Advertising signs, billboards or banners announcing a festival or an event may not be erected on public land without a permit issued by the National Roads Administration (Administration des ponts et chaussées) and the Ministry of Culture (Ministère de la Culture).

Who is concerned

Any association or organiser of an event wishing to erect signs on the public highway for advertising purposes.

Prerequisites

Types of signs

Signs that are subject to this requirement include:

• advertisements for balls and country festivals;
• advertisements for restaurants, businesses and other private establishments;
• advertisements promoting real estate development projects and property sales;
• illuminated or non-illuminated signs on private property.

Signs for balls and country festivals

The number of signs is limited to 6. These signs:

• may be erected no earlier than 15 days before the event; and
• must be removed within no more than 3 days after the event.

Road-building permits are granted by the officer of the competent Regional Department of the National Roads Administration in the region where the event is taking place, even when some signs are to be erected within the jurisdiction of other Regional Departments. If that is the case, a copy of the direct road-building permit must be sent to the relevant Regional Departments for information purposes.

There are 2 types of signs:

• rigid boards mounted on supports anchored to the ground;
• banners suspended above the road.

The messages conveyed must be clear, precise and understandable at a glance. Particular care must be paid to the form and type of lettering, which must be chosen so as to be legible at ordinary vehicle speed.

When the signs belong to the organisers, the organisers may be held liable if their signs cause injury to a third party. As such, it is essential to strictly comply with the requirements set by the authorities, and to erect the sign in a safe and secure manner. Of course, signs may be erected on private property, provided the owner of the property gives their consent. It is recommended that the party wishing to erect the sign enter into a written agreement with the property owner, establishing the terms and conditions governing the use of the property (e.g. duration, compensation, if any, liability, etc.).

Signs for real estate development projects and property sales

These are temporary signs advertising the construction of a building or housing estate.

They may show:

• the names of the developers, architects, engineering consultancies and businesses that are involved;
• a graphic representation of the buildings to be constructed or the housing estates to be developed;
• the contact details of the sales agencies.

These signs must be erected on the land on which the real estate projects will be carried out. They may not be placed on public, state or communal land.

How to proceed

Submitting the application

Applicants must send their application for a road-building permit to:

• the Ministry of Culture – National Sites and Monuments Service (Ministère de la Culture – Service des Sites et Monuments); and
• the competent Regional Department of the National Roads Administration for the commune in which the signs are to be erected.

The application can be submitted:

• either by post, using the appropriate form (available under 'Online services / Forms');
• or through MyGuichet.lu, through:
  • a private eSpace, if the applicant is a natural person; or
  • a business eSpace, if the applicant is a legal person.

The person submitting the form needs to have:

• a LuxTrust product; or
• an electronic identity (eID) card.

How to create a business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu

Two scenarios are possible:

The person filing the application is a new user on MyGuichet.lu and therefore does not yet have an eSpace:

Creating the eSpace is a 2-step process that involves:

1. registering the user;
2. creating a business eSpace.

A tutorial in video or PDF format is available to guide you.

The person submitting the application is already a MyGuichet.lu user and already has a private eSpace: they will need to create a new business eSpace.

A tutorial in video or PDF format is available to guide you.

Consult the help section on MyGuichet.lu.

The applicant will need to provide:

• their surname, first name, address, telephone number and email address; or
• in the case of a legal entity: the company name and the address of its registered office;
• the type of sign the applicant wishes to erect, and its location.

Once the application has been sent, applicants will receive an email notification and a message in the 'My messages' section of their MyGuichet.lu private or business eSpace.

As soon as the application is received, an acknowledgement of receipt indicating the number allocated to the application file and the name of the person in charge of the application file is sent to the applicant:

• by email, if the application was submitted online;
• by post, if the application was submitted by post.

Validity

Road-building permits for the erection of signs promoting real estate development projects and property sales are valid for 2 years. They may be renewed if necessary.

After the permits expire, the beneficiaries must remove the signs and their supporting structures.

Main recommendations

For signs erected on the side of the road, event organisers should consider the following recommendations:

• use pictograms and signs with distinctive shapes, but avoid pictograms and shapes that are used for official road signs;
• use as few words as possible, limiting the message to naming the event and giving its date and venue;
• depending on the speed limit in the section of road alongside which the sign is erected, use the following minimum letter heights:
  • 50 km/hour: 90 mm;
  • 70 km/hour: 130 mm;
  • 90 km/hour: 180 mm;
• do not use handwritten lettering; prefer instead lowercase letters, except when initial uppercase letters are necessary.

Main prohibitions

Advertising signs must not be erected/attached in the following locations:

• on the highway, as well as in the 25-metre no-build zone along both sides of the highway;
• less than 50 metres from crossroads, and pedestrian and cycle crossings;
• on the central island of a roundabout;
• on bordering trees or road equipment (traffic sign poles and frames, civil engineering works and lighting columns).

It is strictly prohibited to use these types of advertising signs to illegally advertise establishments such as bars, restaurants, night clubs etc., where dances, parties, or other events are held at short intervals, for the main purpose of keeping the name of the establishment almost continuously in the public eye.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact