The structure out front is already permitted, already engineered, and already standing. Almost everything expensive about a ground sign has been paid for by someone else.
That is the whole opportunity in a face replacement. A new business takes a space, the sign at the entrance still carries the last tenant's name, and the assumption is that a new sign means a new project with a permit and a construction schedule. Usually it does not.
To be clear about scope before we go further: APG produces replacement faces for existing monument signs when the existing structure is suitable, and we do not construct new sign structures. This guide is about that work, which is a large share of the ground sign requests we get.
What a Face Replacement Is
Ground signs are assemblies. Understanding which part is which decides what your project actually is.
Footing, base, masonry or metal surround, and any internal framing. Permitted and engineered when it was built. This stays exactly as it is.
The opening the face sits in and the trim that holds it. Condition here decides whether a simple replacement is possible.
The visible panel carrying the name and graphics. This is the part we produce and install.
Where the sign is lit, the modules and power supply behind the face. Sometimes fine, sometimes the reason the sign has looked dead for two years.
Two variations we handle often. Some signs take a full replacement panel. Others keep a serviceable existing face and get new graphics applied to it, which is a different and often cheaper job. Which one applies depends on the condition of the panel and how the artwork works.
Why It Usually Needs No Permit
This is the part that saves the most time and money, and it is written directly into the current code.
Sign Ordinance No. 26-01 exempts face changes, repainting, re-lamping, and general maintenance of previously permitted signage from Part 13, so long as the sign is not raised, lowered, removed, or changed in a structural manner. No permit application, no review queue, no waiting.
"Previously permitted." The exemption covers maintenance of a sign that was legally permitted in the first place. It does not legalize a sign that never had one, and it does not cover raising, lowering, relocating, or restructuring. If nobody can confirm the sign's permit history, that is worth checking before ordering a face.
The practical consequence is a timeline most people do not expect. A wall sign project waits on permit review, which in our experience runs two to six weeks from submittal. A face replacement on a properly permitted structure can go from approved estimate to installed in one to two weeks, because the longest step in a normal sign project simply does not apply.
Full context on what does and does not need a permit is in Colorado Springs sign permits after Ordinance 26-01.
The Rule That Pushes New Tenants to Reface
Most businesses treat refacing as optional. The code treats it as closer to expected, and there are three provisions worth knowing.
- Abandoned signage becomes a nuisance. A sign no longer in use is abandoned, and after 30 days the code declares it a nuisance, with the Building Official or the Manager able to require the owner to replace or remove it.
- A new occupant keeps the structure but replaces the face. Where a new occupant takes over an abandoned sign structure, the expectation is that the face is replaced and kept in good condition.
- A noncompliant sign blocks new permits. Separately, a sign permit will not be approved for a new sign on a property where an existing noncompliant sign is standing. So the tired sign at the entrance can hold up the storefront sign you actually want.
Put those together and the sequence for a new tenant becomes clear: deal with the ground sign face early, because it is cheap, fast, exempt from permitting, and it clears the path for everything else.
If a sign is legal-nonconforming, meaning it predates current standards, it may stay only if it is not raised, lowered, removed, replaced, structurally altered, or abandoned. If 50 percent or more of the sign area is destroyed, for any reason, it cannot be repaired and has to come down. Hail season makes that a live question here rather than a hypothetical one.
When a Face Can Be Replaced
Not every existing sign takes a new face cleanly. What we look at during review:
- Retainer and frame condition. The trim that holds the face has to be intact and able to be removed and reinstalled. Corroded or brittle retainers change the job.
- Structural soundness. Leaning, cracked masonry, rusted framing, or a compromised footing all mean the conversation is about the structure rather than the face, and that is outside our scope.
- Access. Whether the face comes out from the front or requires disassembly, and whether the location allows a crew and equipment to work safely.
- Illumination status. Whether the existing lighting works, and what happens behind the new face.
- Weather sealing. Signs that have been open to water for years often have problems behind the face that only appear once it comes off.
Some sign projects require engineered drawings based on the sign type, size, mounting method, and site conditions. We confirm the applicable requirements as part of the project review.
If the structure is not suitable, we will say so rather than fitting a new face to a sign that needs more than a face. That is a worse outcome for you than hearing it at the estimate, and it is the kind of thing that surfaces the moment someone actually looks at the sign instead of quoting from a photo.
Face Materials
| Material | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Translucent acrylic | Illuminated faces | Even light transmission, color matched to brand |
| Polycarbonate | Impact-prone locations | Far more impact resistant than acrylic |
| Aluminum composite | Non illuminated panels | Commonly rated 10 to 20 years outdoors, stays flat |
| Applied vinyl graphics | Refreshing a sound existing face | Cheapest route when the panel itself is fine |
Two Colorado specifics drive these choices. First, at 6,035 feet the ultraviolet load is stronger than at sea level, so any printed or colored face needs UV rated material or laminate, and the difference shows up in year three rather than year one. Second, El Paso County sits in a hail-prone corridor with an active window running roughly April through August, which is a real argument for impact resistance on an exposed ground sign.
Thermal movement matters too. Faces expand and contract with temperature, and one mounted with no room to move will craze or crack at the fasteners. Full material comparison is in acrylic, aluminum or PVC.
Measuring and Fitting
The most common way a face replacement goes wrong is a measurement taken from the wrong place.
The face is not the size of what you can see. It sits inside a retainer, so part of its edge is hidden. A panel cut to the visible dimension will be too small and will not hold in the frame. The measurement that matters is the opening, taken after the retainer is understood, which is why we measure on site rather than working from a tape measure reading over the phone.
What a site visit establishes
- True face dimensions including the retained edge.
- Thickness the frame accepts.
- Whether both sides need faces, since most ground signs are double sided.
- Condition behind the face, including illumination and any water damage.
- Whether the artwork should be printed, cut vinyl, or a combination.
Double sided is worth flagging in your budget from the start. Two faces is roughly twice the material and twice the install work, and people routinely price a project in their head as though it were one panel.
What It Costs
Non illuminated commercial sign work generally runs $2,500 to $10,000, and face replacements typically sit at the lower end of that range because the expensive parts of a ground sign already exist. Illuminated sign work runs $8,000 to $15,000 as a full project, though a face swap on a working illuminated structure is a much smaller scope than a new lit sign. These ranges are typical and are not project specific estimates.
What moves a face replacement within its range:
- Single or double sided. The largest single factor.
- Face size. Material and handling scale with area.
- Material and print complexity. A two color cut vinyl layout costs less than full coverage printed artwork.
- Access and equipment. Reachable from the ground, or does it need a lift.
- Condition work. Retainer repair, sealing, or lighting issues discovered behind the face.
Compared to the alternative, this is inexpensive. Refacing takes an existing asset and makes it yours. The other path involves the structure, and structures are where the engineering, excavation, and permitting costs live.
Multi-Tenant Panels
Shared ground signs at office parks and centers work the same way, with one added layer: you are one panel in someone else's sign.
- The landlord usually controls the specification. Panel size, background color, typeface, and sometimes even letter color are set by tenant criteria so the directory stays consistent. Get that document before designing.
- Panels are modular by design, so a single tenant slot can be produced and swapped without disturbing the others.
- Shared signage has a paperwork requirement in the code where a permit is involved: an agreement covering ownership and management of the sign, plus the property owner's approval.
- Match the neighbors. A panel in a different material or finish stands out for the wrong reason, and landlords notice.
If your center's directory has empty slots or faded panels from departed tenants, that is worth raising with the landlord, because unmaintained signage on the property is a problem the code assigns to the property rather than to the vacancy.
Illumination Questions
When the face comes off, whatever is behind it becomes visible, and on an older sign it is often the real story.
Three common findings
- The lighting works fine. Best case. New face goes on, the sign lights evenly, done.
- The lighting is partially failed. Dark patches or uneven brightness, which will show through a fresh face and undo the point of the project.
- The lighting has been dead for years, and the business had assumed the sign was never lit.
Where illumination work is needed, the scope, the electrical requirements, and any inspection obligations get confirmed as part of the project review. Re-lamping an existing permitted sign falls within the same maintenance exemption as a face change, but electrical work carries its own requirements through Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.
One more code point worth knowing: a static illuminated face is not an electronic message center. Digital displays that change messages are a separate sign type with limits on area, brightness, hold time, and quantity, covered in LED and electronic message center rules.
Process and Timeline
One to two weeks is typical for non illuminated work once artwork is approved, which makes this one of the fastest exterior sign projects available.
- Site visit. We measure the opening, assess the retainer and structure, and look behind the face where possible.
- Estimate, including whether the project is a new face or new graphics on the existing one.
- Design and proofing. Once the estimate is approved and the deposit is received, our team will begin the design and proofing process.
- Production, then installation, usually in a single visit.
What to have ready
Photos of the sign from the front and from an angle, the property address, your logo files in vector format, the landlord's tenant criteria if it is a shared sign, and anything you know about the sign's permit history.
If the ground sign is part of a larger first signage package, the sequencing matters. Our guide to storefront signage cost for a new business covers the whole order of operations from lease signing to opening day.
The Short Version
- A face replacement swaps the visible panel in an existing structure, so the expensive parts of a ground sign are already paid for.
- Face changes, repainting, and re-lamping of previously permitted signage are exempt from permitting, provided nothing is raised, lowered, removed, or structurally changed.
- That exemption removes permit review, which is normally the longest step, so a reface can go from approved estimate to installed in one to two weeks.
- An abandoned sign becomes a nuisance after 30 days, and a new occupant taking over a structure is expected to replace the face and keep it in good condition.
- A noncompliant sign on the property blocks new sign permits, so the tired ground sign can hold up the storefront sign you actually want.
- Measure the opening rather than the visible panel, since part of the face is hidden by the retainer, and remember most ground signs are double sided.
- APG produces replacement faces for existing monument signs when the existing structure is suitable, and does not construct new sign structures.
Where this information comes from
- City of Colorado Springs Unified Development Code, Chapter 7, Article 4, Part 13 (Signs), as adopted by Sign Ordinance No. 26-01, February 2026. Exemptions for face changes and maintenance of previously permitted signage, permit approval conditions, and provisions covering nonconforming and abandoned signs.
- Pikes Peak Regional Building Department requirements for electrical work on illuminated signage.
- Published substrate data for acrylic, polycarbonate, and aluminum composite sign faces, including outdoor durability and thermal movement.
- APG estimate, fabrication, and installation records, Colorado Springs office. Ranges reflect typical 2026 pricing and are not project specific estimates.
Code summaries here are general information rather than legal advice. The city is the final authority on any specific property.
