Newark
City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department)
In short
City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) issues 13 permits we publish for Newark, last verified 2026-09-12. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Newark Business License — Fitness Studio (class assigned administratively) | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | The statutory mechanism is confirmed even though the class input is not. Under §13-56(a) the annual license fee is $1.00 multiplied by the applicable class license fee ratio, plus the §13-57 adjustment, plus a $5.00 technology fee per license under §13-64, plus $35.00 under §13-56.1 if the premises are within Downtown Newark. For a fitness studio the §13-57 adjustment is the employee-based schedule in §13-57(a)(4) unless the studio is classed as commercial recreation, in which case §13-57(a)(3) charges $0.25 per year per occupant of the authorised occupancy load instead. The employee schedule charges nothing for the first five employees, $50.00 flat for the next five, $0.50 per employee for the next ninety, $1.00 per employee for the next two hundred and $1.50 per employee beyond three hundred. Section 13-58(a)(3) separately lets any business whose only worker is the owner elect a flat $100.00 license fee in place of any other fee under the article — the operative figure for a single-instructor studio. The class ratio itself is not fixed by the ordinance for a fitness studio: §13-53(c) assigns classification to the director of planning and development or a designee, appealable to city council, and no class in §13-55(b) names a gym, health club or fitness business. | annual; the license fee is computed from the licensee's employee count in the last quarter of the calendar year preceding the year applied for | 2026-09-12 |
| City of Newark Business License (day care centers and preschools exempt)only if it applies to you | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-12 |
| City of Newark Business License — Class VIII, Medical Offices (Veterinary Hospitals) | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $1.00 multiplied by the Class VIII license fee ratio of 157 (a base of $157.00), plus the §13-57 employee-count adjustment (the first 5 employees add $0.00, the next 5 add a flat $50.00, then $0.50/$1.00/$1.50 per employee in higher tiers), plus a flat $5.00 technology fee. | annual; exact due date not stated in the published ordinance beyond becoming delinquent after the first month, with a 1.5% monthly penalty thereafter (Code §13-53) | 2026-09-12 |
| Annual Sign Feeonly if it applies to you | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $1.25 per square foot of sign area, with a minimum fee of $55.00. | annual | 2026-09-12 |
| Food Safety/Health Permit — State Permit Applies (Newark)only if it applies to you | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-12 |
| Contractor License | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $100 to apply or renew | not stated in the published fee schedule beyond an implied renewal cycle (the application form is titled to 'apply/renew') | 2026-09-12 |
| City of Newark Business License — Class IV, Restaurants (sit-down, without alcohol) | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $1.00 multiplied by the Class IV license fee ratio of 255 (a base of $255.00), plus $1.50 per year per occupant (based on the space's occupant load), plus a flat $5.00 technology fee; an additional $35.00 Downtown Partnership fee applies if the business is located in Downtown Newark. A restaurant that serves alcoholic beverages instead falls into Class XIV, XV, or XVI (ratios 550-2,950, varying by occupancy and entertainment), a substantially higher bracket. | annual; exact due date not stated in the published ordinance beyond becoming delinquent after the first month, with a 1.5% monthly penalty thereafter (Code §13-53) | 2026-09-12 |
| City of Newark Business License — Class I, General Mercantile (Edible) | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $1.00 multiplied by the Class I license fee ratio of 190 (a base of $190.00), plus the §13-57 employee-count adjustment (the first 5 employees add $0.00, the next 5 add a flat $50.00, then $0.50/$1.00/$1.50 per employee in higher tiers), plus a flat $5.00 technology fee; an additional $35.00 Downtown Partnership fee applies if the business is located in Downtown Newark. | annual; exact due date not stated in the published ordinance beyond becoming delinquent after the first month, with a 1.5% monthly penalty thereafter (Code §13-53) | 2026-09-12 |
| City of Newark Business License — Class II, General Mercantile (Non-Edible) | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $1.00 multiplied by the Class II license fee ratio of 170 (a base of $170.00), plus the §13-57 employee-count adjustment (the first 5 employees add $0.00, the next 5 add a flat $50.00, then $0.50/$1.00/$1.50 per employee in higher tiers), plus a flat $5.00 technology fee; an additional $35.00 Downtown Partnership fee applies if the business is located in Downtown Newark. | annual; exact due date not stated in the published ordinance beyond becoming delinquent after the first month, with a 1.5% monthly penalty thereafter (Code §13-53) | 2026-09-12 |
| City of Newark Business License — Class VI, Auto Repair | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $1.00 multiplied by the Class VI license fee ratio of 150 (a base of $150.00), plus the §13-57 employee-count adjustment (the first 5 employees add $0.00, the next 5 add a flat $50.00, then $0.50/$1.00/$1.50 per employee in higher tiers), plus a flat $5.00 technology fee. | annual; exact due date not stated in the published ordinance beyond becoming delinquent after the first month, with a 1.5% monthly penalty thereafter (Code §13-53) | 2026-09-12 |
| Building Permit | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $15.00 per $1,000.00 of construction value from $1.00 to $1,000,000.00, plus $8.00 per $1,000.00 of additional construction value above $1,000,000.00, with a $50.00 minimum fee. | one-time, per project; expiration not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-09-12 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $150.00 for a single-occupancy commercial building Certificate of Occupancy, or $125.00 per tenant for a multiple-occupancy commercial/residential building. A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (valid 90 days) costs $500.00. | one-time — issued after final inspections confirm code compliance; a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy is capped at 90 days | 2026-09-12 |
| City of Newark Business License — Class IX, Personal Services | City of Newark Code Enforcement Division (Planning and Development Department) | $1.00 multiplied by the Class IX license fee ratio of 100 (a base of $100.00), plus the §13-57 employee-count adjustment (the first 5 employees add $0.00, the next 5 add a flat $50.00, then $0.50/$1.00/$1.50 per employee in higher tiers), plus a flat $5.00 technology fee. | annual; exact due date not stated in the published ordinance beyond becoming delinquent after the first month, with a 1.5% monthly penalty thereafter (Code §13-53) | 2026-09-12 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
City of Newark Business License — Fitness Studio (class assigned administratively)
A City of Newark business license is mandatory for a fitness studio. Article VII of the City's codified text (Supplement No. 107, May 2026) sets the whole fee machinery — the $1.00-times-ratio formula, both adjustment tracks, the technology and Downtown fees, and the owner-only $100.00 alternative. The class, however, is not set by the text: none of the twenty classes in §13-55(b) names a gym, health club or fitness business, and §13-53(c) makes the class an administrative determination by the director of planning and development or a designee, based on the primary nature of the business and appealable to city council. The two closest candidates remain Class IX ('Personal services,' ratio 100, named examples barbers, health and beauty care, locksmiths, laundromats, dry cleaning) giving a $100.00 base, and Class X ('Commercial indoor recreation,' ratio 255, named examples movies, roller rinks, bowling alleys, poolhalls, tennis courts) giving a $255.00 base; §13-44(a)(6) adds that types of business within classes are as defined in Chapter 32, Zoning. The ordinance does not choose between them, so neither figure is given here as the fee. A prospective operator should ask Code Enforcement at (302) 366-7000 for the class determination, then apply the formula above.
City of Newark Business License (day care centers and preschools exempt)
Section 13-59 explicitly exempts day care centers and preschools from the City's general business license, so no fee applies at the city level for this credential. Delaware's own state Child Care License (Office of Child Care Licensing, no fee, listed on this site's Delaware state page) remains the operative childcare-specific credential; a childcare facility's physical space is still separately subject to the own Building Permit and Certificate of Occupancy records.
City of Newark Business License — Class VIII, Medical Offices (Veterinary Hospitals)
Class VIII's own text explicitly names 'physicians, dentists, veterinary hospitals, nursing homes and similar businesses' — an explicit textual match, not a judgment call. This is a business-premises license, distinct from the individual veterinarian licensure Delaware's own state Board of Veterinary Medicine issues (listed on this site's Delaware state page).
Annual Sign Fee
The City's own current fee schedule labels this an 'Annual sign fee,' a recurring charge rather than a one-time installation fee. The same fee schedule's shared Building/Plumbing/Mechanical/Electrical/Elevator/Fire Protection/Sign header also applies a one-time, $50.00-minimum construction-value-based fee to the initial sign installation permit itself; the recurring annual figure is the one given here because the schedule states it as an ongoing obligation. A sign requiring structural or electrical work would separately require the standard Building Permit listed elsewhere here.
Food Safety/Health Permit — State Permit Applies (Newark)
No fee applies at the city level: the City's list of its own departments names no municipal health department, and the City's own Food Vendor Check List states plainly that food vendors are responsible for obtaining permits 'from the Delaware Division of Public Health' — the same statewide Office of Food Protection permit listed on this site's Delaware state page. Newark's own Office of the Fire Marshal separately performs an on-site fire-safety (not food-safety) inspection of mobile food vendors, listed here as the Fire Safety Registration.
Contractor License
Confirmed at $100.00 from two independent City documents: the Contractor License Application itself and the City's own separate, current 2026 Fee Schedule. A current State of Delaware Business License, a Certificate of Liability Insurance naming the City of Newark as certificate holder, and (for Electrician, Plumber, HVAC, or Fire Protection contractors) proof of the relevant Delaware specialty license must all be submitted with the application. An active City of Newark Contractor License is itself a prerequisite document for the City's own Building Permit Application, listed elsewhere here. This is layered on top of Delaware's own state Contractor Business License, listed on this site's Delaware state page.
City of Newark Business License — Class IV, Restaurants (sit-down, without alcohol)
Layered on top of (not instead of) Delaware's own state business license and state Office of Food Protection food establishment permit, both listed on this site's Delaware state page. Class IV covers a non-alcohol, sit-down restaurant without entertainment; a restaurant that serves alcohol or offers entertainment is priced under a different, higher-ratio class instead, disclosed above rather than priced at this record's lower rate.
City of Newark Business License — Class I, General Mercantile (Edible)
Class I ('General mercantile (edible) to include bakery-restaurant, deli and similar business') is the closest named fit for a coffee shop, not an exact named category — a coffee/bakery counter-service operation resembles the class's own named 'bakery-restaurant, deli' examples more closely than Class IV's full-service sit-down restaurant. The City's own Business License Application does not let an applicant self-select a class; a Finance Department staff member assigns it upon review, so a business owner should confirm the actual assigned classification with Code Enforcement at (302) 366-7000.
City of Newark Business License — Class II, General Mercantile (Non-Edible)
A general retail store selling non-food goods licenses under Class II, 'General mercantile (non-edible) to include retailers of nonfood goods' — an explicit textual match, not a judgment call. Layered on top of Delaware's own state business license, listed on this site's Delaware state page.
City of Newark Business License — Class VI, Auto Repair
Class VI ('Auto repair, gasoline sales, tire repair and sales, auto sales, rental, car wash') is an explicit textual match for a general auto-repair business. A repair garage is also separately named among the occupancy types required to complete the annual Fire Safety Registration listed elsewhere here. A shop also doing spray-coating or painting work separately needs Delaware's own state Auto Body Shop Air Quality Permit, listed on this site's Delaware state page.
Building Permit
An active City of Newark Contractor License (listed elsewhere here) is required documentation on the Building Permit Application, unless the property owner is completing the work directly. The same fee schedule separately prices a Plan Review fee ($1.00 per $1,000.00 of construction value, $25.00 minimum, $5,000.00 maximum; a reduced fee of 50% but not less than $20.00 applies to a third or later submission), a Technology Fee equal to 15% of the building permit cost (capped at $4,000.00), and, for larger projects, a Volunteer Fire Service Assistance Fund contribution of one-half of one percent of the first $5,000,000.00 of construction value — none built as separate records here. The 2018 International Building Code, as locally amended, is the currently adopted building code per the City's own Building Permits page. A $50.00 Elevator License also appears on the same fee schedule for buildings equipped with an elevator.
Certificate of Occupancy
The Certificate of Occupancy Application must be submitted at least 10 business days before the requested occupancy date; the fee line on the form itself is left blank for staff to fill in, with the actual current figures found only in the separate 2026 Fee Schedule. The same fee schedule separately prices a related but distinct 'Certificate of Completion' at $50.00 ($500.00 for a 90-day Temporary Certificate of Completion), not built as a separate record here.
City of Newark Business License — Class IX, Personal Services
Class IX's own text explicitly names 'barbers, health and beauty care' among its examples — an explicit textual match for a salon. A single-employee business may instead elect a flat $100.00 alternative fee under §13-58 rather than this class-ratio calculation; a business owner should confirm which option applies with Code Enforcement. This City license is layered on top of Delaware's own state Cosmetology or Barbering Establishment License, listed on this site's Delaware state page.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Newark
- Phone
- (302) 366-7000
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- 2026 Fee Schedule (effective 1/1/2026) — Building, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical, Elevator, Fire Protection, Sign, Certificate of Occupancy, Contractor's License, Fire License, and Technology Fee scheduleCity of Newark, Code Enforcement Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Building Permit Application — confirms an active City of Newark Contractor License is required documentation (no fee table on the form itself)City of Newark, Code Enforcement Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Certificate of Occupancy Application — confirms the application process (fee line left blank for staff to fill in)City of Newark, Code Enforcement Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Code of the City of Newark, Chapter 13 (Fire Prevention and Taxation), Article VII (Business License), §§13-43–13-64 — the full class-ratio fee structure, exemptions, and technology/downtown feesCity of Newark, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Code of the City of Newark, Chapter 13, Article VII (Business Licensing), §§13-43 to 13-64 — read in full from the Municode export of Supplement No. 107 (export footer: 'Newark, Delaware, Code of Ordinances / Created: 2026-05-07 (Supp. No. 107)'), covering §13-53(c) classification, §13-55(b) the twenty class ratios, §13-56 the fee formula, §13-56.1 the Downtown Newark Partnership fee, §13-57 the occupancy/employment adjustments, §13-58 miscellaneous and alternative fees, §13-59 exemptions, and §13-64 the technology feeCity of Newark, Delaware · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Contractor License Application — confirms the $100 fee and required documentationCity of Newark, Code Enforcement Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Food Vendor Check List — confirms the Delaware Division of Public Health permit requirement and the Fire Marshal's Office on-site inspectionCity of Newark, Code Enforcement Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
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