How to Plan Your Building’s Statutory Signs From a Floor Plan (And Avoid Costly Defects)

One of the most common questions builders and project managers ask us is: “When should I order my statutory signs, and how do I know I have everything?”

The answer to both questions is the same: start with the floor plan.

A well-read floor plan tells you exactly which signs you need, how many, and where they go — before a single sign is manufactured. Get this right at design stage and you will avoid the two things that derail end-of-project sign programmes: last-minute rushes and certifier defects.

This guide walks you through the process of reading a commercial building floor plan for signage purposes, room by room and system by system.

Why the Floor Plan Is Your Single Best Tool

A statutory sign schedule — the document listing every sign, its location, quantity, NCC reference, and specification — should ideally be prepared during documentation stage, at the same time as other building fitout specifications.

In practice, signs are often left until the end of a project. This creates problems:

• Lead time pressure. Standard stock signs can ship within 24–48 hours, but if any custom or braille signs are needed, lead times are typically 5–7 business days. Order too late and the occupation certificate process stalls.
• Missing signs. Without a systematic review of the floor plan, it is very easy to overlook a stairwell hose reel, a second face of a fire door, or a braille sign on a toilet that was added late to the programme.
• Wrong signs. The difference between a left-hand and right-hand accessible toilet approach determines which braille sign you need. This cannot be determined from the plans alone — it requires checking the as-built layout — but the plans tell you how many accessible toilets there are.

Step 1: Identify the Building Class

The NCC sign requirements vary depending on the building class. Before reading the floor plan, confirm:

• Class 2 (residential apartments): Limited statutory sign requirements — mainly fire doors, exit signs, fire equipment. Braille signs typically not required unless accessible common areas are provided.
• Class 5/6 (offices, retail): Full NCC F2.4 accessibility requirements apply. All toilet facilities require braille signs. Lifts require braille signs at every landing.
• Class 7/8 (warehouse, industrial): Fire safety signage required. Accessibility signs required in areas open to the public or meeting AS 1428.1 requirements.
• Class 9 (health, assembly, aged care): Comprehensive accessibility and fire safety sign requirements. Wayfinding signs often required beyond NCC minimums.

Step 2: Mark Every Fire-Rated Door

On the floor plan, fire-rated doors are typically shown with a rating in a circle or diamond — FD90, FD60, etc. — or are identified in a door schedule.

For every fire-rated door:

• Both faces require fire door signs. Mark the door twice — once for each face.

• Determine the door type. Does it self-close and latch (Fire Safety Door)? Is it a smoke door only (Fire Smoke Door)? Does it have a hold-open device on a magnetic release (Fire Safety Door — Do Not Hold Open)?

• Count exit doors separately. Exit doors from stairwells at the ground level may require different signage to mid-floor corridor doors.

Pro tip: In a typical 5-storey commercial building, fire doors account for the single largest number of statutory signs. A building with 4 fire doors per floor × 5 floors × 2 faces = 40 fire door signs before you have counted anything else.

Step 3: Locate All Fire-Fighting Equipment

On a floor plan, fire-fighting equipment appears as:

• Fire extinguisher — typically shown as a small red symbol or labelled ‘FE’
• Fire hose reel — shown as a circle or arc, typically in fire stairs and corridors
• Fire hydrant — shown as a ‘H’ symbol, typically external or in plant areas
• Manual call point — shown as a red break-glass symbol, usually near exit doors
• Sprinkler heads — shown as individual crosses or dots on reflected ceiling plans (not the floor plan)

For each item:

• Mark one location indicator sign per extinguisher point
• Mark one fire hose reel sign per hose reel installation
• Mark one manual call point sign per MCP location
• Sprinkler valve room: one sign on the entry door

Common miss: In car park levels, fire extinguishers are often located at structural columns or near egress doors and are easily missed on a plan that focuses on parking bay layouts. Check the car park floor plan separately.

Step 4: Identify All Sanitary Facilities

Locate every toilet room, change room, shower room, and accessible toilet on each floor plan.

For each facility:

• Is it a standard (non-accessible) toilet?

→ If the building class requires accessibility provisions (Classes 5, 6, 9), sign with male/female/unisex braille sign.

• Is it an accessible toilet?

→ Determine left-hand approach (UATL) vs right-hand approach (UATR) by identifying where the transfer space (the open floor area beside the WC pan) is located. → UATL = transfer space on the right side of the WC when seated (door hinges on the right, latch on the left) → UATR = transfer space on the left side of the WC when seated

• Is there an ambulant cubicle?

→ Ambulant cubicles have their own sign (ambulant symbol, not International Symbol of Access)

• Is there a shower or change room?

→ Accessible showers and change rooms require braille signs under AS 1428.1

Tip for reading the plan: The transfer space is the hatched or dimensioned clear floor area shown beside the WC on the accessible toilet layout. It is usually 900mm minimum clear width and is adjacent to the side-transfer grab rail.

Step 5: Mark All Lifts

For every lift shown on the floor plan:

• Count the number of floors served by each lift. A sign is required at every landing (fixed wall, latch side of the landing doors, at 1400–1500mm AFF centreline).

• Lift lobby signs also typically include a floor level indicator — the floor number in raised characters and braille.

• In the lift car (check the specification), all floor buttons and emergency controls require braille tactile identification.

A 10-storey building with 3 lifts requires a minimum of 30 lift landing signs before lift car interior signs are counted.

Step 6: Services and Plant Rooms

On mechanical and services drawings (separate from architectural floor plans), locate:

• Main switch room — Required electrical sign on entry door
• Sub-distribution boards — Electrical sign on each board room door
• Mechanical plant room — Required sign under NCC E1.3
• Sprinkler valve room — Required sign under AS 2118.1
• Fire pump room — Required sign under NCC E1.9
• Garbage room — Building sign (not NCC mandatory but typically required by council)
• Roof access hatches — Access sign where roof access is provided for maintenance

Step 7: Stairwells

Each stairwell enclosure requires its own sign review:

• Fire door sign on both faces of the stairwell entry/exit door at each level
• Exit sign visible on the stair approach on each floor
• Stairwell number sign on the door if there are multiple stairwells (common in larger buildings)
• Do Not Use Lifts in Case of Fire adjacent to every lift call button on every floor (not in the stairwell — on the floor approaching the lift)

Step 8: Car Park

Car parks are often treated as a separate sign project but must be included in the statutory sign review:

• Accessible parking signs — Left-arrow and right-arrow versions depending on the bay orientation
• Fire extinguisher signs — At each extinguisher location in the car park
• Sprinkler valve signs — If the car park has a separate sprinkler zone
• Entry/exit/height restriction signs — Not statutory but commonly required
• Speed limit signs — Typically 10km/h for enclosed car parks

Building Your Sign Schedule

Once you have worked through the floor plan by system, you will have a preliminary sign schedule. Structure it as a table:

This table becomes your order document. It is also the document your certifier may request at final inspection.

Let Us Do This for You

Preparing a statutory sign schedule from a floor plan typically takes 2–4 hours for an experienced signage consultant. For Statutory Signs customers, this service is free.

Upload your floor plans using our Floor Plan Quote Tool and we will:

• Review all floor plan sheets
• Prepare a complete itemised sign schedule with NCC references
• Supply a Bill of Quantities (BOQ) with pricing
• Highlight any ambiguities that require site confirmation (e.g., accessible toilet approach directions)
• Deliver the review within 48 business hours

For projects that need to move quickly, we can also accommodate urgent reviews and same-day or next-day dispatch for standard stock items.

Statutory Signs has supplied statutory and safety signage for commercial buildings across Australia since 2016. All signs are manufactured to Australian Standards and supplied with relevant compliance documentation. Call (02) 9663 5333 or upload your floor plans to get started.