Shopping centre signage rules in the Canary Islands: what malls ask

When you open or run a unit in a Canary Islands shopping centre, putting up a sign is not as free as it is on the street. Management hands you a signage manual with sizes, materials and lighting hours, and your sign has to pass approval before it goes up. Here is what they will ask for, which formats exist, and how we solve it with 3D printing in Tenerife.

What shopping centre signage includes

Signage is more than your shop sign. In a mall several layers live side by side, each with its job:

• Main directory: the panel with the floor and unit map at every entrance.
• Directional signage: hanging arrows and boards that guide people to shops, toilets, parking or exits.
• Unit numbering: the number or letter of each retail unit.
• Shopfront sign: your letters or logo on the front of the shop.
• Pictograms and service signs: toilets, lifts, emergency exits, baby care.

Every piece has to be legible, consistent with the centre’s image, and compliant with the internal rules.

What the shopping centre requires

Each centre (Meridiano, Siam Mall, Gran Sur…) has its own manual, but the demands repeat across the Canary Islands:

Common rule	Why
Maximum size and projection	The sign cannot intrude on the walkway or block shared signage
No on-site welding	Welding inside the centre is banned because of fire risk
Lighting hours	Lights follow the centre’s trading hours, no earlier, no later
Compliant materials	Fire-rated wiring, sealed power supply, accessible electrical panel
Consistent image	Fonts, colours or heights within what the manual sets
Reinstatement on exit	When you move out, leave the wall as it was: the fewer fixings, the better

Formats and materials for the interior

Good news: inside the mall there is no sun or salt, so you do not need the expensive outdoor materials. We keep ASA and IP65 electronics for shop windows that face the street or the seafront.

Format	Material and use
LED built-up letters	PLA or PETG with a diffuser; face-lit or halo effect
Backlit logo	Lightweight, few fixings, from €150
Directory or directional panel	Rigid PETG, colour printing, raised pictograms
Numbering and pictograms	PLA, small and inexpensive pieces

If you are torn between formats, our guide to types of LED signs breaks down each option with examples.

How signage gets approved

The process is nearly always the same:

1. Management gives you the signage manual when you sign for the unit.
2. You prepare a proposal with sizes, materials, fixing system and lighting.
3. Management approves it —or asks for changes— before anything is made.
4. It is installed within permitted hours, with a clean, weld-free fitting.

Making the piece in the workshop and delivering it ready to screw on means it passes approval first time and the install takes a morning. 3D-printed letters are hollow and light: fewer fixings, less damage to the wall and fewer problems when you hand the unit back.

Ask us for your signage to the centre’s rules

Send us your logo, the measurements of your shopfront and —if you have it— the management’s signage rules. We build it to pass approval first time, with a fixed quote in 24 h. Write to us via the contact page or WhatsApp; all the service details are on LED illuminated signs.