Traffic Signs Manual

Traffic Signs Manual (Chapters 1 to 8).

The Traffic Signs Manual is the Department for Transport's guidance on how to use, size, site and design the traffic signs and road markings prescribed by TSRGD. It covers the whole UK and is the working reference for anyone designing signs for roads, car parks and site entrances.

Free from GOV.UK

For signage and wayfinding

What it asks of your signs

01Chapter 7 is the sign face design rulebook: the Transport alphabet, x-heights, tile spacing, borders and layout. Use it whenever you set out a directional sign for drivers.
02Chapter 1 covers the legal background, sign siting, mounting, lighting and the Professional Certificate in Traffic Sign Design. It states that signs on the highway must be prescribed or authorised, and that unauthorised signs are obstructions.
03Chapter 3 covers regulatory signs, including speed limits, waiting and loading, and bus and cycle lanes. It is the chapter to read before you put a speed limit or no entry sign on a campus or estate road.
04Chapter 5 covers road markings, which often form part of a car park or site entrance package alongside the signs.
05The Manual applies to the UK, but Northern Ireland designers read it alongside the Traffic Signs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997, where diagram numbers can differ.
06Build from the DfT working drawings; never redraw a prescribed sign by eye.

What the Manual is

The Manual gives guidance to traffic authorities, designers and contractors on using the signs and markings that TSRGD 2016 prescribes. It cannot override the Regulations: Chapter 1 is clear that mandatory requirements sit in TSRGD and, in Northern Ireland, in the Traffic Signs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997. It is published in chapters, each revised on its own timetable. Chapter 2 (informatory signs) is still in draft; DfT says interim advice on directional signs remains in Local Transport Note 1/94.

The chapters are free to read and download from GOV.UK. Each PDF carries a Crown copyright notice that allows free reproduction for non-commercial research, private study or internal circulation within an organisation, so we link to the official copies and do not republish them.

All chapters and official downloads

Chapter 1: Introduction (2018). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c419a1240f0b61704aec4d7/traffic-signs-manual-chapter-1.pdf
Chapter 2: Informatory signs (in draft). Interim list of primary route destinations in England: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/668e782d0808eaf43b50ccf9/traffic-signs-manual-chapter-02-primary-route.pdf
Chapter 3: Regulatory signs (2019). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c78f895e5274a0ebfec719b/traffic-signs-manual-chapter-03.pdf
Chapter 4: Warning signs (2018). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c41d683ed915d38b0437c2d/traffic-signs-manual-chapter-4.pdf
Chapter 5: Road markings (2018 on GOV.UK; the PDF imprint is dated 2019). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c4ace6ded915d38a0611abc/traffic-signs-manual-chapter-05.pdf
Chapter 6: Traffic control (2019). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5df0e29fed915d15f42c4820/dft-traffic-signs-manual-chapter-6.pdf
Chapter 7: The design of traffic signs (2018 on GOV.UK; the PDF imprint is dated 2019). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c78f8c7e5274a0ebfec719c/traffic-signs-manual-chapter-07.pdf
Chapter 8 Part 1: Road works and temporary situations, design (2009). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a74adeaed915d7ab83b5ab2/traffic-signs-manual-chapter-08-part-01.pdf
Chapter 8 Part 2: Road works and temporary situations, operations (2009). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7cc632e5274a38e5756aa3/traffic-signs-manual-chapter-08-part-02.pdf
Chapter 8 Part 3: Road works and temporary situations (2020). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e7a3a1a86650c37182f78d3/Traffic_Signs_Manual_-_chapter_8.3.pdf

Working drawings and the image library

DfT publishes working drawings for every TSRGD 2016 schedule on GOV.UK, titled by Schedule, Part and Item. These are the drawings you build artwork from. The Welsh Government publishes bilingual working drawings for Wales. DfT also publishes more than 600 traffic sign images taken from Know Your Traffic Signs, but says they are intended mainly for media use and that traffic sign professionals should use the working drawings and the Manual instead.

Typeface and bilingual rules

Chapter 7 describes the Transport alphabet in two weights: Transport Medium for white or light characters on dark backgrounds, and Transport Heavy for black or dark characters on light backgrounds, with a separate Motorway alphabet for route numbers on motorway signs. Section 16 covers bilingual signs in Wales, where Welsh is placed above (or occasionally to the left of) the English on new and replacement signs. Chapter 7 also covers Gaelic on signs in Scotland. Ireland has its own Traffic Signs Manual, with Irish placed above English.

Editions and history

First published on GOV.UK in 2006; earlier printed chapters date back to 1977 (Chapter 1 first edition). Chapters 4 and 7 were updated in 2013. In March 2019 Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 were revised to reflect TSRGD 2016. Chapter 6 was published in December 2019, and Chapter 8 Part 3 was revised in March 2020. Chapter 7 superseded Local Transport Note 2/94, withdrawn in 1997.

Sources checked

A summary in our own words, checked on 16 October 2026. It is not the document itself and not legal advice.

Equivalents and related

The same ground, elsewhere.

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