What to put in your request
A supplier can only price what they can see. Answer these and the quotes come back for the same job, which is the only way they can be compared.
- What you need: printed matter, a sign, vehicle branding, display material such as banners and pull-up stands, or branded promotional items.
- For print: the size, the number of pages, the paper weight and finish, the colours, the binding and the quantity, with a price for the next quantity up.
- Artwork: whether you supply print-ready files or need design work, and in what format. Say who owns the design and the files afterwards.
- For a sign: where it goes, its size and material, whether it is lit, and photographs of the wall or site with measurements.
- For vehicle branding: the make, model and year of each vehicle, a full wrap or decals, and how long it must last.
- For promotional items: the item, how it is branded (print, embroidery, engraving), the number of colours, and the quantity.
- Whether you want a proof or a sample to approve before the full run.
- The date you need it, and delivery or installation.
What to compare when the quotes come back
The lowest total is where comparing starts, not where it ends.
- The specification line by line: paper weight and finish, print method, materials and lamination, so a lower price is not thinner stock or a shorter-lived vinyl.
- Design and set-up charges, and the price at your quantity and at the next one up.
- For signs: the structure and fixings, the lighting and its expected life, installation and access equipment, and who applies for the municipality's approval.
- For outdoor material: how long the print and vinyl are expected to last in sun and weather, and the warranty.
- The proofing: how many rounds of changes are included, and who pays for a mistake on an approved proof.
- The lead time from proof approval, delivery charges, and whether a print run may come in slightly over or under the quantity ordered, and how that is billed.
On SupScope every quote arrives with the same three figures: the total, the lead time and the deposit. The first comparison is done before you open anything. The rest of this list is what to read in each supplier's notes and documents.
Paperwork worth asking for
- The municipality's approval for an outdoor sign
- Outdoor signs are controlled by municipal by-laws. Cape Town's, for example, forbids displaying a sign without the City's approval unless it is one of the kinds the by-law exempts, such as small contractors' boards and some window signs, and treats a large sign structure as a temporary building that needs building approval and a structural engineer. The same by-law presumes that the business named on an unlawful sign displayed it, so approval matters to you as much as to the signmaker. Rules vary by municipality, so agree in the quote who applies.
- SANRAL's approval near a national road
- Under the SANRAL Act, advertising on a national road, or visible from one (in towns, on land next to it or across a street from it), is not allowed unless it is authorised under the Act's regulations. One exception is a sign on the building where a business operates that gives no more than its name, what it does and its owner's name. If your sign will be seen from a national road, ask whether it needs SANRAL's approval.
- A certificate of compliance for wiring to a lit sign
- New wiring from the distribution board to an illuminated sign is electrical installation work, which needs a certificate of compliance from a registered person under the Electrical Installation Regulations. Ask whether the signmaker's electrician issues it.
- An operator agreement, for printing with personal information
- A printer that prints your customers' or staff's details, such as addressed mail, statements, name badges or access cards, processes that personal information for you. POPIA (section 21) requires a written contract committing it to proper security measures, and it must tell you immediately if it believes the information has been accessed by someone unauthorised.
And from any supplier
- A SARS Tax Compliance Status PIN
- It replaced the old tax clearance certificate. Checking it on eFiling shows the supplier's status on the day you check, not the day it was issued.
- A B-BBEE certificate or sworn affidavit
- Only if your own scorecard counts it. Small suppliers (turnover up to R10 million) may use an affidavit instead of a verified certificate.
- Company registration and a bank confirmation letter
- Worth having before the first payment, so the account you pay is the company you chose.
General guidance, not legal advice. Regulations change, and some depend on your municipality or the job, so confirm anything you rely on with the authority concerned.
How this works on SupScope
- Step 1
Post it once
Describe the job and choose Printing, Signage & Branding and your province.
- Step 2
It reaches the right suppliers
Only suppliers who work in this trade and cover your province see it.
- Step 3
Compare and award
Quotes arrive side by side. Accept one and the others are told.