How to Build a Signage Scope of Work from Construction Plans
How we read the specification, plans and door schedule to count every sign and build a clear sign schedule that an estimator can price fast.
Tool for this: SignAcctPro — Sign shop software: estimating with supplier prices, true-scale mockups and drawings, proofs, jobs and invoices.
Before a sign company can price an interior signage package, someone has to go through the construction documents and count every sign. On a school, clinic or office building that can mean dozens of plan sheets, a specification section and a few addenda. Here is how we turn that stack into a clear signage scope of work that an estimator can price in an hour.
What we ask for
- The architectural floor plans (and the sign location plan, if the architect made one).
- The specification section for signage, usually Division 10, section 10 14 00.
- The door schedule and any room finish schedule, which give room numbers and names.
- Addenda and the bid form, so nothing added late is missed.
Step 1: read the specification first
The spec tells us what the architect expects before we look at a single sheet: sign types, materials (for example photopolymer or acrylic with raster Braille), mounting method, colors and sometimes a sign type schedule with sample layouts. We list every sign type in the spec, even the ones that turn out to have no locations on the plans, because those questions are better asked before the bid than after the award.
Step 2: walk the plans room by room
We go through each floor plan in order and note every location that needs a sign:
- Room identification at each permanent room, usually tactile with Braille.
- Restrooms, showers and lactation rooms, including the accessibility symbol where required.
- Stairs and exit doors, which need tactile signs at the door, plus stair level signs where the code or spec calls for them.
- Directional and directory signs, overhead signs and wayfinding.
- Code and life-safety signs shown in the drawings, such as occupancy load and area of refuge signs.
- Exterior items if they are in the signage section: building letters, monument signs, parking signs.
Room numbers come from the plan tags and the door schedule; when the two disagree, we note it.
Step 3: build the sign schedule
Everything goes into one spreadsheet that the estimator can sort and total:
| Column | Example |
|---|---|
| Sign type | A1 - Room ID, tactile |
| Room number and name | 214 - Exam Room |
| Copy | 214 / EXAM ROOM |
| Sheet | A-102 |
| Quantity | 1 |
| Size and mounting | 8 x 8 in, latch side, 48-60 in to baseline |
| Notes | Insert window for name |
At the end you get totals per sign type, which is what your supplier pricing is built on.
Step 4: questions and exclusions
Every real set of drawings has gaps: a sign type with no detail, a room with no number, an exit stair with no level sign shown. We list these as questions (RFIs) and assumptions, so you can send them to the general contractor before the bid closes, or state them clearly as exclusions.
What you receive
- The sign schedule in Excel, with totals per sign type.
- A marked-up PDF of the plans with every sign location numbered.
- A short list of questions, assumptions and exclusions.
We do not prepare the full bid documents, bonds or submittals; pricing stays with your team. Our job is to make sure the count is complete and easy to check.
Need a scope of work for a project on your desk this week? It is priced per project on our design desk for sign companies, and you can send the plans through the form on that page.