Billboard Manufacturing and Steel Fabrication

Billboard manufacturing at Billboards Africa covers everything between an approved site and a finished face: structural steel, foundations, access, frames, lighting and power. Because we fabricate and erect our own structures, the person who drew the structure is also the person who plans how it will be delivered, lifted and bolted up on your site.

Our work suits media owners adding sites, landowners who want a structure on their property, and brands or developers building their own billboard. Below is how the manufacturing side is organised, with a page for each part of the process.

Typical specifications

• Structure formssingle column unipole, monopole, lattice, gantry, double-sided, V-shape, trihedron and rooftop frames
• Typical face formatsfor example 6 m x 3 m, 12 m x 3 m and 18 m x 6 m, with other sizes by design
• Materialstructural steel sections, plate and tube, sized to the face and wind exposure of the site
• Corrosion protectionhot-dip galvanising or painted system, confirmed on your quotation
• Accessfixed ladders, service walkways and catwalks as the structure and use require
• Deliveryfabricated in transportable sections for lifting and bolting on site
• Engineeringdesign and sign-off arranged as the structure and site require

What we manufacture

The core of the range is the structure itself: unipoles and monopoles, double-sided and V-shape billboards, trihedron units, vertical portrait structures, rooftop and wall-mounted frames, and super billboards. Each is fabricated in structural steel and sized to the face it will carry, whether that is a standard 6 m x 3 m suburban face or a large 18 m x 6 m highway format.

Alongside the main structure we make the parts that make it usable and serviceable: access ladders, service walkways and catwalks, face frames, lighting brackets and equipment housings. See the full list under billboard structures.

We also fabricate to client drawings. If you are a media owner with a standard structure drawn up by your own engineer, or a landowner with a design from another supplier, send it across with the site details and we will quote the fabrication and erection against it. Where drawings are not available, we prepare them as part of the job, so that the workshop and the site crew build from one set of documents.

From drawing to erected structure

Every job starts with the site and the face: the size, the viewing direction, the ground and the available access for a crane or truck. From there the structure is designed, detailed, cut, welded, treated and delivered in sections that can be lifted and joined on site.

Fabrication is described on the steel fabrication page, the on-site programme under billboard construction, and the engineering side under billboard structural design. Foundations and civil works are covered under billboard foundations.

The workshop and the site are planned together. Section lengths are set by the transport route and the reach of the crane, bolted joints are detailed so that they can be reached on a ladder or from a basket, and access items are made to bolt on without cutting. This avoids the common problem of a structure that is correct on paper but has to be modified in the field. It also keeps the programme honest: the foundation, the steel and the crane booking are scheduled around each other.

Structure forms

The form you choose depends on face size, how much ground is available and how the board will be seen. A single column unipole takes up little ground and suits roadsides and urban plots. Lattice structures use a braced steel frame and suit very large faces or places where a deeper base is practical. Gantry structures span a carriageway or an opening and carry the face overhead.

Lattice work has its own page: lattice billboard structures. For the sign types themselves, browse billboard types.

Face size and viewing distance matter as much as the form. A tall, narrow portrait face on a vertical structure behaves differently in wind to a wide landscape face on a double-sided unipole, and a V-shape or trihedron unit adds moving parts or angled faces that need their own frames. Rooftop and wall-mounted structures sit on buildings, so the building's strength and the owner's consent come before any steel is cut.

Corrosion protection and finish

Steel left unprotected does not last outdoors, and a billboard is rarely accessible once it is up. We specify hot-dip galvanising where the structure and logistics allow it, and painted systems where the steel is too large for a bath, where a colour is required, or where a galvanised surface is being touched up after welding. The protection system is confirmed on your quotation.

Coastal sites, industrial areas with airborne pollutants and sites with standing moisture all call for more careful protection than a dry inland plot, and we raise this at the survey stage.

Fasteners are part of the system. Bolts, nuts and washers on a billboard structure are exposed to the same weather as the steel, so they are protected to match, and they are checked at handover and at each inspection. Touch-up of damaged coating after erection is not optional: a scratch through the zinc or paint is where corrosion starts, and we treat every cut, weld and scrape on site.

Faces, lighting and power

A structure is only half the product. We build the frames that hold PVC, mesh and backlit skins, and we fit front lighting, backlighting or LED modules as the design requires. Where mains power is far away or unreliable, solar powered billboards are an option. Frame design is covered under billboard faces and frames, and lighting under billboard lighting.

Not every site has mains power close by, and not every face needs the same light. Front lights on arms suit a standard PVC face, a sealed lit box suits a backlit skin, and LED modules suit a conversion to digital. Cabling, isolators and earthing are completed with the structure so that the electrical work is not left as an afterthought once the steel is already standing.

Moving, upgrading and removing

Structures change hands, sites are lost and static boards are converted. We handle billboard relocations, controlled dismantling and removal and billboard upgrades, including converting a static face to a digital one where the structure and the approval allow it.

Outdoor advertising needs approval from the relevant authority, which may include the local municipality, a roads authority such as SANRAL or a provincial roads department near its roads, and the landowner. We assist with applications and supporting documents, but approval rests with the authority. See our billboard approvals guide.

Inspection and repair also sit on this side of the business. A structure that has stood for several seasons may need bolts re-tightened, coatings repaired, ladders replaced or a walkway renewed, and we can advise from a site inspection. See billboard repairs and maintenance and billboard inspections.