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Be Seen And Found: Help Responders Find Your Address

Seconds count in an emergency ...

It is critical that emergency responders be able to find your home or business in times of emergency.

  • Can you clearly see your address from the street?
  • Can you see it at night?
  • Do the letters contrast with the background?

Sometimes what looks nice for decorative purposes may make it difficult to read at night or when there is poor visibility.

Make your address visible

Be Seen and Be Found is an initiative of the City of London, with the assistance of Emergency Service providers (Fire, Police, and Ambulance) to increase public awareness on the importance of clearly posting municipal numbers.

Emergency Services staff need to be able to quickly and easily read the address of any property from the road. Help us help you by making sure your municipal number can be clearly read from the street frontage.

Your house number needs to be easy to see

  • at least 12.7 cm (5 inches) high
  • should "stand out" on the face of the building near the main entrance
  • should be clear of trees, shrubs and mailboxes which may block the view

For buildings setback 30 metres (100 feet) from the road, or if the view from the road is blocked , the numbers need to be posted on a sign:

  • 1.5 m (5 feet) from the ground
  • on your front property line next to the driveway

In rural areas with no street lights, post reflective white numbers on a contrasting plate, attached to a post, with the numbers being at least five inches in height.

 Example of a Clearly Visible Street Address

Can police, fire or ambulance services find your home or business?

London Firefighters Prepare to Battle Fully Involved Van Fire London-Middlesex EMS Vehicles Staged at an Exercise London Police Blocking Traffic


HomeFinder?

Address number readily visible at night Thanks to an ingenious idea developed by a London fire fighter, there is now an easy way to assist emergency personnel in finding your home or business. It's called the HomeFinder? and is simply an aluminium plate covered on one side with a special diamond prism sheeting.

Installation is easy ... you just mount the plate behind your existing address number or mount numbers of any style or colour to the plate. Visit the Neighbourhood Watch website for full details.