Whether a sign needs formal sign-off before it goes up depends on the building, the location and the sign itself — and it's worth answering before production starts, not after the sign is sitting finished in a workshop with nowhere to go.
Start with the landlord or building management
Most towers and commercial buildings require approval from the landlord or facilities management team for anything visible from outside a unit — and in some buildings, that extends to internal signage too. This is usually the first box to tick, and often the quickest.
Malls run their own design rulebook
Shopping malls typically publish their own signage guidelines covering size, position, materials and illumination, entirely separate from any wider planning approval. These need reviewing before a single line of artwork is drawn, because a design that breaks mall guidelines gets sent back regardless of how good it looks.
Some signs need authority approval too
Larger exterior signs, illuminated signage and installations in certain zones can require sign-off from the relevant Dubai authority before they go up. Requirements shift from project to project and area to area, so it's worth confirming what currently applies rather than assuming last time's process still holds.
Design bilingually from day one
Arabic-English bilingual layout is a standard requirement for commercial signage approval in most cases, so it makes more sense to design with both languages built in from the start than to retrofit Arabic onto a finished English layout later.
Not sure what applies to your site?
Tell us the location and the type of sign you're planning and we'll talk you through what approvals are likely to apply, then build realistic timelines for each into the project schedule.