What belongs in a signage submittal package
Work sign type by sign type and include:
- Message schedule: every sign with its type, room or location number, and the exact text, arrows and symbols
- Shop drawings for each sign type: size, materials, thickness, colors, fonts, letter heights and mounting method
- Accessibility details for room and exit signs: raised characters, Grade 2 braille, non-glare finish, contrast and mounting height and location
- Location plans showing where each sign goes, keyed to the message schedule
- Material and color samples, and a full-size sample sign where the spec asks for one
- For exterior and monument signs: foundation and attachment details, and wind load calculations where required
- For lit signs: electrical data, the listing label, and the power location
- Warranty and care instructions
Get the final room numbers first
Room numbers on the architectural drawings are often not the numbers the owner uses. Before the message schedule is final, ask the owner for its room numbering and naming, and get it in writing. A message schedule built from the drawings alone can mean remaking every room sign. Exterior and lit signs may also need a separate sign permit from the city, so check that early.
The review round-trip
Signage goes to the architect or the graphic designer, and the message schedule usually goes to the owner as well. Expect the first round to come back with wording changes, so keep the technical drawings and the message schedule as separate parts of the package. That way, a wording change does not hold up approval of the sign types and materials.
Common rejection reasons on signage submittals
Why signage packages come back:
- Braille, raised characters or mounting heights that do not meet accessibility rules
- Room signs placed on the wrong side of the door
- Message schedule using drawing room numbers instead of the owner's final numbers
- Missing color, material or finish samples
- Fonts, sizes or colors that do not match the design intent drawings
- No wind load or attachment details for exterior signs
- Lit signs without the electrical data or listing
How Submittal.App builds the signage package
Give Submittal.App the sign schedule and the AI Builder gathers the product data for the sign systems and materials, organizes it by sign type, and generates the package with a cover sheet and table of contents. The shop drawings still come from the sign maker, but putting them together with the product data, samples list and schedule is done in minutes.