According to an article published by Kontroll on 4 November, the decree issued by Hungary’s Tisza government appeared in the 3 November edition of the Magyar Közlöny, the official gazette. The government has presented the measure as an attempt to reduce “advertising noise” in towns and cities and along roads leading out of them. It will apply to existing advertising structures as well as new installations.
Fewer places for large billboards
Large billboards, backlit panels, cityboards and digital billboards will be restricted to designated areas. These include economic zones, special zones containing large shopping centres and commercial sites, and certain logistics and sports areas. Advertising structures may also be permitted along some sections of roads directly bordering these zones.
Advertising will remain possible in pedestrian underpasses and on metro premises. An existing permit, however, will not automatically allow a billboard to stay in place: older structures must also comply with the new geographical restrictions.
No new scrolling billboards that rotate between several advertisements, or displays using rotating prism panels, may be installed. Existing ones can remain in use in areas where this type of advertising is permitted.
New rooftop signs will face tighter design requirements. They may consist only of separate letters, numbers or graphic symbols, with those elements also forming the sign’s outer outline. Existing large billboards and other oversized advertising structures may remain on rooftops only in specified zones and under defined conditions.
A building may have no more than two rooftop advertising structures, each no higher than five metres. Their combined advertising area may not exceed 200 square metres, and digital billboards will not be allowed to remain as rooftop advertising.
Advertising mesh and tarpaulins attached to building facades will also have to be removed. Painted advertisements on firewalls may remain if they comply with the townscape rules set by the municipality.
An overnight pause and lower brightness
Digital advertising displays will not be allowed to show advertisements between 10 pm and 6 am. Loudspeakers used by audio advertising equipment must also be switched off during those hours.
Digital displays must be equipped with ambient light sensors and automatic brightness controls. Their maximum luminance will be 6,000 candelas per square metre during the day. Between sunset and 10 pm, and from 6 am until sunrise, the limit will be 1,500 candelas per square metre.
Moving advertising content will be prohibited. Each still image must remain unchanged for at least ten seconds, while separate rules will govern the visual transitions between images.
Existing displays must be dealt with by the end of December
The decree takes effect on 11 November. Owners must remove advertising structures that fail to meet national or local requirements at their own expense by 31 December 2026 at the latest.
If a structure can be brought into compliance through alteration or modernisation, its owner must begin the municipal townscape notification procedure by the same date. The work itself does not have to be completed by 31 December; the relevant municipal decision will set the deadline for completion.
Source: Kontroll
