A banner feels temporary to the business that hangs it. To the zoning office it’s a sign with a start date, an end date and a size limit, and it catches more businesses out than permanent signs do. A permanent sign goes through drawings, a quote and a permit, so somebody checks the code. A banner, an A frame or a window poster usually goes up the same week it’s printed, and nobody asks whether the town allows it until a zoning officer leaves a notice.
Gogi Signs prints and installs temporary signs for businesses across New Jersey, and we check the town’s rules before anything goes to print. The rules aren’t hard to follow once you know where to look. Most towns control temporary signs by four things: how big the sign is, where it sits, how long it stays up and whether it needed a permit first. This guide covers each one with examples from real New Jersey codes, then explains what changes in New York City.
In this guide
Temporary Signs at a Glance
Size, place, time, permit
| Sign type | What towns usually control | Example from a New Jersey code |
|---|---|---|
| Grand opening banner | One display, a fixed number of days, a permit | South Brunswick allows one grand opening sign for up to 30 days within four months of the certificate of occupancy |
| Promotional banner | Times per year, days per display, share of the facade | Brick allows four displays a year of up to 30 days each, covering no more than 15 percent of the first floor facade |
| Sidewalk A frame | Zones where allowed, size, clear walking path | Brick allows one per business in its B 1 to B 3 zones, at least 10 feet from the edge of the pavement |
| Window poster | Share of the glass covered | Atlantic City caps temporary window signs at 33 percent of a window, Brick at 50 percent, Perth Amboy at 15 percent |
| Event or sale sign | How early it goes up, how soon it comes down | Andover allows sale signs up to 10 square feet, posted 30 days ahead and removed within five days after |
| Construction sign | One sign for the length of the job | Most towns allow a contractor or project sign while the work lasts, with a size cap |
How Towns Regulate Temporary Signs
Every New Jersey municipality writes its own sign ordinance, so two stores on the same highway can face different rules a mile apart. The structure is usually similar, though. A temporary sign section lists the allowed types, sets a maximum size and duration for each, says whether a zoning permit is needed and lists what’s banned outright, such as flashing lights, pennant strings or anything in the public right of way.
Why the Message Matters Less Than It Used To
Older codes defined temporary signs by what they said: grand opening, going out of business, special sale. In 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Reed v. Town of Gilbert that sign rules based on the message are subject to strict scrutiny. Since then many towns have rewritten their temporary sign sections around size, placement and time instead. You’ll still find message based categories in plenty of codes, so read the version currently in force rather than a neighbor’s summary.
The State Code Is a Separate Layer
Zoning decides what’s allowed. The Uniform Construction Code decides whether a construction permit is also needed, and it exempts a sign only when it’s ground supported, not wired to a circuit, 25 square feet or less on one side and no more than six feet high. A big banner frame bolted to the building, or anything lit, falls outside that exemption. Our guide to whether a business sign needs a permit covers the permanent side.
Banners and Grand Opening Signs
Banners are the most regulated temporary sign because they’re the easiest to leave up forever. Towns typically limit how many times a year you can hang one, how long each display lasts and how much of the wall it covers.
Brick Township lets a business hang a banner four times a year for up to 30 consecutive days each time, never within two months of the previous permit, covering no more than 15 percent of the first floor facade. The permit has to be displayed while the banner is up. One note: Brick adopted those banner and A frame rules with a sunset clause, so confirm with the township that they’re still in force before you rely on them.
South Brunswick allows one grand opening sign for up to 30 days within the first four months after the certificate of occupancy, with its own zoning permit that states the start and end dates.
Shopping centers often restrict banners further than the town does, so a tenant needs both the landlord and the zoning office to agree. See our vinyl banners page for materials and finishing, and our mesh banners page for fences and windy walls.
Most towns give a grand opening banner about 30 days
Sidewalk A Frame Signs
Sidewalk signs are allowed in some districts and banned in others, and the difference is usually about pedestrians. Where they’re allowed, the rules focus on keeping a clear walking path and bringing the sign in at night.
Brick allows them in its B 1 to B 3 business zones, one per business, portable with no posts, and at least 10 feet from the edge of the pavement. In a tight downtown such as Hoboken, sidewalk space is scarce, so confirm the clear path rule before ordering a frame. On a public sidewalk the accessibility rules matter too. A sign that leaves too narrow a path, or that a cane can’t detect, is a hazard as well as a violation. See our sidewalk signs page for frames and inserts.
A frames live or die by the clear walking path
Window Signs and Posters
Window signs are the temporary sign most often overlooked, because they sit inside the building. Many codes still count them, usually as a share of each window.
- Brick Township: temporary window signs may cover no more than 50 percent of the window they're on.
- Atlantic City: temporary window signs may cover no more than 33 percent of a window, may go up 45 days before an event and must come down within three days after.
- Perth Amboy: window sale signs need no permit, but they may go up only 14 days before the sale, must show the sale dates, must come down when it ends, and may cover no more than 15 percent of any single window.
- Bridgewater: signs inside a building that can be read from outside count toward the building mounted sign allowance, which can use up the room you wanted for a permanent sign.
Coverage limits matter for more than compliance. Glass that’s fully covered hides the store from people walking past and blocks the view in for safety. See our window decals page for removable options that are easy to change when a promotion ends, and Pixel Wraps, our sister graphics shop, explains how short term and long term graphic materials differ when you know the sign is coming down.
Event, Sale and Real Estate Signs
Signs tied to a date usually run on two clocks: how early they may go up and how quickly they must come down. Andover Township, for example, limits special sale and grand opening signs to 10 square feet, posted no more than 30 days before and removed within five days after the event, with no permit needed. Perth Amboy gives sale signs 14 days before and requires the dates on the sign.
Real estate signs are usually handled under their own section, with size limits that differ for residential and commercial property. Our yard signs page covers the stakes and boards most often used for them.
Construction and Coming Soon Signs
A sign announcing the contractor or the future tenant is usually allowed for the length of the job, with a size cap set by the town. Coming soon signs on a storefront under fit out tend to be treated as temporary window signs or banners, so the same coverage and duration limits apply.
Job sites have their own required notices as well, such as permit placards and safety signs, and those aren’t counted as advertising. See our construction signs page for job site boards and fence banners.
Temporary Signs in New York City
New York City’s Department of Buildings regulates signs in all five boroughs, so a storefront in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens answers to the Construction Code and the Zoning Resolution rather than a town ordinance. The DOB’s sign page says painted signs and signs under six square feet that aren’t lit don’t need a permit, and the Administrative Code also exempts a ground sign advertising the sale or rental of the premises if it’s 12 square feet or less, along with temporary signs put up during construction. Those construction signs are exempt from the licensed sign hanger rule too.
Town by town in New Jersey, citywide in New York
Checklist Before You Order a Temporary Sign
- Find the town’s temporary sign section. Search the municipal code for banner, temporary sign or window sign, and note the size, duration and permit rules.
- Check the lease. Shopping centers and office parks often ban banners or require approval, even where the town allows them.
- Size the sign to the limit. Measure the facade or window first, then design to the allowed percentage or square footage.
- Apply for the permit early. Some towns want the dates on the application, and some won’t issue a second permit too soon after the first.
- Put the end date in the calendar. Most violations are signs that stayed up after the permit ran out.
- Plan the removal. Take the sign down cleanly and store it flat if it’ll be used again.
If the temporary sign is standing in for a permanent one that’s still in production, our guide to how long a sign project takes helps you pick a banner window that actually covers the gap.
Common Questions About Temporary Sign Regulations
Do I need a permit for a banner in New Jersey?
How long can a grand opening banner stay up?
Are sidewalk A frame signs allowed?
Do window posters count as signs?
In many towns they do. Codes commonly cap temporary window signs at a share of each window, such as 15, 33 or 50 percent, and some count interior signs read from outside toward the total sign area.
Can I leave a banner up until the permanent sign arrives?
What happens if a temporary sign stays up too long?
The zoning officer usually issues a notice first, then fines if the sign stays. Many New Jersey codes treat each day after the notice as a separate offense, so the cost climbs quickly.
Plan Your Temporary Signs
Gogi Signs prints banners, window graphics, sidewalk signs and job site signs for businesses across New Jersey and New York City, and we check the town’s temporary sign rules before anything goes to print, so the sign is sized to the limit and ready for the permit application. Browse our event signage range, or request a free quote with your dates and location and we’ll tell you what the town allows.
Sources and further reading
- Reed v. Town of Gilbert, U.S. Supreme Court, 2015
- New Jersey Administrative Code: when a construction permit is required
- Brick Township sign code
- South Brunswick Township sign permit application
- Andover Township sign code
- Perth Amboy sign code
- NYC Department of Buildings: sign permit requirements
- NYC Administrative Code: work exempt from permit
