Road sign P-18: Roadworks

What it means

«Peligro por la proximidad de un tramo de vía en obras.» RD 465/2025, Annex I of the RGC (BOE-A-2025-12199), Spanish original.

The sign warns of a stretch of road with works approaching. The triangle announces the stretch but does not give the order: inside the works, temporary signing and the workers rule.

Where you meet it

You see it before the works, and inside them you find the works signs, cones and workers. Fixed signs that stop applying during works are covered, and while covered they do not apply (RGC Annex I, para. 5, volume I, 2.5).

What you must do

Moderate your speed and obey whoever regulates the passage. Works staff use catalogue signs mounted on a paddle and the law requires you to follow them, even though they are not officers (RGC arts. 141.4 and 60.5). If a works sign contradicts a fixed triangle, follow the order of precedence: temporary signing before vertical signs (RGC art. 133.1.b and 133.2).

Details that count

Who is responsible. Signing the road is the owner's job; signing the works is the job of whoever carries them out, whether a public body or a contractor, at their cost (RGC arts. 139.1, 139.3 and 148). Signing and beaconing are two different duties: the sign says what is happening and luminous beaconing makes it visible.

What it is confused with

The classic confusion is to believe the roadworks triangle already orders you to do something. It does not: the order comes from temporary signing and from the workers, and the order of precedence reads from the top down (officers, temporary signing and beaconing, traffic lights, vertical signs, road markings); the one on top wins.

Related signs

• P-15: Uneven road surface
• P-19: Slippery road surface
• P-28: Loose chippings

Studied in topic 14: Roadworks.

Source: RGC arts. 60.5, 133.1.b, 133.2, 139.1, 139.3, 141.4, 148; RGC Annex I, para. 5, tomo I, 2.5; RGC Annex I, sign P-18 (RD 465/2025).