Wilmington
City of Wilmington Department of Land Use and Planning
In short
City of Wilmington Department of Land Use and Planning issues 4 permits we publish for Wilmington, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building Permit | City of Wilmington Department of Land Use and Planning | $12.00 per $1,000 of construction cost, plus $20.00 per trade utilized (electric, air conditioning, heating, mechanical ventilation, plumbing). A penalty for working without a permit adds the regular permit fee plus 2% of the job valuation. | one-time, per project; expiration not separately stated in the published schedule | 2026-09-12 |
| Zoning Certificate (Written Zoning Verification)only if it applies to you | City of Wilmington Department of Land Use and Planning | $25 one-time, per written zoning certification request | one-time, per application; not further specified in the source guide | 2026-09-12 |
| Zoning Board of Adjustment Variance Applicationonly if it applies to you | City of Wilmington Department of Land Use and Planning | Set by use type on the City's own current application: a Commercial Use Request is $300.00, and a Residential Use Request is $150.00 per specific variance — so a residential applicant seeking relief from two separate provisions pays the $150.00 rate for each. All fees are payable to the 'City of Wilmington.' | one-time per application; a variance once granted gives the applicant six months to apply for a building permit | 2026-09-12 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Wilmington Department of Land Use and Planning | $100 one-time (the commercial rate; a lower $75.00 rate applies only to a residential dwelling); a $250.00 Temporary Commercial Certificate of Occupancy, maximum 30 days, is available separately | one-time — issued after final inspections confirm code compliance | 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
Building Permit
Who may pull the permit depends on job valuation: the owner/authorized agent alone for $10,000 or less; a City of Wilmington Licensed General Contractor for $10,001-$25,000; and a City-licensed General Contractor with plans sealed by a licensed architect or professional engineer above $25,000. All contractors and subcontractors listed on the application must hold a City of Wilmington Business License (listed separately for this jurisdiction). A separate Fire Protection Plan Review fee (listed elsewhere for this jurisdiction) applies on top of this permit for most commercial projects. This is the same $12.00/$20.00-per-trade formula the City's own 2016 Development Review guide showed, unchanged for this component even as the Certificate of Occupancy and Fire Protection Plan Review fees have since been updated (recorded separately below).
Zoning Certificate (Written Zoning Verification)
This $25.00 figure comes from the City's own 2016 Development Review Process guide, which states that for this fee 'an applicant may obtain a written certification from L&I that states the zoning designation for the parcel, whether the proposed use is allowable under that zoning designation and a list of any outstanding violations.' No current Land Use & Planning document cited here restates the figure, so it is given with its 2016 source date; confirm the current amount with the Zoning Manager. A verbal zoning determination remains available free of charge from the Zoning Manager without this written certification.
Zoning Board of Adjustment Variance Application
Confirmed from the City's own current Zoning Board of Adjustment Application, dated 6/24/2025 and published by the Department of Land Use and Planning, which prints the two rates directly under 'Application Fees.' An undated earlier version of the form circulating on a non-City site shows $250.00 commercial and $100.00 residential; the 2025 form served from the City's own domain is the newer document and its figures are the ones given here. The application also requires a notarized affidavit certifying the applicant is not delinquent on city property taxes, water and sewer billing, vacant property fees, instant housing violation tickets or property maintenance fees for the subject parcel, and the Board may in its discretion refund part or all of the fee where an interpretation appeal succeeds, while variance fees are not returnable regardless of outcome. The Board is a three-member quasi-judicial body drawn from City staff (Law, Public Works, and Real Estate and Housing) meeting on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month; applicants should anticipate four to six weeks from application to hearing.
Certificate of Occupancy
Historically also referred to as a 'Limitation of Occupancy Notification' (LON) in the City's own older billing terminology, per its current bill-search portal. A separate $50.00 Certificate of Compliance fee and a $50.00 re-inspection fee for a final Certificate of Occupancy also appear on the same current fee schedule. Every one of the ten industries this site tracks falls in the $100.00 commercial band, not the $75.00 residential rate.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Wilmington
- Phone
- (302) 576-3050
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.
- City of Wilmington Application for Building Permit, revised 11/04/2025 — current permit-cost schedule and Certificate of Occupancy feesCity of Wilmington, Department of Land Use and Planning · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Wilmington Development Review Process (as of 6/07/16) — the $25.00 Zoning Certificate fee, ZBA process description, and 2016 fee figuresCity of Wilmington · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Zoning Board of Adjustment Application, City of Wilmington Department of Land Use and Planning, dated 6/24/2025 — the Application Fees block ($300.00 Commercial Use Request; $150.00 per specific variance for a Residential Use Request), plus the Sec. 48-70/48-71/48-72 request categories and the tax/water-sewer delinquency affidavitCity of Wilmington, Department of Land Use and Planning · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
Other offices serving Wilmington
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Delaware jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.