Durham, NC Sign Regulations: Window Signs (2026)

UDO Sec. 11.4.2.Q, Window Signs, is part of the list of sign types allowed in every district without a sign permit. The definition is broad: a window sign includes anything 'attached to, painted on, or etched into a window,' plus anything merely displayed within 12 inches of the glass, measured horizontally, so long as it's legible from outside, meaning a poster or sale sign propped just inside the glass counts the same as a decal stuck directly to it.

The size standard is stated as a percentage, not a flat square-footage number: 'Such signs in combination with other window signs shall not exceed 10% of the window area on each façade.' That 10% ceiling is measured per building façade, not per window or per lot, so a store with several storefront windows on one wall must keep the combined window signage on that wall under a tenth of the total glass area on that side of the building. A second, independent cap applies on top of that: all window signs, added to every other sign on the lot, still cannot push the property's total signage past the maximum permitted sign area allowed for that lot. Because window signs are unpermitted by default only within these limits, a business that wants to cover more than 10% of its window area has to seek approval as a different, permitted sign category instead.