacksonville sign FAQ

What counts as my street frontage?

The property line of your lot along a public or approved private street, excluding alleys (§656.1302). It sizes the street frontage sign only. Wall signs are sized from your occupancy frontage, the length of building your business occupies along the street, parking area or other customer access.

Can my wall sign go above the roof?

No. A wall sign may not extend above the roof level; where there is a parapet it may reach the top of the parapet. It also may not be placed over a window, door or other opening, and it may project at most one foot into public space (§326.205).

I'm near a historic structure — does that change things?

It can. No permit is issued for a sign within 200 ft of a structure on the National Register of Historic Places unless it is a wall sign, or a freestanding or ground sign set against and parallel to a building wall, that stays within the limits of that wall (§656.1303(l)(3)). Inside a landmark site or a historic district designated under Chapter 307, a certificate of appropriateness is required in addition to the sign permit, before work starts (§307.106(d)). The ordinance designating each district lists which work needs one (§307.106(a)), and routine work that meets the Historic District Design Regulations can be approved by staff without a public hearing (§307.107(a)). For churches, schools and other assembly uses, Part 13 defers to the historic district zoning overlay for that district (§656.1303(b)(5)). This page has not read those per-district overlays.

Do I need a contractor?

Any property owner or approved licensed and registered contractor can obtain a sign permit, but the city page notes that a licensed sign contractor is required in most cases and that plans go in through JAXEPICS from a licensed contractor. A contractor applicant always files the $5,000 bond (§326.106).

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Official Jacksonville resources

Jacksonville Building Inspection Division — Sign Laws — permits, the Sign Bond, and Zoning Code §656.1303 / Chapter 326.

Other US city sign guides

How to apply for a Jacksonville sign permit — 5 steps

A sign permit is required for freestanding or ground, wall, awning, under-canopy, projecting and roof signs. Window graphics generally need no permit but count against the wall allowance.

1. Size the sign under §656.1303

Get your zoning district from the Zoning Department (2nd floor, Ed Ball Building), then size a street frontage sign from lot frontage or a wall sign at 10% of your occupancy wall. Under-canopy signs are capped at 8 sq ft and come out of the wall allowance.

2. Check location and overlays

No sign within 25 ft of the intersection of two right-of-way lines or within 10 ft of a street right-of-way (§656.1303(i)(2)). Downtown, historic districts and zoning overlays carry their own rules.

3. Test the bond trigger before fabrication

A $5,000 bond is filed before the permit issues unless the owner applies and the sign is not illuminated, not over 32 sq ft and not over 8 ft high (§326.106).

4. Decide who pulls the permit

A property owner or an approved licensed and registered contractor, with written permission from the property owner, agent or licensed contractor.

5. File with the Building Inspection Division

Applications are reviewed and permits issued online through JAXEPICS. Every illuminated sign also needs an electrical permit.

Steps assembled from the city sign laws page and the code sections cited, read 10 October 2026.

Cost, timeline & temporary banners

What does a Jacksonville sign permit cost?

The city fee list prices sign erections under §320.409(14): a BID permit fee of $8.25 for each 20 sq ft of area (for each display face) or fractional part thereof up to 100 sq ft, and $12.50 for each additional 100 sq ft; the same line lists a minimum BID permit fee of $80.00 (printed as “for subsection (12)”) and a plan review fee of 31% of the BID permit or $35.00, whichever is greater. A banner sign is $40.00 each. An electric sign also takes an electrical permit, listed at $40.00 per sign or the minimum fee, whichever is greater. City Fees, Building Inspection Division · read 2026-10-10 The other cost the code fixes is the $5,000 bond for every applicant except an owner with a small, unlit, low sign (§326.106); what you pay for it is the surety’s charge, which the city page says varies. Illuminated signs also need an electrical permit.

How long does approval take?

Outside downtown, no review time is stated in the city sign laws page, Chapter 326 or Part 4 of Chapter 320, so ask the Building Inspection Division. Inside the Downtown Sign Overlay Zone, §656.1336 sets five-working-day steps; see “Signs in the Downtown Sign Overlay Zone”. Validity is stated: a permit for an on-site sign does not expire, but it becomes void if the area of any sign surface is increased without prior approval, while off-site sign permits expire every October 1 (§320.410). Stand-alone permits that go more than 180 days without an approved inspection are suspended, and can be reactivated for up to 180 more days on a showing of just cause and a reactivation fee (§320.402(b)(3)).

Can I hang a "Grand Opening" banner first?

With a banner permit. Banner signs may not exceed 100 sq ft, the permit is limited to 30 days, and they may not be attached to utility poles (§326.206). The city page adds that a banner counts as a ground or wall sign and against your signage allowance.

Detail

A banner must be securely affixed to a building, canopy, pole or other structure; it may not be hung, tied, taped or hooked from a structure. The city page lists signs of a temporary nature that are not permanently anchored, such as “A”-frame, portable and stick signs, among unlawful signs, so outside downtown a sandwich board out front is not a legal option. Inside the Downtown Sign Overlay Zone, temporary A-frame and message board signs are allowed: at most 24 inches wide and 30 inches tall per side, a message face of no more than 4 square feet per side, one per business, on the same block and side of the street as the main entrance, shown only during business hours with the business name and hours on it (§656.1333(g)).

Source: City of Jacksonville Building Inspection Division (Sign Laws) and Jacksonville Ordinance Code Chapter 326, read 10 October 2026.

Signs in the Downtown Sign Overlay Zone

Downtown has its own sign subpart. The Downtown Sign Overlay Area is coextensive with the jurisdiction of the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) (§656.1332), and a sign permit there goes first to Downtown Development Review Board (DDRB) staff, who decide whether staff can approve it or the DDRB must review it (§656.1335). The Building Inspection Division approves a downtown sign only with a written DDRB recommendation of approval (§656.1336(c)). The city fee list charges $100.00 for Downtown Sign Overlay Zone review (Section 656.1331).

Sign	Limit in §656.1333
Wall sign, building up to five stories	10% of the facade fronting a street or 300 square feet, whichever is less
Wall sign, building over five stories	10% of the facade fronting a street or 400 square feet, whichever is less
Projecting sign	24 square feet; 8 feet clearance over a sidewalk, 14 feet over an alley; no closer than 2 feet to the curbline or more than 6 feet beyond the property line
Awning sign	1 square foot per linear foot of street frontage, maximum 300 square feet; lettering or logo up to 20 inches; projection up to 7 feet
Ground floor retail or service tenants in a multi-story building	1 square foot per linear foot of street frontage for additional wall, window, awning, canopy or projecting signs
Temporary window signs	35 square feet or 20 percent of the total window area per side of street frontage, whichever is less
Under canopy sign	One per tenant, 4 square feet
Exterior directory sign	6 square feet per building entrance
Surface parking lot sign	24 square feet, no taller than 15 feet
Parking garage signs	75 square feet combined per side of street frontage, 150 square feet with ground floor retail or services

Each building may have one building identification sign per side of street frontage. Pylon/pole, roof and monument signs are allowed only by special exception from the DDRB, and any sign not allowed in §656.1333 or exempted in §656.1334 is prohibited (§656.1333(f), (k)).

Review times, lighting and exempt signs downtown

DDRB staff decide within five working days whether the application is complete, and issue a recommendation within five working days after that. A sign that is part of a sign package for a building needing DDRB design review is approved or denied within 45 days of a complete application. After a written recommendation of approval, the Building Inspection Division issues the permit within five days if all its other requirements are met (§656.1336(b), (c)).
If those deadlines pass with no decision, the applicant may put up one temporary banner sign without a permit, at most 50 percent of the sign area otherwise allowed, until the permit is issued or denied (§656.1336(e)).
A staff recommendation of denial may be appealed to the DDRB within five working days (§656.1336(d)).
Not permitted: exposed fluorescent lighting other than neon; exposed quartz, high or low pressure sodium mercury vapor, or metal halide lighting; exposed incandescent lamps other than low-wattage decorative lighting; signs projected onto a building (§656.1335(d)).
No permit, fee or DDRB review: real estate and construction signs, temporary window signs behind glass, historic landmark signs and political signs that meet their sections; legal notices; street address numerals not exceeding 12 inches in height (§656.1334(b), (c)).
Downtown signs must also meet the Florida Building Code and the City’s Building Code administrative provisions (§656.1333(l)).

Source: Zoning Code Part 13, §656.1331–656.1336 (Downtown Sign Overlay Zone), read 10 October 2026 in full; review fee from the City Fees page (Downtown Investment Authority), read the same day.

Sources & how this page is maintained

Sources and official references: City of Jacksonville — Sign Laws (Building Inspection Division); Zoning Code Part 13, Sign Regulations; Chapter 326, Signs and Outdoor Display Structures; Chapter 320, General Provisions (permit validity); Chapter 307, Historic Preservation and Protection. All five were read 10 October 2026 in full, and copies are kept on file. The permit fees come from the city’s City Fees page (Building Inspection Division, “Sign Erections”), read 10 October 2026, of which a copy is also kept. The Downtown Sign Overlay Zone rules are read from Part 13. Not read: the per-district historic district regulations; outside the Downtown Sign Overlay Zone no source read states a review time, so this page gives none there.

Jacksonville’s district caps, in the code’s own words — 20 items

§656.1303 does not start with the districts. It starts with what sits above them: “Signs shall comply with the requirements of Chapters 320 and 326 and with the applicable provisions of F.S. Ch. 479. In addition, the following restrictions shall apply in the indicated zoning districts.” The district caps below are additional to those. Chapter 326 is quoted on this page where it bears on a storefront; Chapter 320 and the Florida statute have not been read.

CN district — §656.1303(c)(2)

One street frontage sign per lot, not exceeding one square foot for each linear foot of street frontage, per street, to a maximum size of 200 square feet in area for every 200 linear feet of street frontage or portion thereof — “provided they are located no closer than 200 feet apart.” (i)
Wall signs are permitted. (ii) Their size limit is the 10% rule under “All districts” below.

CCG, CCBD and CR districts — §656.1303(c)(3)

One street frontage sign per lot on the same per-foot basis, but to a maximum size of 300 square feet for every 300 linear feet of street frontage or portion thereof — again “no closer than 200 feet apart.” (i)
Wall signs are permitted. (ii)
One under the canopy sign per occupancy, not exceeding eight square feet — “provided, any square footage utilized for an under the canopy sign shall be subtracted from the allowable square footage that can be utilized for wall signs.” (iii)
A flag in lieu of the street frontage sign. A flag with a business logo or other advertising may replace the street frontage sign, at no more than 100 square feet or 35 percent of the street frontage sign allowance, whichever is smaller. Only one such flag per premises, whatever the number of tenants, and it may not be illuminated except by lighting for an American flag on the same pole. (iv)
Industrial districts take the same allowable signs and restrictions as CCG, CCBD and CR. §656.1303(d)

CO and CRO districts — §656.1303(c)(1) and (c)(4)

One monument sign, nonilluminated or externally illuminated, not exceeding 24 square feet in area and 12 feet in height; and (i)
one five square foot wall sign — nonilluminated, externally illuminated or internally illuminated; or (ii)
in lieu of both, one wall sign not exceeding 32 square feet in area. (iii)
Larger wall signs on large sites. In lieu of (ii) or (iii), for property with at least 200 feet of street frontage and at least three acres: below three stories, two wall signs totalling 100 square feet on the side facing an arterial or higher roadway and two per side totalling 75 square feet facing any other roadway; at three stories or more, 150 square feet and 100 square feet. Allowed only if the sign structure is not within 250 feet of any residential zoning district. (iv)
“In CO and CRO Districts changing message devices and illuminated and indirect lighting signs are also prohibited.” (c)(4) This sits uneasily with the illuminated wall signs in (ii) and (iii); ask the Zoning Department which governs before you order a lit sign.

RO district — §656.1303(c)(5)

Signage not exceeding five square feet, collectively, is allowed. Illumination of the signage in any form is prohibited.

All districts — §656.1303(i), (j) and (l)

Wall signs: 10%. “Wall signs shall not exceed ten percent of the square footage of the occupancy frontage or respective side of the building abutting a public right-of-way or approved private street.” (j)(3)
Height. Signs may not exceed 50 feet above adjacent ground; in commercial and industrial districts a sign within 660 feet of the centerline of an interstate exit and of the interstate may reach 65 feet. (i)(1)
Location. No sign within 25 feet of the intersection of two or more right-of-way lines, and none closer than ten feet to any street right-of-way. (i)(2)
Prohibited everywhere: mobile billboards, remote controlled blimps with commercial advertising, and “animated, flashing and revolving signs.” Changing message devices are permitted as part of an allowable sign unless otherwise prohibited. (l)(1), (5), (6); (i)(3)

Residential districts, for reference — §656.1303(a)

In RR, RLD, RMD-A and RMD-B: one nonilluminated sign of not more than one square foot, mounted flat against the wall, unless the Zoning Code specifically prohibits it; and one nonilluminated sign of not more than 24 square feet where specifically authorized in the grant of exception. (a)(1)(i)–(ii)
In all residential districts, ground or free-standing signs shall not exceed 20 feet in height and shall not be located in any required yard. (a)(3)
Roof signs, neon signs, changing message devices and strip lighting are prohibited. (a)(4)

Source: Jacksonville Ordinance Code, Chapter 656 Zoning Code, Part 13 — §656.1303 (Zoning limitations on signs), last amended by Ord. 2020-731-E, read 10 October 2026 in full on Municode. Areas, heights, spacing and the frontage ratios are reproduced as the code states them. The note on (c)(4) is our reading of two provisions side by side, not a city interpretation.

What Jacksonville makes unlawful — 3 items

§656.1309 is a short section with one rule storefronts run into and one that catches landlords; Chapter 326 adds one for projecting signs.

Projected signs. “Projections of light, laser beams or any other medium to form text, graphics, logos, or artwork upon streets, walkways, fences, sign structures, land or water surfaces, or exterior walls or other exterior portions of buildings or any other structure are prohibited” — except that an owner may project a sign onto an exterior portion of their own property, building or structure if the area occupied by such sign does not otherwise violate the sign regulations in this Part. Projecting onto your own wall is not a way around the area caps above. A violation is a class D offense; projecting onto someone else’s building without consent is treated as blight and graffiti, a second degree misdemeanor with a fine of not less than $2,000. §656.1309(a)
Off-site commercial messages. It is unlawful and a class D offense to erect, display or maintain a sign with a commercial message about offices, products, accommodations, services or activities that are not sold, produced, available, conducted or rendered on the property where the sign is located. The rule applies to signs that can be seen unaided from ground outside the lot, with exceptions for city naming-rights and sponsorship agreements at publicly owned venues and authorized settlement agreements. §656.1309(b)
Projecting over public space. Except for wall signs (up to one foot of projection) and awning signs under §656.1304, no sign may project beyond the property line into or over a street right-of-way, alley, walk or other public space. §326.204(b), §326.205(a)

Source: Jacksonville Ordinance Code §656.1309 (Unlawful signs) and §§326.204–326.205, read 10 October 2026 in full on Municode.

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

Jacksonville 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
Duval Sign Solutions	(904) 966-4778	6950 Philips Hwy, Jacksonville, Florida 32216	Duval Sign Solutions handles the entire permit application process for clients, including preparing drawings, gathering owner documentation, submitting applications, tracking reviews, handling revisions, and securing final approval before fabrication begins.	We operate our own in-house fabrication facility, which means direct quality control and faster turnaround compared with companies that outsource fabrication
Custom Graphics & Sign Designs Inc.	(904) 264-7667	99 Industrial Loop North, Orange Park, FL 32073	We handle the complete permitting process for every sign project — building permits, electrical permits, special-exception review where applicable, and inspector coordination.	We don't outsource design or subcontract installs.
Brand 9 Signs	(904) 272-3395	1970 Solomon St., Orange Park, FL 32073	We pull permits in Jacksonville, St. Johns County, Clay County, and 64 other Florida counties.	All fabricated at our Orange Park facility and installed by our own licensed crews.

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

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