Every few weeks someone calls our shop with the same question. A media company offered to rent the side of their building for a giant wall graphic, or they want their own brand across a blank wall, and they want to know how to get a supergraphics permit in Los Angeles. The honest answer is that in most of the city there is no permit to get, because new supergraphic signs are prohibited. This guide explains what the code says, where the exceptions are, and what you can legally do with a large wall.
What Is a Supergraphic Sign?
In the Los Angeles Municipal Code (Chapter I, Article 4.4, the citywide sign regulations) a supergraphic sign is a sign made of vinyl, mesh, fabric or a similar material, or an image projected onto a building, that is larger than the wall sign rules allow. In plain language: a wall-sized graphic, usually applied over the face of a building and usually advertising. The ones you see on towers along the 110 and around Hollywood and Downtown are the classic examples.
The Short Answer: Prohibited Citywide, With Narrow Exceptions
LAMC Section 14.4.4 lists the sign types that are prohibited in the City of Los Angeles, and supergraphic signs are on that list. New ones can only be approved where a specific plan, a sign district (a supplemental use district) or a development agreement expressly allows them. Supergraphics that were legally permitted before the ban can stay, and those are the walls media companies lease and re-skin. Enforcement belongs to the Department of Building and Safety, and an unpermitted supergraphic is treated as an illegal sign: an order to comply, penalties that add up by the day, and removal at the owner’s expense.
The regulations have been amended and litigated many times since the city banned new off-site signs in 2002, and the city has been working on a new sign ordinance for years, so details change. Before you sign a lease or a media contract, confirm the current rules for your exact parcel with the City Planning Department and the LADBS Sign Unit.
Where Supergraphics Are Allowed
The exceptions are geographic. A handful of sign districts and specific plan areas in Los Angeles allow large-format wall signs, each with its own size, lighting and content rules. The best-known examples are the Downtown sports and entertainment area around L.A. Live and parts of Hollywood, where the Hollywood Signage Supplemental Use District sets its own rules. If your building is inside one of those areas the answer changes from “no” to “maybe, with a permit and a lot of paperwork.” An address check on ZIMAS, the city’s online zoning map, shows whether a specific plan or sign district applies to your property. We run that check for every large sign project before drawing anything.
Your Own Brand Does Not Change the Answer
A common assumption is that the ban only covers billboards, and that a building owner can wrap their own wall with their own logo. That is not how the code works. A supergraphic is defined by its size and construction, not by whose message it carries. An on-site graphic that exceeds the wall sign limits is still a supergraphic. What you can do is put up a wall sign that stays within the allowed area, and in Los Angeles that area is tied to your building frontage and the wall the sign sits on. For a large building, the maximum legal wall sign can still be very big.
Legal Ways to Use a Big Wall in Los Angeles
- A maximum-size wall sign. Dimensional letters, a lightbox or channel letters sized to the limit the code allows for your frontage. Permitted, durable and yours for years. See our building signs page.
- An original art mural. Under the city’s mural ordinance, original art murals on private property go through a registration process with the Department of Cultural Affairs instead of a sign permit. The catch is that a mural cannot carry a commercial message: no logos, product names or advertising, and it has to stay up for a minimum period. A mural that is really an ad is treated as a sign.
- Window graphics. Perforated window vinyl and printed window graphics count toward your total sign area, but they are a permitted way to put a large image on a storefront. See our window graphics page.
- A temporary banner. The city allows temporary signs with a temporary sign permit for a limited number of days per year, which works for a grand opening, a promotion or a construction period. See banner signs.
- Interior wall graphics. A wall wrap inside your space, like the wall wrap we produced for Canali in Beverly Hills, is interior decoration rather than an exterior sign and does not go through the sign permit process. A graphic placed inside but facing out through a window may still be regulated as a window sign. See wall murals and graphics.
Outside the City of Los Angeles
Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the other independent cities in the county each have their own sign codes. Some allow larger wall graphics with a permit or a design review; some are stricter than Los Angeles. If your property is outside the City of L.A., the address check comes first there too.
How Global Signs & Graphics Handles Large Wall Signs
We are a licensed C-45 sign contractor in Pacoima, and permitting is part of every exterior job we do. For a large wall sign we check the zoning, any specific plan or sign district, and the maximum sign area for your building; produce scaled drawings; file the sign permit and, for illuminated signs, the electrical permit with LADBS or your city; then fabricate and install the sign with our own crew. If a supergraphic is what you want and your building is in an area that allows it, we can tell you what that path looks like. If it is not, we will show you the biggest sign the code allows instead of promising something the city will make you take down. Send us the address and a photo of the wall and we will tell you what is possible.
Supergraphics FAQ
Can I get a permit for a supergraphic in Los Angeles?
Only if your property is inside a sign district, specific plan area or development agreement that expressly allows them. Everywhere else in the City of Los Angeles, new supergraphic signs are prohibited.
What is the difference between a mural and a supergraphic?
A mural is original art with no commercial message, registered with the Department of Cultural Affairs. A supergraphic is a large sign, usually printed vinyl or mesh, that exceeds the wall sign limits. The same wall can be legal as a mural and illegal as a sign depending on whether the image advertises anything.
What happens if I install one anyway?
LADBS can issue an order to comply, assess penalties that accrue daily and require removal. Media companies that offer to pay for your wall usually place that risk on the property owner in the contract, so read it carefully.
How big can a legal wall sign be?
It depends on your building frontage, the wall, the zone and any specific plan that applies. Send us the address and a photo of the wall and we will tell you the maximum and quote it.