Hoarding-Advice-Note - the City of London Corporation

Prominence & context.
Corporate logos and other commercial
information can be successfully incorporated
into hoarding designs. An attractive eyecatching
hoarding in the right location
is likely to be more effective than a dull
uninspired design. The size of lettering
should be carefully considered. Excessively
large lettering is often ineffective in the
narrow confines of some City streets.
Displays should usually be restricted to
pedestrian level. The incorporation of images
on hoardings would be acceptable at first floor
level where these are designed to hide high
level gantries above a recess at ground level,
or where it hides construction site equipment
such as site offices, containers, the base of
cranes etc. The visual impact of such images
is significant and commercial advertising
at this level will be resisted. Large scale
displays on high level scaffolding and netting
can also be visually intrusive, though a noncommercial
representation or visualisation
of the building itself could be acceptable.
Contacts and Contractor’s boards.
The importance of information such as
agents, owners and contractor’s names,
floorspace figures etc, is acknowledged but
designers of hoardings are encouraged to
incorporate these into an overall design
rather than making them the sole focus.
Maintenance and practicality.
Hoardings are likely to be subject to a high
degree of wear and tear and designs should
be sufficiently robust to last the length of
the construction period. Designs should take
account of site entrances and the need to
highlight the corners of sites for people with
visual impairments and provide sufficient space
for heath and safety and other required notices.
Policies and regulations
This guidance builds on advertisement policies ENV 30
and ENV 31 of the City of London Unitary Development
Plan 2002. Designers are advised to consider Planning
Policy Guidance 19 (Outdoor Advertisement Control,
1992) which focuses mainly on amenity and public safety
issues, and the Town and Country Planning (Control of
Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007.
Contact details
Department of Planning & Transportation
PO Box 270 Guildhall, LONDON EC2P 2EJ
Tel: (020) 7332 1710
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/plans
plans@cityoflondon.gov.uk/plans
Is an application required?
The Development Division of the Department of Planning
and Transportation should be consulted before making
any major decisions that will affect the size, appearance
or location of proposed hoarding signs. Informal advice is
freely available and may save you time, inconvenience and
unnecessary expense.
Department of Planning & Transportation