A finished signage design is only half the project. In the UAE, most storefront and building signage needs approval from more than one party before it can go up, and skipping that step is the most common reason installations get delayed.
Municipality or authority approval
Each emirate's municipality, Dubai Municipality, Sharjah Municipality, or Abu Dhabi's relevant authority, has its own rules on signage size, brightness, setback from the building edge, and in many cases bilingual Arabic-English text requirements.
Landlord or mall approval
Separately from the municipality, a mall, tower or free zone typically has its own signage guidelines covering size limits, permitted zones on the facade, and sometimes an approved list of materials or fabricators.
Free zone-specific rules
Businesses in a free zone, such as those in Dubai or Sharjah's various free zones, often follow the zone authority's own signage criteria rather than the municipality's directly, which can differ in scope and process.
Practical approach
Submitting design artwork and specification sheets for approval before fabrication starts, rather than after, avoids the cost of rebuilding a sign that gets rejected on size or brightness grounds once it's already made.
