Wilmington, DE
Wilmington building permit fees
A Wilmington building permit costs $12.00 per $1,000.00 of the work's cost — one rate at every valuation.
There are no bands to fall between and no published minimum: the Department of Licenses & Inspections fee table prices 'Permit fees' at a single rate, and each trade permit beside it is flat at $20.00. Certificates of occupancy are a separate schedule on the same page, from $75 for a dwelling to $250 for a temporary commercial CO.
How this fee is calculated
These are the components the schedule defines for this permit, as they applied on 2026-09-28. A component only applies to your project if its conditions match — read that column before assuming a figure. Want a figure for your own project? Estimate this fee with the permit fee calculator.
| Component | Formula | Applies when | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permit fee ($12.00 per $1,000.00)Permit fee | $12.00 per $1,000 of project valuation | Every permit of this type | — |
A real permit fee is these components added together. The department’s final calculation is the one that applies — this is the schedule it will be based on.
A worked example
Follow the arithmetic by hand. Every line is produced by the engine from the rules above, so the total cannot drift away from the schedule behind it.
Worked example
A single-family addition and kitchen enlargement in Wilmington declared at a construction cost of $60,000, with the electrical and plumbing work on the same project pulled as their own trade permits.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $60,000 |
| Occupancy class | Residential |
Example total
$720.00
An estimate, not an official fee. It is calculated from the published fee schedule as it applied on 2026-09-28. The permit office’s own calculation is the one that applies, and your project may fall under rules this schedule does not describe.
Fee schedule as of 2026-09-28Rules applied 1Rules considered 1
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Permit fee ($12.00 per $1,000.00)Permit feeDepartment of Licenses & Inspections fee table, 'Permit fees' row (NEW FEE column, effective June 1, 2014): $12.00 per $1,000.00. This is the only row on the schedule expressed as a rate rather than a flat amount, and it applies at every valuation — the table publishes no bands, no minimum and no maximum.Show the working
| $12.00 per $1,000 of project valuation | $720.00 |
| Total | $720.00 |
Assumptions
- Calculated from 1 fee rule in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The permit row charges $12.00 per $1,000.00: 60 thousands x $12.00 = $720.00.
The electrical permit adds a flat $20.00 and the plumbing permit a flat $20.00 — the trade rows do not scale with the job.
Total for the three permits: $720.00 + $20.00 + $20.00 = $760.00, plus the certificate of occupancy for the altered dwelling ($75.00) when the work is finished. The same project declared at $120,000 would double the permit row to $1,440.00 and leave the trade fees untouched.
What is different in Wilmington
The rate is the whole mechanism. 'Permit fees — $12.00 per $1,000.00' is the only row on the L&I table expressed as a rate; every other construction-adjacent row is a flat amount. The fee scales linearly with the declared cost of the work: $1,200.00 at $100,000, $12,000.00 at $1,000,000, every additional thousand of declared cost worth exactly $12.00. A round-number cost estimate makes the fee easy to predict before applying, which is not true in the band-table cities this dataset also covers.
The trade rows read differently, and the distinction matters when budgeting: plumbing, electrical work, heating installation, air conditioning, mechanical ventilation, fire suppression, alarm systems and refrigeration equipment are each a flat $20.00, independent of the job's size. The 2014 increase schedule doubled all of them from $10.00 at once and raised the permit rate from $10.00 to $12.00 per $1,000 — so the building fee is value-sensitive while the trade fees are not, a two-speed structure the page preserves to this day.
The certificates schedule rides on the same page. A certificate of occupancy for a dwelling or two-family house is $75.00, for a private accessory building $75.00, and for all other buildings $100.00 — the same $100.00 that applies to new commercial construction or alterations, a change of occupancy, and a certificate requested by an owner. A temporary certificate of occupancy is $100.00 residential and $250.00 commercial, and a duplicate certificate is $50.00.
The Fire Marshal's plan review is the one surcharge a large project must budget separately: a minimum of $200.00 on all plans, plus $5.00 for every $1,000 of construction cost above $1,000,000. It is a fire-protection review charge rather than an L&I permit fee, and it is not folded into the calculator here.
What this figure does not include
Impact fees, utility connections and other departments’ permits are the usual omissions, and in some jurisdictions they are larger than the permit fee itself.
Not included in these figures
This is the L&I 'Permit fees' row and the certificate schedule beside it. It excludes:
- Trade permits — electrical work and plumbing at $20.00 each, which have their own pages here, and the mechanical rows (heating installation, air conditioning system, mechanical ventilation, fire suppression, alarm system, refrigeration equipment) at the same $20.00 each.
- Fire protection plan review (Fire Marshal's Office): $200 minimum on all plans, plus $5.00 per $1,000 of construction cost above $1,000,000.
- Elevator certificates of registration at $50.00 each, and annual licence permits for theaters and assembly halls.
- Water, sewer and stormwater bills from the City's utility, and Public Works sewer permits, which are separate from the L&I permit.
- Any minimum fee — the L&I table publishes none, so none is charged here.
What you need before applying
- Cost of the work is the permit's only measureRequired
The L&I table prices 'Permit fees' at $12.00 per $1,000.00, with no bands and no stated valuation floor, so the declared cost of the work scales the whole fee linearly: every additional $1,000 of declared cost adds exactly $12.00.
Common questions
How much is a building permit in Wilmington, Delaware?
$12.00 per $1,000.00 of the work's cost. A $60,000 project is $720.00; a $150,000 project is $1,800.00. The rate is flat at every valuation — the schedule has no bands and publishes no minimum fee.
Is there a minimum building permit fee?
The L&I fee table publishes no minimum. At the $12.00-per-$1,000 rate even the smallest permits charge by value; there is no floor printed anywhere on the page.
How much are trade permits?
Flat $20.00 each — the same amount for electrical work, plumbing, heating installation, air conditioning, mechanical ventilation, fire suppression, alarm systems and refrigeration equipment. They do not scale with the job's cost.
Did the fees change recently?
The fee table in force is the City's 'Approved L & I Fee Increases' schedule, effective June 1, 2014: permit fees rose from $10.00 to $12.00 per $1,000, and every trade permit doubled from $10.00 to $20.00. It is the most recent schedule the City publishes in an addressable form.
How much is a certificate of occupancy?
$75.00 for a dwelling or two-family house and for a private accessory building, $100.00 for all other buildings, for new commercial construction or alterations, for a change of occupancy, and for a certificate requested by the owner. A temporary CO is $100.00 residential and $250.00 commercial.
What does fire protection plan review cost?
The Fire Marshal's Office charges a $200.00 minimum on all plans, plus $5.00 for every $1,000 of construction cost above $1,000,000. It is a separate review charge from the L&I permit fee.
Is the electrical permit included in the building permit?
No. Each trade is its own permit and its own row: electrical work $20.00, plumbing $20.00, and the mechanical rows $20.00 each, all charged in addition to the $12.00-per-$1,000 construction permit.
How is the cost of the work determined?
The fee scales with the declared construction cost in thousands. The schedule prints no valuation-validation rule; declaring the real cost matters because every additional $1,000 declared adds exactly $12.00 to the permit.
What does an elevator certificate cost?
A certificate of registration for an elevator or a moving stairway is $50.00 each, and a duplicate certificate is $25.00 — separate rows from the permit table.
Where do I apply?
At the Department of Licenses & Inspections, Louis L. Redding City/County Building, 800 N. French Street, 3rd Floor — open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with Wilmington 311 at (302) 576-2620 for intake outside the city's phone exchange.
Do fees double if I start without a permit?
The L&I page publishes no doubling clause; that consequence is not part of the fee table this page prices. What the schedule does publish is the certificate and trade structure above, all of which are charged whether or not the work was permitted on time.
Are the fees the same for commercial work?
Yes on the permit row: $12.00 per $1,000.00 at every valuation, residential or commercial, and the trade permits are $20.00 flat either way. The certificate schedule is where the two diverge — $75.00 for a dwelling versus $100.00 for other buildings, and $100.00 versus $250.00 for a temporary CO.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Read 2026-09-26 from the City's own URL via its Internet Archive capture of 2026-06-09 (HTTP 200); the live host serves HTTP 403 to scripted requests and the capture is the same document. The page presents every fee in CURRENT FEE / NEW FEE columns dated 'Effective June 1, 2014'; this seed prices the NEW FEE column: permit fees $12.00 per $1,000.00 (from $10.00), plumbing $20.00 (from $10.00), electrical work $20.00 (from $10.00), heating, air conditioning, mechanical ventilation, fire suppression, alarm and refrigeration rows each $20.00. The page states the fees 'coincide with the approved and adopted International Code Council Building Codes'. No minimum fee appears anywhere on the page, and none is charged. This is the most recent fee schedule the City publishes in an addressable form; the department's Construction & Development Review page (read via the 2026-08-14 capture) links fee amounts only through a Step-by-Step Guide document that is itself not addressable HTML.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.