In North Carolina, does a company that builds commercial billboards for lease to advertisers need a Building Code permit before putting one up?
Plain-English summary
Pasquotank County Attorney H. T. Mullen, Jr. asked the Attorney General whether commercial billboards (permanent outdoor advertising displays built for lease to businesses) had to comply with the State Building Code permit requirements before construction.
Attorney General Rufus L. Edmisten and Senior Deputy Attorney General William W. Melvin concluded that they did. Chapter XXIII of Volume 1 of the North Carolina State Building Code defined "outdoor advertising displays" broadly to cover essentially any letter, character, marquee, sign, or pictorial display erected out of doors for public attraction. Section 2301.3 of the Code provided that no such display could be "erected, constructed, altered or maintained" until a permit was issued by the Building Official under Section 105.
The opinion also noted that the Code permit was just one of two permits the operator might need. Outdoor displays placed along an Interstate or federal-aid highway also required a permit from the North Carolina Department of Transportation under 19A NCAC 02E.0203 et seq., a separate administrative regime tied to the federal Highway Beautification Act.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1983. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
The North Carolina State Building Code has been substantially restructured since 1983, including separation of the Building Code from the freestanding Outdoor Advertising chapter, and incorporation of national model codes. Anyone planning to construct a billboard in North Carolina today should pull the currently effective version of the State Building Code, check current local ordinances (many counties and municipalities now have separate sign ordinances that can be more restrictive than the state code), and verify the current DOT outdoor-advertising permit requirements at the Outdoor Advertising Control Section.
Common questions
Q: Did the permit requirement turn on whether the billboard was for the sign company's own use or for lease to advertisers?
A: No. The Code definition of "outdoor advertising display" captured any sign erected outdoors for public attraction, regardless of who owned it or who advertised on it. The question Pasquotank County asked was specifically about signs built for lease, and the AG confirmed those signs were within the Code.
Q: Did the Code distinguish permanent billboards from temporary ones?
A: The text quoted in the opinion did not distinguish on the basis of duration. "Section 2301.1" defined the regulated category as the display itself. The specific term "permanent outdoor advertising displays" appeared in the AG's framing of the question, not in the quoted Code text.
Q: Who issued the permit?
A: The "Building Official" of the relevant jurisdiction. In Pasquotank County and similar counties, that was the county building inspector or equivalent local enforcement officer. The fee was set under the same Section 105 cross-reference in the Code.
Q: What additional permit was needed for highway billboards?
A: A separate permit from the Department of Transportation under what was then 19A NCAC 02E.0203 et seq. This implemented federal Highway Beautification Act requirements for signs visible from Interstate and federal-aid highways, which include spacing, size, lighting, and zoning conditions.
Background and statutory framework
The State Building Code is a comprehensive regulatory document adopted by the NC Building Code Council. Volume 1 covered general construction. Chapter XXIII addressed outdoor advertising and signs. The structure was permit-first: the Code itself prohibited the activity (constructing, altering, or maintaining an outdoor display) until the local Building Official issued a permit and the fee was paid.
The Code definition of "outdoor advertising display" quoted in the opinion was deliberately broad. It captured "any letter, figure, character, mark, plane, point, marquee sign, design, poster, pictorial, picture, stroke, stripe, line, trademark, reading matter or illuminated service" displayed outdoors for the attraction of the public. This sweep was designed to keep operators from avoiding the permit through clever sign design.
The federal Highway Beautification Act of 1965 required states receiving federal highway funds to control outdoor advertising visible from Interstate and primary federal-aid highways. North Carolina implemented that requirement through DOT administrative rules, and the AG's opinion flagged that those rules created a separate permit regime layered on top of the State Building Code.
Citations
- North Carolina State Building Code, Volume 1, Chapter XXIII, § 2301.1 (definition of "outdoor advertising displays")
- North Carolina State Building Code, Volume 1, Chapter XXIII, § 2301.3(a) (permit required before construction)
- 19A NCAC 02E.0203 et seq. (DOT permits for signs on interstates and federal-aid highways)
Source
- Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/building-code-building-permitsbill-boards-commercial-signs/
Original opinion text
Requested By:
Mr. H. T. Mullen, Jr.
County Attorney, Pasquotank County
Question:
Are commercial signs [permanent outdoor advertising displays] that are built for lease, or rental to various businesses or concerns subject to the State Building Code permit requirements?
Conclusion:
Yes, commercial signs [permanent outdoor advertising displays] fall under the State Building Code and permits are required prior to construction.
Relevant Section of Chapter XXIII, Volume 1, North Carolina State Building Code reads as follows:
- "Sec. 2301.1 – OUTDOOR ADVERTISING DISPLAYS
- Outdoor advertising displays, means any letter, figure, character, mark, plane, point, marquee sign, design, poster, pictorial, picture, stroke, stripe, line, trademark, reading matter or illuminated service, which shall be so constructed, placed, attached, painted, erected, fastened or manufactured in any manner whatsoever, so that the same shall be used for the attraction of the public to any place, subject, person, firm, corporation, public performance, article, machine or merchandise, whatsoever, which are displayed in any manner whatsoever out of doors. Every outdoor display shall be classified and conform to the requirements of that classification as set forth in this chapter."
- "Sec. 2301.3 – PERMITS REQUIRED
(a) No 'Outdoor Advertising Display Sign' shall hereafter be erected, constructed, altered or maintained except as provided in this Code, until after permit for the same has been issued by the Building Official as required in Section 105 and the fee paid."
In addition to any permits required under the State Building Code a permit must be obtained from the Department of Transportation before placement of outdoor advertising on Interstate or Federal aid highways. See North Carolina Administrative Code T19A:02E.0203 et seq.
RUFUS L. EDMISTEN ATTORNEY GENERAL
William W. Melvin
Senior Deputy Attorney General