Do you help customers with planning permission?

[Robert Walker]

We use to but our local planning department has now been closed and moved to a central office and since we can’t get any consistent decisions.

Same row of shops same type of signage and 2 different planning officers, one was passed the other refused all within walking weeks of each other.

I just advise the customer now that they may need planning.

It was also a royal pain getting paid for the work I had put in for the refused planning.

Hope this helps

[David Rogers]

It’s the proverbial can o’ worms for all but the BIG spenders.

Spending hours on drawings, spec sheets, rejection revisions, access submissions and all manner of ‘guff’ on a project that’s worth a few hundred quid is pointless unless you agree to ‘project manage’ for a fee.

Sure, I’ll let somebody know straight off the bat that "no – you won’t get to put up a lightbox as it’s a conservation zone"

These signs are the clients baby – they want big, brash, bold and RGB flashing lights…and planning want; ’19th Century painted wood in appearance in muted tones and traditional fonts – no plastics, no metals and no holes in the building’.

I learnt not to get involved with submissions unless you’ve 100% got the job – even then it’s to supply drawings and construction specs only. been dragged into far too many breaches of planning / heritage when my job is to make & fit signs at the request of the client…not become the project leader in the eyes of some council jobsworth (that will tell you when a design is rejected and why – but NOT advise you on a design that WILL be accepted).

Tread with care grasshopper…

[David Hammond]

The call I took yesterday seemed suprised when I said they will likely need to know what type of sign they’re looking for, especially if it was illuminated, in order to get the required permission.

Knowing some customers who want an all singing & dancing sign, with a budget that barely covers installation, I can see us obtaining permission, then the customer shopping round for a cheaper price, and as you say struggling to get paid for the work we have done.

I think you’re right Dave, and a management fee to cover the application and time to obtain it, paid in full before we do anything is the only way it could work. But TBH I think we’ll leave it to the customer, and offer advice along the way.

[Miroslav Penev]

I give some phone numbers to people I know (el.engineer, architects …) And simply explaining to customer that there’s a procedure he must follow… Our job is to do advertise, and that’s we do best! A tax or fee, I will lose money if half day I am preparing docs … That’s my opinion

[David Mitchell]

i may be wrong, but at sign & digital im sure i saw an instalation company, that takes care of plannngpermission etc.

so might be worth looking into and supplying a sign to the customer, and advise an instalation company that she should speek to ,

you get paid for the sign, and any hassles regarding planning and instalation etc are the customers

[Colin Bland]

Yes we do if its needed and the client wants to be legit – most dont
Its quite easy so submit but a pain to get all the info together, we limit the amount of time we spend and always get paid up front for the service. We definately dont get drawn into negotiations or anything past the initial application.

[Simon Worrall]

I agree with Miroslav.
Keep on file the name of a company that does all this planning stuff, and pass it on to the customer if it comes up. That way you help them out which makes you look good, without having to learn a new trade.

Simon