A Condo Board's Guide to Digital Signage in Common Areas

Most condominium buildings still communicate the way they did thirty years ago: a corkboard in the mailroom, a sheet of paper taped inside the elevator, and an email that half the residents never open. Digital signage replaces that with screens in the places residents actually pass every day, managed from a browser by the property manager.

This guide covers what a board needs to understand before putting a proposal on the agenda.

What the screens are for

A well-run building screen does four jobs at once:

• Notices. Water shut-offs, fire alarm testing, garage cleaning, elevator maintenance, move-in bookings. Each notice can be given a start and end time, so it appears when it matters and takes itself down afterwards.
• Rules. Short excerpts from the declaration and rules, rotated on a schedule. Showing "Garage cleaning: vehicles must be moved by 8 AM" the week before cleaning is more effective than a rule buried in a binder.
• Community. AGM dates, social committee events, amenity hours, recycling reminders.
• Advertising. Optional paid slots for residents, local businesses and instructors. The corporation sets the rates and approves every ad.

Where screens go

The highest-value locations are where people wait or stop: elevator landings, the main lobby, the mail and parcel room, and the entrance to amenity spaces. Larger buildings sometimes add slim panels in corridors so floor-specific notices only reach the floors they affect. We cover placement in detail in our elevator landing guide and screen sizing guide.

The decisions a board actually makes

1. Scope and budget

How many screens, where, and how they're mounted. Flush-mounted (recessed) screens cost more than a bracket on the wall, because the wall has to be opened, framed and refinished, but they don't stick out into corridors and they look like part of the building. See flush mount vs surface mount.

2. Approval route

Changes to common elements in Ontario follow section 97 of the Condominium Act, 1998. Depending on cost relative to your budget, the board may be able to proceed on its own, may need to give notice to owners, or may need an owner vote. Your manager and condo lawyer confirm which applies. We explain the tiers in does a condo board need owner approval for lobby screens.

3. Who runs it

Someone has to post content. In most buildings that's the property manager or the site administrator. A good system lets them type a notice, pick the screens and set an expiry in under a minute. If it takes longer than that, it won't get used.

4. Advertising policy

If the board wants advertising revenue, it needs a written policy: who may advertise, what's off-limits, how ads are approved and what they cost. We cover this in writing a condo advertising policy.

5. Ongoing support

Screens are infrastructure. Media players need updates, displays occasionally fail, and someone has to notice when a screen goes dark. Decide up front who is responsible after installation.

What to ask for in a proposal

A proposal worth taking to a board meeting should include:

• A placement plan with screen sizes and mounting method for each location
• An itemized price (displays, players, electrical, network, wall work, finishing, software)
• Confirmation that electrical work will be done by a licensed electrical contractor with an ESA notification
• What happens if a wall is a fire separation
• What the ongoing service covers and costs
• Who owns the equipment and the content

For a longer checklist, see questions to ask a digital signage contractor.

The short version

Screens make building communication timely, readable and easier for management. They work best when they're placed where people wait, mounted so they look built-in, and backed by a simple way to post content and a plan for keeping them running.