Site safety boards, statutory warning signs, hoarding graphics and contractor boards — printed, laminated and finished in our own workshop in Newcastle, and delivered to sites right across Northern Ireland.
Whether you need a single site entrance board for a housing development or several hundred barrier and hazard signs for an infrastructure contract, we print to order. No minimum quantity, and no waiting on a supplier across the water.
What we print for construction sites
Site safety boards
The board at your gate does two jobs: it keeps you right with HSENI, and it is the first thing a client, a neighbour or an inspector sees. We build yours around your own logo and colours rather than a stock template, with the PPE symbols, prohibition notices and site office instruction laid out so they can be read from the far side of the hoarding.
- Standard 800 × 1200mm, or sized to suit your hoarding
- Your logo, warranty and accreditation marks (NHBC, Global, CHAS, Constructionline)
- Matching contractor information board with phone, email and website
Statutory safety and warning signs
Prohibition, warning, mandatory and safe-condition signs printed to the BS EN ISO 7010 symbol set, so the pictogram on your site matches the one a visiting operative saw on the last job. We hold the full symbol library, so a non-standard wording costs no more than a catalogue sign.
- No entry, no unauthorised access, no smoking, deep excavation
- Caution: trip hazard, overhead loads, floor openings, vehicle movements
- Mandatory PPE: helmets, footwear, hi-vis, eye and ear protection
Barrier, exclusion zone and infrastructure signage
Rail possessions, utility works and civils contracts need the same message repeated dozens of times and fixed in a hurry. We print exclusion zone and barrier signage in bulk with your engineering client’s branding on every panel, in sizes from small fixings up to 600 × 400mm panels for Heras fencing.
- Do not cross barrier, authorised personnel only, exclusion zone
- Cable-tie holes, drilled corners or hook fixings punched in-house
- Reflective grades available for night-shift and roadside works
Hoarding graphics and site entrance signs
Hoarding (sometimes called site boarding) is free advertising for the length of the build. We print full-colour hoarding panels, development boards and directional signs — site entrance, deliveries, visitor parking, welfare — so the whole site reads as one job rather than a collection of odds and ends.
Vehicle and plant marking
Most of our construction customers come back for van and pickup livery, chevron kits and machine decals. It is the same print, laminate and apply process, and it means the fleet and the site match. See our vehicle signage page.
Materials and sizes
Choosing the right substrate is usually a question of how long the sign has to live outdoors and whether it is getting hit.
| Material | Best for |
|---|---|
| 3mm rigid PVC (Foamex) | Prohibition, warning and PPE signs. Light, rigid, easy to drill or cable-tie. Our default. |
| 5mm rigid PVC | Larger safety boards and anything spanning a hoarding frame. |
| 4mm Correx | Short-term, high-quantity or sacrificial signage on fencing. Lowest cost per panel. |
| 3mm Dibond (aluminium composite) | Multi-year development boards and entrance signage. Will not warp or fade. |
| PVC mesh banner | Heras fencing and scaffold wraps — wind passes through it. |
| Class RA1 reflective | Roadworks, night shifts and anywhere the sign is lit by headlights. |
Every panel is printed with UV-stable inks and laminated before cutting, which is what stops site signage going pink after a winter on the Down coast.
Signage that keeps you right in Northern Ireland
The rules that apply here
Northern Ireland has its own health and safety legislation, enforced by HSENI rather than the GB HSE. Safety signage on your site falls under the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996, which set the required colours and shapes, and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, which put the duty on the principal contractor to keep the site secure and signed.
In practice that means prohibition signs must be a red circle and bar, warnings a yellow triangle, mandatory instructions a blue disc, and all of them legible at the distance people actually stand. We print to the BS EN ISO 7010 pictograms, so your signs match every other compliant site in the country.
This is a general summary, not legal advice — your principal designer or safety adviser will confirm exactly what your site needs.
Where we deliver
We are based in Newcastle, County Down, ten minutes off the A24 and inside an hour of most of the province. Site sets go out by courier, and we deliver larger orders ourselves across Down, Armagh and Belfast.
- Newcastle
- Downpatrick
- Newry
- Banbridge
- Ballynahinch
- Belfast
- Lisburn
- Craigavon
- Armagh
- Bangor
- Ballymena
- Antrim
- Coleraine
- Dungannon
- Omagh
- Enniskillen
- Derry / Londonderry
We also supply contractors working cross-border in Louth, Monaghan and Dublin.
How an order runs
- Send us the list. A schedule from your safety adviser, a photo of an old board, or just a phone call about what the site needs.
- We quote and proof. You get a price per panel and a PDF visual of anything branded, usually the same working day.
- Print and finish. Printed, laminated, cut and drilled in our own workshop, so a change on the morning of the print is not a problem.
- Delivered or collected. Typically three to five working days from sign-off. Urgent single boards can often go out next day.
Common questions
Can you match our existing site boards?
Yes. Send a photo or an old panel and we will match the layout, colours and logo so new signage sits alongside what you already have.
What size should a site safety board be?
800 × 1200mm is the usual size for a main gate board and is readable from across the entrance. Smaller 600 × 900mm boards suit compounds and secondary access points.
Is there a minimum order?
No. We will print one sign or five hundred, though the price per panel drops sharply once a few sizes are ganged onto the same sheet.
Do you supply the fixings?
We drill mounting holes to your spec as standard and can supply cable ties, timber-frame fixings or Heras clips with the order.
How long will the signs last outdoors?
Laminated rigid PVC will hold up for three to five years in Northern Irish weather. Dibond will go longer. Correx is a one-project material.
Can you design the board if we have no artwork?
Yes. Give us your logo, contact details and any accreditation marks and we will lay the board out and send a proof before anything is printed.
Get a price for your site
Tell us what the site needs and we will come back with a quote, usually the same day.
info@southdownsigns.co.uk · Newcastle, Co. Down