Most new businesses budget for a sign. Fewer budget for signage, which is a different and larger thing.
The number people arrive with is usually the exterior sign, because that is the one they can see in their head. Then the project reveals a door that needs hours and an address, glass that needs the business name, restrooms that need ADA plaques, a suite that nobody can find, and a banner because the permanent sign is still in permit review on opening day.
None of that is upselling. It is the actual list, and knowing it in month one is much cheaper than finding it in month four. Here is the whole thing, in the order you will need it.
What a First Package Includes
| Element | Typical cost | Permit? |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior wall sign, non illuminated | $2,500 - $10,000 | Yes |
| Exterior wall sign, illuminated | $8,000 - $15,000 | Yes |
| Window and door graphics | Quoted individually | No, at 25% or less |
| Interior lobby or reception sign | Quoted individually | No |
| ADA and wayfinding signage | Quoted individually | No |
| Opening banner | Quoted individually | Yes |
| Vehicle lettering | $350 - $900 | No |
The items marked as quoted individually vary far too much by storefront to publish a useful range. A single door with hours and an address is a small job. Forty feet of glass with frosted privacy bands and a full window graphic is not. We would rather price yours than publish a number that misleads you.
Across the storefront projects our team quotes, the exterior sign is usually 60 to 80 percent of the total first package. So if your building sign lands at $8,000, budgeting somewhere around $10,000 to $13,000 for everything is a reasonable planning figure until real numbers exist.
The Exterior Sign, Your Anchor
Two paths, and the choice is usually made by your hours rather than your taste.
Non illuminated, $2,500 to $10,000
Dimensional or flat cut letters, or a panel sign, mounted to the building face. The right answer when you close before dark, when the storefront already has good facade lighting, or when landlord criteria or the code limit illumination on your elevation. The range is wide because a small set of letters on a strip center facade and a large fabricated aluminum sign on a masonry wall are not comparable jobs.
Illuminated, $8,000 to $15,000
Internally lit channel letters, the standard for retail, restaurants, and anyone open past sunset. The premium buys evening visibility, which for some businesses is most of their traffic. Full breakdown of what drives that number is in channel letter sign costs.
Both figures are installed project costs covering design, permitting, fabrication, mounting, and installation. That is why they sit above the fabrication-only numbers you will find on national sites. Material choice moves these totals less than size, illumination, and mounting method do, which our guide to sign materials gets into.
What Your Wall Allows
Before design, before budget, before anything: find out how much sign the code lets you put up. Under Sign Ordinance No. 26-01, adopted February 2026, wall sign area comes from the length of the building elevation your sign sits on.
- Commercial and industrial: 1.5 square feet of sign per linear foot of elevation, or 2 square feet per linear foot when the building is set back more than 200 feet from the public right of way.
- Office and civic: 1 square foot per linear foot.
- Short elevations: a minimum of 25 square feet where the building face is under 16.5 feet.
A 40 foot storefront gives you 60 square feet on that elevation. Most tenants have more room than they assume, and the binding constraint turns out to be the landlord rather than the city.
Multi-tenant buildings add one useful option: with the owner's written consent, a tenant can borrow allocation from the rest of the building up to 1.5 times their own entitlement. Worth knowing if your space is small and your neighbors are not using theirs.
Before You Sign the Lease
Signage belongs in lease negotiation, and almost nobody puts it there. Four things to check while you still have leverage.
- Is there a noncompliant sign on the property? This is the expensive one. Under the current code, a sign permit will not be approved for a new sign on a property where an existing noncompliant sign is standing. If the previous tenant or another tenant left something out of code, that becomes your problem the day you apply.
- What do the tenant criteria say? Many Colorado Springs centers specify sign type, letter style, mounting method, color, and maximum size. Build to the criteria rather than redesigning after a rejection.
- What is your sign allocation on the building? In a multi-tenant property, get your entitlement in writing, and get the borrowing provision in writing if you need it.
- Who owns the sign at the end? Removal, restoration of the wall, and what happens to a raceway all belong in the lease rather than in a surprise at move-out.
Look at the other tenant signs. If two of them are faded, damaged, or missing faces, ask the landlord about them before you sign, because the code treats unmaintained and abandoned signage as a problem for the property, and your permit is the one sitting behind it.
The full permit process, including exemptions and how applications get reviewed, is in Colorado Springs sign permits after Ordinance 26-01.
Window and Door Graphics
The best value in the entire package, and the part that gets decided last when it should be decided early.
What goes on glass
- Entry door. Hours, suite or address numbers, phone, and often the logo. This is the single most read surface on most storefronts.
- Front windows. Business name, service lines, or imagery. On a space with weak wall signage, window graphics carry the identification load.
- Frosted or etched bands. Privacy for offices, salons, and medical spaces, and they satisfy the visual-marker function on large glass panels.
The rule that governs it
Window signs need no permit at 25 percent coverage or less of the window area, and lighting is permitted. The catch that surprises people: window signs are prohibited above ground level under the current code, so second floor offices do not get them. Measure the glass rather than the frame, and count everything applied to it.
Also worth knowing: signage displayed inside the building at least two feet back from the exterior windows is exempt from the sign code entirely. That is a useful workaround for interior displays that would otherwise count against your window coverage.
Interior, ADA, and Wayfinding
The category new businesses forget until an inspector or a lost customer reminds them.
- Lobby or reception sign. The first thing a client sees indoors. Acrylic on standoffs or dimensional letters, chosen on look since there is no weather to survive.
- ADA signage. Interior signs identifying permanent rooms and spaces carry requirements for raised characters, braille, contrast, and mounting height. We confirm the applicable requirements as part of the project review rather than assuming a standard set applies to your space.
- Wayfinding. Suite numbers, directional signs, and department identification. Modular systems let panels be swapped later without replacing frames.
- Operational signage. Restrooms, employees only, occupancy, deliveries. Small, cheap, and consistently forgotten.
Interior work has no permit path and short lead times, which makes it the easiest part of the package to add after opening if the budget is tight. It is also the part where materials cost least, since indoors there is no UV load and no freeze-thaw cycling to survive.
Signage During Buildout
Your permanent sign will very likely not be up on opening day. Plan for the gap rather than improvising it.
| Option | Permit | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary banner | Yes | 48 sq ft single story, 96 sq ft multi story, 120 display days per year |
| Portable A-frame | No | 4 ft by 2 ft, one per entrance, business hours only, within 15 ft of the entrance |
| Window graphics | No | 25% of glass, ground level only |
| Temporary sign cover | Exempt | Up to 60 days while the permanent sign is fabricated |
The banner day limit is cumulative across all banners on the property for the calendar year, and the days get scheduled when the permit is issued, so do not burn them casually.
Feather, wave, blade, and sword banners are prohibited outright under the current Colorado Springs code. They are sold everywhere and used everywhere, and they are still not allowed. Also prohibited: signs attached to light poles, fences, or trees, and parking a vehicle or trailer so that it functions as a freestanding sign.
The Cheapest Multiplier You Own
If you drive anything for the business, vehicle lettering at $350 to $900 is the highest return line in this whole guide.
It needs no sign permit, installs in days rather than weeks, and it advertises in the neighborhoods you actually serve rather than only to people already standing in front of your building. For a new business waiting out a permit, it is also the only branded thing you can have on the road next week.
Vinyl lettering and decals provide a more permanent and professional appearance than magnetic signs, and they make a work vehicle branded and identifiable from the first day. If your vehicle is required to display a company name, USDOT number, or other commercial markings, we can include those items in the layout based on the information you provide.
Coverage options and what each level costs are in vehicle lettering and decal pricing.
The Timeline That Sets Your Opening
This is the section to read twice, because signage timing is the constraint most new businesses run into too late.
| Element | Lead time | Start it |
|---|---|---|
| Illuminated exterior sign | 4 to 8 weeks | At lease signing |
| Non illuminated exterior sign | 1 to 2 weeks plus permit | At lease signing |
| Window and door graphics | Days | Two weeks out |
| Interior and ADA | Days to a week | Two weeks out |
| Vehicle lettering | Days | Anytime |
Permit review is the longest step and it does not compress for anyone. In our experience, two to six weeks from submittal is typical for a storefront sign, longer in a historic district or where a coordinated sign plan applies. One more code detail that catches new tenants: sign plans are not approved until the building permit for the principal use has been issued, so a sign application cannot outrun your tenant improvement work.
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.
Sequencing Checklist
In order, from lease to opening:
- During lease negotiation: confirm your sign allocation, read the tenant criteria, and ask about any noncompliant signage on the property.
- Week one after signing: send us the address, storefront photos, elevation dimensions, and the tenant criteria document. We calculate the code allowance and quote against what is actually permitted.
- Approve the estimate so design and permitting can start. Once the estimate is approved and the deposit is received, our team will begin the design and proofing process.
- While the permit is in review: handle window graphics, interior and ADA signage, and vehicle lettering, none of which wait on the permit.
- Two weeks out: if the permanent sign will not make opening day, permit a temporary banner and schedule its days deliberately.
- Installation and inspection, then the walkthrough.
What to have ready when you call: property address, photos of the storefront including the full building face, your tenant space dimensions, the landlord's tenant criteria, business type and hours, and your logo files in vector format if you have them. With those six things we can give you real numbers quickly instead of a range.
Browse the full service overview at custom signs in Colorado Springs, or if your space sits in a historic district, start with sign rules in Old Colorado City and historic districts.
The Short Version
- The exterior sign anchors the budget at $2,500 to $10,000 non illuminated or $8,000 to $15,000 illuminated, installed.
- In our experience that exterior sign is 60 to 80 percent of a complete first package, with window graphics, interior and ADA signage, and temporary signage making up the rest.
- Find your code allowance before designing: 1.5 square feet of wall sign per linear foot of elevation for commercial uses, or 2 square feet when set back over 200 feet from the right of way.
- A noncompliant sign already on the property blocks new sign permits, so ask about it during lease negotiation rather than after.
- Window signs need no permit at 25 percent coverage or less, but are prohibited above ground level. Signage two feet back from the glass is exempt entirely.
- Plan for the gap on opening day with a permitted banner, an A-frame, or window graphics, and avoid feather flags, which are prohibited citywide.
- Permit review is the longest step, and sign plans are not approved until the building permit for the principal use is issued.
Where these numbers come from
- APG estimate, fabrication, and installation records, Colorado Springs office. Ranges reflect typical 2026 pricing and are not project specific estimates. The 60 to 80 percent package proportion reflects our own quoted projects rather than an industry survey.
- City of Colorado Springs Unified Development Code, Chapter 7, Article 4, Part 13 (Signs), as adopted by Sign Ordinance No. 26-01, February 2026. Sections covering exemptions, permits, wall sign allowances, window signs, temporary signage, and prohibited signs.
- Pikes Peak Regional Building Department requirements for building and electrical permits on illuminated signage.
- ADA Standards for Accessible Design, for interior signs identifying permanent rooms and spaces. Applicable requirements are confirmed per project.
Code summaries here are general information rather than legal advice. The city is the final authority on any specific property.
