Sacramento sign permit at a glance
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need a permit? | Yes: it is unlawful to erect, alter, install, or relocate a sign within the city without first obtaining a sign permit (§15.148.030), apart from the exempt signs (exempt signs). Other cities compared. |
| How big can my sign be? | Set by zoning district in Chapter 15.148, Article III. This page does not apply a figure, because the code text we can cite does not state it for each district (sizing). Other cities compared. |
| Special district? | The CBD-SPD and arts and entertainment district have their own section (§15.148.190), and Old Sacramento has its own chapter (15.152). |
| What does it cost? | A $100.00 submittal fee on the application form; an illuminated sign also needs an electrical permit (fees). |
| How long does it take? | Within thirty (30) days after submission the chief building official must issue the permit or send a notice identifying the deficiencies; if neither happens, the application is deemed denied (permit process). Other cities compared. |
| Sidewalk A-frame sign? | An A-frame is an exempt sign under §15.148.600, outside the rest of the sign chapter, if it carries no general advertising and is displayed as §15.148.620 requires; whoever puts one on a city sidewalk is solely responsible for injuries and damage it causes and must indemnify the city. Other cities compared. |
| Grand opening banner? | The city’s sign handout lists banners as prohibited. (details) Other cities compared. |
| Digital or LED sign? | The city’s sign handout lists animated or intensely lighted signs and moving signs as prohibited. Other cities compared. |
| Who files? | The property owner or a licensed contractor (form CDD-0274). Other cities compared. |
| When does the permit run out? | It expires if work has not started within sixty (60) days of issue, or if work is suspended or abandoned for one hundred twenty (120) consecutive days after it starts (form CDD-0274). Other cities compared. |
| Already installed without a permit? | The permit fees are doubled, and paying the double fee does not excuse the sign from the rest of the chapter or from its penalties (§15.148.080). Other cities compared. |
Sizing How to apply FAQ Cost & timeline Permit process Exempt signs Fees Sign companies
How Sacramento sizes your sign
Sacramento regulates attached (wall) signs by zoning district under City Code Chapter 15.148, Article III (§15.148.140–§15.148.170) and the general limits of Article IV (§15.148.210 Maximum sign area); the page-linked chapter index lists those sections but not the figures, so confirm the allowance in the section for your zone. The city’s CDD-0295 handout lists signs on or projecting over a roof as prohibited, but the chapter index lists §15.148.300, “Conditional use permit required—roof signs”; this page has not read that section, so ask the city before planning a roof sign.
This tool records your frontage and planned sign area so you can check them against the section for your zone before you commit.
How to apply for a Sacramento sign permit — 4 steps
The only branch that changes the answer is a special district.
Steps assembled from the confirmed items on this page. The permit fees are in “How much does a Sacramento sign permit cost?” and what drives them is in “Cost, timeline & temporary banners”, both below — not repeated here.
What other cities ask you to submit: sign permit application checklists by city.
Questions owners ask — 5 questions
Cost, timeline & temporary banners
Detail
Source: City of Sacramento Community Development (sign permits & fee schedule); Sacramento City Code Ch. 15.148. Fees and timelines change — confirm current figures with the City of Sacramento before filing.
Sacramento’s permit process, in the code’s own words
The permit issuer throughout is the chief building official.
§15.148.030 makes it unlawful for any person “to erect, alter, install, or relocate, or to direct or order a person in his or her employ to erect, alter, install, or relocate, a sign within the city without first obtaining a sign permit or permits from the chief building official,” except as the chapter otherwise provides — hiring the work out does not move the obligation. Separately, §15.148.040 provides that no person shall erect, construct or maintain any sign on any property or building “without the consent of the owner, person entitled to possession of the property or building if any, or their authorized representatives.”
What the application must contain — §15.148.050
The application goes to the chief building official on a city-provided form, must be accompanied by payment of all required fees, and must include:
- Drawings to scale showing the sign location, dimensions and construction; the associated electrical wiring and components; and the method of attachment and the character of the structural members the sign will be attached to. The chief building official may also require additional information and documents “prepared by an engineer who is registered under the California Professional Engineers Act” on the structural design and the proposed attachments. §15.148.050(A)
- Any permits or other entitlements required under Title 17 of the city code or by other governmental entities with jurisdiction — the code names Caltrans as an example. §15.148.050(B)
- Anything else the chief building official needs to determine whether the sign complies with all applicable laws and regulations. §15.148.050(C)
The thirty-day clock, and one resubmission — §15.148.060
- Within thirty (30) days after submission, the chief building official must do one of two things. §15.148.060(A)
- Issue the permit, if the proposed sign complies with all applicable laws and regulations. §15.148.060(A)(1)
- Or issue a notice identifying the deficiencies, if the application is incomplete or the sign does not comply. Within thirty (30) days after receiving that notice the applicant may correct the deficiencies and resubmit “without paying any additional fees,” and the resubmission is processed the same way a new application is. Only one resubmission is allowed, and if the resubmitted application is still incomplete or still non-compliant, the application “will be deemed denied.” §15.148.060(A)(2)
- Silence is a denial. An application is deemed denied if the chief building official does not act as (A)(1) or (A)(2) requires within thirty (30) days after it is submitted or resubmitted, unless the applicant has waived the thirty-day requirement. §15.148.060(B)
Detail
Read that thirty days for what it is: a deadline the ordinance imposes on the decision, not a measurement of how long a permit takes in practice. The city publishes no processing time for sign permits, and this page gives none.
Permit expiry, and what a restart costs — §15.148.060(C)
A sign permit expires if the authorized work “is not commenced within sixty (60) days after the issuance date of the permit” or if the work “is suspended or abandoned for one hundred twenty (120) consecutive days or more” after it is commenced. To commence or resume after expiry, a new permit must first be obtained, and its fee “will be one-half the amount required for a new permit for the work” — except that if changes have been or will be made in the original plans and specifications, or if the suspension or abandonment exceeds one year, the fee is the same as for a new permit.
Fees, and the doubling — §15.148.080
The ordinance sets no amount. It provides that permits “shall be subject to such fees as are specified by resolution of the city council relating to the building and electrical codes of the city,” and that the minimum fee for a permit, exclusive of any permit costs for electrical components, is likewise established by council resolution. Because the figures live in a resolution rather than in the code, this code section prints no dollar amount; the one amount the city publishes is the $100.00 submittal fee on the application form, in the “How much does a Sacramento sign permit cost?” section below, and the other fee amounts are not published online. Ask Community Development for the current schedule.
One consequence is in the code itself: “when any sign is hereafter erected, placed, installed or otherwise established on any property prior to obtaining permits as required by this chapter the fees therefor shall be doubled,” and paying the double fee “shall not relieve any person from complying with other provisions of this chapter or from penalties prescribed herein.” Putting the sign up first costs twice the fee and settles nothing else.
Revocation, content neutrality, and the call after the work — §15.148.060(D), (E) and §15.148.090(A)
The chief building official may, in writing, suspend or revoke a sign permit “whenever the permit is issued on the basis of a material omission or misstatement of fact or in violation of this chapter or any ordinance” (§15.148.060(D)). In deciding whether to issue, deny, suspend or revoke, the official “shall not consider the content or graphic design of messages other than to determine legality under federal or state law” (§15.148.060(E)) — what the sign says is not part of the permit decision. Once the work is done, §15.148.090(A) requires the person or entity that erected, altered, installed or relocated the sign to notify the chief building official within three business days after completion of the permitted work.
Detail
Sacramento is unusual among the cities on this site: the decision deadline, the one free resubmission, permit expiry and the doubled fee are written into the ordinance rather than left to departmental practice.
Source: Sacramento City Code Chapter 15.148 — §15.148.030 (Ord. 2013-0025 § 2), §15.148.040, §15.148.050 (Ord. 2013-0025 § 3), §15.148.060 (Ord. 2016-0010 § 1; Ord. 2013-0025 § 4), §15.148.080 (Ord. 2016-0010 § 2) and §15.148.090(A), read 30 September 2026. Day counts, the one-resubmission rule and the half and double fee rules are reproduced as the code states them. The code carries no fee amount, no actual processing time and no form number; the application form’s submittal fee and the fee names are in the “How much does a Sacramento sign permit cost?” section below.
Signs that are exempt in Sacramento — 5 items
§15.148.600 does two things at once, and the second changes the arithmetic on this page: the signs it lists “are exempt from the other provisions of this chapter, and the display area of such signs is not to be included in the cumulative display area of signs allowed for any parcel, use, or occupancy.” An exempt sign does not spend the allowance you measured above.
- Flags. The cumulative display area of all flags on a parcel, calculated by measuring one side of each flag, may not exceed one square foot for every three linear feet of street frontage. §15.148.600(A)
- A-frame signs. Portable signs that stand without support or attachment and are hinged or designed to fold up for easy moving by hand — but only if they display messages other than general advertising, and only if displayed in a way that complies with §15.148.620 and does not constitute a nuisance or hazard. The code attaches liability to the sidewalk case: anyone displaying a portable sign on a city sidewalk “is solely responsible for all injuries and damage caused by the sign and shall indemnify the city.” §15.148.600(B)
- Small signs. Unilluminated signs with a display area not exceeding four square feet that display messages other than general advertising, comply with §15.148.620 and do not constitute a nuisance or hazard. Their cumulative display area on a parcel may not exceed one square foot for each five linear feet of street frontage. §15.148.600(C)
- Interior signs. Signs inside a building or stadium, inside an enclosed lobby or court, and signs in a theater’s inner or outer lobby, court or entrance — but no sign is exempt unless it is designed, located and intended to be viewed primarily from inside the premises and not from the public right-of-way. The same subsection adds that all illuminated signs, including interior illuminated signs, require an electrical permit. §15.148.600(D)
- Temporary signs in an SC, HC, C, or M zone. Allowed on any developed or undeveloped parcel in those zones so long as the cumulative display area of all temporary signs on the parcel does not exceed fifty (50) square feet. §15.148.600(E)(2)(a)
Source: Sacramento City Code §15.148.600 (Article VI, Exempt Signs), read 30 September 2026. Areas, ratios and the zone list are reproduced as the code states them. The copy on file abbreviates the flag definition, part of the A-frame and small-sign conditions and the temporary-sign rules for R, A and OB zones, so this page states nothing from those parts; §15.148.620 and the district area sections were not read for this page.
Sources & how this page is maintained
Sources and official references: City of Sacramento CDD-0295 “What is a Sign?” (Revised 09-08-2026), read 10 October 2026; Sacramento City Code — Sign Standards. Measured on 21 August 2026: the code library returns the sign chapter as text. It carries the exempt-sign area quoted on this page; the larger district allowance sits in a separate table not covered by this reading.
How much does a Sacramento sign permit cost?
Sacramento publishes the names of its sign-permit fees but not the amounts. The amounts sit in the Development Fee Schedule that the application points to, and we could not find that document on a public path.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Submittal Fee | $100.00 per application |
That figure is from Sign Permit Application CDD-0274, Revised 01-01-2023. The same document prints: “Total Sign Permit Fees: See Development Fee Schedule”.
Charged on every sign permit: General plan fee; Green building fee; Sign permit fee (charged under the Chapter 15.148 procedure); Technology fee.
Charged on some sign permits only: City operations tax (only when a California-licensed contractor is the permit holder); Fire Department plan review fee; Fire Department administrative fee; Landscape review fee (when the plans include a landscape sheet); Plan review – hourly; Sign electrical fee (for an electric sign permit); Sign plan review/engineering fee; Public works fee; Utilities fee.
The amounts for these items were not confirmed from any document the city has published online.
Source: City of Sacramento Community Development, sign fees page and Sign Permit Application CDD-0274, Revised 01-01-2023. Read 7 October 2026.
https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/community-development/building/building-fees/fees-by-project/signs
https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/content/dam/portal/cdd/Building/Forms/CDD-0274_Sign-Permit-Application.pdf
Sacramento 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital City Signs, Inc. | (916) 348-9378 | 4777 Auburn Blvd. #1000, Sacramento, CA 95841 | As licensed contractors we can supply all the necessary drawings in addition to filing and securing the permits needed to install your signage. | We are a full service commercial sign shop, and we can take your project from concept to completion. |
| California Sign Company | (877) 965-2121 | 7307 Roseville Road, Sacramento, CA 95842 | we'll acquire your permit before proceeding with the rest of the project | Our professional installers are experienced with all types of materials and will ensure your sign will last for years. |
| City Signs | (916)-571-0272 | 901 H St #105, Sacramento, CA 95814 | We also handle permitting and ensure compliance with any local regulations. | With an in-house team overseeing all aspects of the sign-making process, we maintain strict quality control |
Each company's website is linked from its name. Source pages read 7 October 2026.
Ask us how the code reads for your sign
Send your dimensions and we will reply with what the Sacramento code allows for that sign. No charge. We are not a sign contractor and not a permit agent.