Channel Letters and Storefront Signs Shipped to California

How it works

Ordering a Storefront Sign for California

California is the one state where the license for sign work is easy to name: the Contractors State License Board has a dedicated C-45 Sign Contractor classification that covers building, installing and wiring electric signs. What varies is everything local. Each city or county runs its own sign code and permit counter, and in Los Angeles an illuminated sign permit is only issued to a licensed sign or electrical contractor.

Before you order, collect three things: your landlord’s sign criteria, your city’s size and lighting limits, and a quote from a C-45 or C-10 contractor to install. Then size your sign to fit.

Permits

Sign Permits in California

There is no statewide sign permit for a storefront sign. Your city, or your county for unincorporated areas, reviews the sign under its zoning and building codes and issues the permit; specific plans, historic districts and sign districts can add their own limits. Shopping centers usually add landlord sign criteria on top.

Los Angeles is a good example of how detailed local rules can be. According to the LADBS sign manual, permits for illuminated signs are only issued to a licensed C-10 electrical contractor or C-45 electrical sign contractor, and a wall sign under 100 square feet doesn’t need plans from a licensed engineer or architect unless it attaches to an unreinforced masonry building. Specific plan areas, historic preservation overlay zones and sign districts can each change what’s allowed.

California’s Energy Code (Title 24, Part 6) also includes requirements for sign lighting controls. Ask your electrician which controls, such as a time switch or photocontrol, your sign needs.

Sign permit	City or county building / planning department
Los Angeles	LADBS; lit-sign permits to C-10 or C-45 contractors only
Energy code	Title 24, Part 6 sign lighting controls

New to sign permits? Read how sign permits work and what your electrician needs.