Questions about SignAllow

Yes. Choose the number of display faces on the one sign, then open Compare a proposed sign under Dimensions (optional). Confirm equal sizes or enter each face separately, up to four faces. Dimensions can remain unknown. The result distinguishes the largest face from the combined physical area and compares recorded per-face and combined limits where supported. Unverified counting methods, more than four faces and property-specific conditions need confirmation. Faces do not count as separate signs, and billable area for permit fees is not assumed.

Choose whether other signs will remain, or leave Not sure yet. Unknown quantities do not count as zero. Where a recorded rule defines a shared area allowance, enter the existing area counted by that rule to calculate what remains; individual sign limits still apply. Elsewhere, no shared-area deduction is assumed. You can update the inventory in Dimensions (optional). Reports label it as user-provided, and older saved projects need confirmation when reopened.

A confirmed purchase shows a payment status without running a check or using your allowance. Continue your check lets you review your inputs; Your account shows your plan and balance. If you leave checkout, your choices are restored in the same browser tab where storage is available. If payment confirmation is unavailable, use Try confirmation again. If you already paid, do not buy again: use Already paid? Get back in with your checkout email.

Yes. Leave the proposed dimensions blank to explore the published rules. The proposal comparison stays Not supplied and needs confirmation, rather than passing a zero-area sign. Building or frontage measurements may still be needed to calculate your allowance. Add the design later and update the result. Enter the face count and each face, or confirm equal sizes, to compare supported combined-face limits.

It establishes an area limit under the selected rule and supplied measurements. It does not approve the sign or confirm every district, amendment, site-specific exception or other approval. Missing inputs and conflicting sources remain unresolved. A face-change permit and professional design or construction review require confirmation of the exact work. Toronto permit totals are withheld while official fee figures conflict. Georgina’s published building-permit charges do not establish its complete sign-permit total; additional sign-bylaw and sign-variance fees remain unconfirmed.

The homepage and tool show your remaining allowance before the form. With one or no checks left, a prominent notice links to pricing; Starter shows its renewal date when available. Account holders can also open Manage billing. Your unfinished draft stays in this browser while you view plans. Eligible same-property refinements keep their existing allowance.

Yes. Unfinished inputs save automatically in the same browser for 7 days after your last edit. Return to restore your place, or use Start fresh to clear them. Saving and restoring use no checks. Manual choices remain; available map checks refresh. A successful check clears the draft, while a failed submission retains it. One unfinished draft is kept: editing a different check replaces it. Drafts do not sync across devices, and private browsing or storage restrictions may prevent recovery. The tool shows when saving is unavailable.

Use Give feedback at the bottom of any page. Describe the issue and optionally leave an email for a reply. Basic diagnostics are optional; no project or report is attached automatically. For a by-law figure that seems wrong, use Report a correction.

Members can add an internal job number when saving a check, or choose Name & job number in My saved projects. Search finds it alongside project names and addresses. Changing these details uses no check and preserves saved report versions. The job number stays out of customer reports and shared check links.

A check with an address includes 90 days of refinements at that address and municipality. Keep the original browser data and cookies, or save the completed check to your account to continue on another device. Expired, unverifiable and older unrecorded allowances prompt before another check is used. Checks without an address cover the current visit only. Report downloads use no checks. A different address or municipality is a new check. Free, Starter and Pro include the same research and report tools; memberships add private account-saved projects as well as their check allowance and team access.

No. It's preliminary research from the published by-law. The municipality makes the final call, so confirm with it before fabrication, installation or permitting.

The sign-district status says Identified automatically only when a supported map sets the category. Selected by you labels your own choice; suggestions and unresolved results still need confirmation. Automatic site reviews lists each factor separately: an identified heritage or regulated area may require further review, while Outside mapped area applies only to that layer’s verified coverage. Map unavailable and Manual check needed are not cleared results. MTO, individual heritage-register and rail reviews remain manual where no qualified service is connected. Your manual checklist choices are retained separately.

Start in Overview: read the size rule, findings needing attention and recommended next step. Automatic site reviews shows mapped matches and what remains unconfirmed. Add measurements later under Dimensions (optional), work through Site reviews, or use Reports & save. Sources & rules keeps the supporting evidence available. Unconfirmed details remain visible in reports; none of these sections is a permit approval.

No. It means information or applicability is unresolved. In Site reviews, each next-step card explains the action and why it matters. Needs attention identifies an issue or approval requirement to resolve; it is not an approval probability. Open Why this matters for the evidence, or Who to ask & what to send for an official contact route and a question you can copy. Nothing is sent automatically. Only record a manual answer after checking it; undo lets you change it. Missing map coverage still needs a manual review.

City pages show recorded research dates, and reports identify the stored rules version. A recent access date, working link or matching quote does not establish amendment completeness. Confirm later amendments and site-specific provisions with the municipality. Changes are logged on the What changed page.

Report it on the corrections page. Corrections are reviewed, fixed and recorded on the What changed page.

Open Sign by-law guides in the footer for the Ontario storefront checklist, Toronto and Mississauga application guides, and MTO highway guidance. Each guide links its official sources and records a review date. They explain planning steps; the User guide explains how to use SignAllow. Reading a guide uses no checks and does not establish approval for a property.

Use Check coverage before you choose on Pricing to select a municipality and see size-calculation coverage for each sign type, categories needing manual review, map connections and recorded source dates. The preview uses no checks and coverage is the same on Free, Starter and Pro. Face replacements provide permit guidance rather than a new size calculation. Map availability does not mean every address is covered. Each city page has the fuller sources; if no sign-size calculations are on file, the preview says so.

Signs on the building (fascia, wall, channel letters), freestanding pylons and monuments, projecting blade signs, face replacements in an existing frame, and small directional signs.

The checker researches municipal sign by-laws and related permit information, with preliminary address flags from available government maps. It does not assess Building Code, electrical or structural compliance. A sign near a provincial highway may also need MTO approval; confirm the requirement for the proposal with MTO.

Yes. In Reports & save, choose Share report, then Customer assessment (the default neutral customer report) or Full research report. Share PDF opens the device sharing menu where PDF attachments are supported; choose your email app. No recipient, subject or message is supplied and nothing is sent automatically. Your app may add its own signature or filename. Otherwise download the PDF and attach it manually. Dated versions can share their original saved PDF without recalculating it. Sharing uses no checks. You can use results and reports in your own work, including sharing them with a client, a landlord or the municipality. The homepage and pricing page offer a full research report and customer summary as downloadable PDF samples, with no account needed. Both samples are neutral and clearly marked as illustrative; they are not assessments of a real property.

Yes. In Account → My saved projects, choose Notes & next steps. Save project context and one next action, and mark it Done when completed. The owner and selected teammates can read and edit the current text; the last editor and save time are shown. Conflicting saves keep your text available rather than overwrite someone else’s changes. Notes are separate from customer reports, dated report versions and shared check links, use no checks, and do not change the by-law result. There is no notes history. Clear the text and save to remove it; project duplicates start with blank notes.

Open Account → Your account → My saved projects. Recently saved projects come first. Search by name, address or municipality, and choose All projects, Private or Shared. Private means your unshared projects; Shared includes projects you share and work shared with you. Search includes later pages, while local browser history remains separate. Refresh projects picks up a teammate’s latest saves. The last-saved date is not a new review date for the rules.

Yes. The project creator chooses Sharing in Account → My saved projects and selects existing Pro teammates. They can open and edit inputs, save new dated versions, download reports and make their own private copies. Projects stay private until explicitly shared. Only the creator changes access or deletes the project and its versions. If two people save at once, the older save is refused so it cannot overwrite newer work; reopen the project or save a private copy. Removing a teammate revokes their shared access and stops sharing projects they created, but cannot recall downloaded files or private copies.

Yes. Save a completed check to your account, then open Account → My saved projects → Dated versions. Each save preserves the result summary and both original neutral PDFs. Viewing or downloading a version uses no checks; it does not recalculate against current rules. Keep up to 20 versions per project and delete individual versions yourself. Earlier input-only projects gain their first report version when you run and save a check.

Yes. Open Account → Your account → Appearance and choose System, Light or Dark. System follows each device’s appearance. Signed-in changes save to your own account across devices, separately from teammates; visitors keep browser-only preferences. The header switch saves an explicit Light or Dark choice in the same way. If account saving fails, your browser choice still applies and Account offers a retry. Theme changes use no checks and do not alter reports.

Open Account → Your account → Your team. The account holder can add and remove work email addresses in a dedicated Account section, with up to four teammates on Pro. Adding someone does not send an invitation; ask them to use Account → Already paid? Get back in and request their own one-time code. Removing someone ends team access and revokes their project sharing. Teammates cannot manage the team or billing.

Open Who to ask & what to send beside a checklist finding or unresolved address flag. Follow the official enquiry link, copy the issue-specific question, review the details and send it yourself with the suggested supporting information. Some municipal contacts refer you to another office; conservation jurisdiction must be confirmed. Example building dimensions are excluded. If copying is unavailable, select and copy the visible question. Nothing is sent automatically, no check is used and the finding stays open until you record a confirmed answer and re-check. These on-screen drafts stay out of customer reports.

Yes. In Account, choose Download all my project details for one HTML file you can open offline. It includes all projects you created, regardless of filters, with current inputs, internal notes, next steps and a dated report index. It excludes projects owned by others, local browser history, billing, PDFs and detailed report contents. Download PDFs separately from Dated versions. The file is for your internal records and cannot be imported back. Downloading uses no check and changes nothing; signed-in former subscribers can still download their retained projects.

Expand the short question beside a field or result for plain-language help with sign district, frontage, sign area, overall height, setback, clearance or variance. These are general explanations; the selected municipality’s definitions and measurement rules control. Use the source link to check local wording, or confirm with the municipality when no by-law is on file. Opening help uses no check, changes no answer and stays out of downloaded reports.

After a check, choose Sources & rules, then open The by-law’s own words in the full working and use Search stored excerpts. It searches quotes, rule labels and citations on file for the selected municipality across all sign districts. All search words must match, regardless of case or accents. Check each result’s district and source before applying it. This is not a search of the complete by-law: no match does not mean there is no rule. Clear search restores the original excerpts. Search uses no additional checks, sends no search text and does not filter downloaded reports.

Copy link for your team includes basic location, sign type, district, building type, lighting and building measurements. It excludes proposed sign dimensions, site-review answers, reports and your refinement allowance. Anyone with the link can read its details; running it uses their own allowance. Save to my account retains the full proposal and dated reports, and Pro owners can share that project with selected teammates. Download the neutral Customer summary PDF for a customer handoff.

You changed inputs after the last calculation. Choose Update this result before downloading reports, saving a dated version or copying a team link, so the handoff cannot combine an old calculation with new measurements. The normal same-property refinement allowance applies; the existing confirmation appears if a new check is required.

The tool asks you to correct the location before continuing and uses no check for that warning. Choose a covered address, or select the correct municipality manually if the suggested match is wrong. A manual municipality selection clears the address-map match; choose a suggestion again to run available map checks.

Suggestions come from an address provider; municipal maps are checked separately after you pick an address. Recent searches are reused briefly while the page is open, and a picked homepage address carries into the checker without another address search. If the service is slow or unavailable, keep your address and choose its municipality to continue. Edit the address to retry. Automatic map checks require a picked suggestion with coordinates.

No. Address maps do not establish the proposed sign’s footprint against a surveyed property line. Projecting or canopy-mounted signs receive a manual reminder, not a detected overhang. Compare the sign position with a survey or reliable site plan and record your answer beside the finding in Site reviews. Leave it unresolved if the position is undecided. Changing the address, municipality, sign type or mounting clears the previous answer. Reopened projects keep their recorded answer for review; any required permission must be confirmed with the road owner.

Only where a supported municipal map reliably resolves the category. Toronto’s separate sign districts currently need a manual SignView check. The district selector sits beside your result, with the lookup status and official map link. Heritage screening is separate and does not select a sign district.

The selected address point overlaps the named government map layer. It flags a possible additional review, not permission to install a sign. Outside mapped area is used only within verified coverage. Not confirmed or Map unavailable means a manual check is still needed. Open Site reviews to see what maps identified, then work through one follow-up at a time. Not sure yet and Leave open & continue keep the issue unresolved. Use Review all items or revisit an answer to go back. Map sources and review guidance contains the dated evidence and contact guidance. Reaching the summary does not clear outstanding reviews.

Yes. Proposed sign dimensions are optional. Once the district is confirmed, the tool can show the recorded percentage, fixed cap or area rule. Add wall or frontage measurements where the allowance depends on the building. From Overview, choose Save or share a preliminary report. During Site reviews, Keep these open & go to reports takes you to the same report options without clearing unanswered items. You can download a preliminary report with missing information identified, then return with a design to compare it. The normal same-property refinement allowance applies.

Not yet. Scout, SignAllow’s upcoming AI permit advisor, is coming soon exclusively for Pro members. A launch date has not been announced. Subscribing to Pro today does not provide Scout access yet. Scout can make mistakes; important requirements must be confirmed against the cited sources. AI guidance is not municipal approval.

Yes, with Pro. Free and Starter support individual sign checks. Pro lets you add up to eight proposed signs to a whole-property package, edit each sign’s details and check them together. Dimensions are optional. Each sign uses the existing municipal rules; supported shared wall-area and count comparisons include the other proposals when you identify the same legal allowance. Unknown groups and unsupported combinations remain unresolved. One neutral report contains every sign. Save the account project to retain the complete package. The same 90-day address allowance applies; individual results do not establish permission for all signs together.

Choose Window signs & graphics. Initial calculations cover static, non-illuminated business or institutional signs at one eligible ground-floor frontage window in Oakville’s commercial, employment, mixed-use and institutional categories. The published 20% allowance subtracts other graphics remaining on that window. Unknown inventory stays unresolved. Other municipalities, special uses, privacy film, designed displays, open/closed signs, illumination and digital screens need separate review. Oakville lists window signs under annual permits; confirm the current permit, renewal and fee. Later amendments remain unverified.

Choose Temporary promotional, Construction & development, Real estate or Event signage. These choices currently prepare a preliminary review and retain the proposal in drafts, account projects and reports. They collect purpose, format, location, intended dates and quantity. No category-specific size limit, fee, permit exemption or permitted duration is calculated yet. The result gives the questions to resolve and available official source links; permanent-sign rules do not carry over.

Yes. An active Starter account holder can choose Add 5 checks — $29 CAD in Account or the low-allowance notice. It is a one-time purchase plus applicable tax, with no automatic top-ups. Monthly and unused free checks are used first. Purchased checks have no expiry and remain usable after cancellation, but do not extend membership, add seats or unlock membership-only features. Pro keeps purchased credits unused. Review the terms in the same-page dialog, then continue to Stripe; returning confirms your balance without running a check.

Your first check at an address and municipality uses one check and includes 90 days of repeat checks there. Add dimensions, update site answers or switch supported sign types without using another check, even after checking a different property or reaching zero checks remaining. Keep the original browser data and cookies, or reopen the saved account project on another device. Use the same address spelling. A new property or an expired allowance needs another check; a saved expired allowance asks before proceeding.

From Account → Manage billing in the tool, which opens Stripe's billing portal. Cancelling stops the next renewal and your access runs to the end of the period you've paid for. You never have to email anyone.

Yes: unused top-ups within 14 days; your first subscription payment within 7 days if no paid checks have been used; and accidental renewals within 72 hours if the new period is unused. Refunded subscriptions are cancelled. Partially used top-ups are normally non-refundable, with exceptions for billing errors and service failures. Refunds include applicable tax with no processing deduction. Email support@signallow.ca; we aim to respond within two business days. See Pricing and the Terms of Use for full details.

Open Account → Already paid? Get back in and enter your checkout email or the address your account holder added to the team. We send a one-time code; no password is needed. This restores plan access and your private account-saved projects. Local history stays in its original browser unless you explicitly save a project to your account.

Local history stays in your browser. Members can explicitly save project names, addresses, measurements, selected answers, dated results and both report PDFs to their account for access across devices; nothing is uploaded automatically. Projects start private. Pro project creators can explicitly share a project and all its saved reports with selected teammates who can edit it. When you use address suggestions, the text you type passes through SignAllow to Geoapify. Picking a suggestion also sends coordinates for available map checks. Lookup responses may be cached for up to an hour. The Privacy Notice explains these lookups.

Businesses: sign companies, general contractors, project and property managers, permit professionals and business owners acting for their business. It isn't offered to consumers.

SRD Media Group Inc., in Burlington, Ontario. Questions go to support@signallow.ca.