General building work permit checklist — Wilmington, Delaware
Assembled from Wilmington’s own published permit rules. Every line below is quoted from a city document and linked to it. Nothing here is generated, estimated, or inferred from another jurisdiction.
Do you need a permit?
Wilmington requires a permit for general building work.
No permit is required for storm doors, front doors, nonstructural doors, or aluminum or vinyl wrapping of windows, soffits and trim, except in city historic districts. No permit is required for down spouts, gutters, minor roof maintenance and repairs, drywall of less than 100 square feet or three sheets (whichever is larger) in non-structural and non-fire-rated partitions only, floor underlayment, carpeting, interior and exterior painting, installation of plumbing fixtures such as faucets, vanities, water closets, tubs and water shut-off valves where no in-wall piping is affected, and concrete sidewalks or concrete slabs on private property up to a maximum of 150 square feet. Vinyl replacement windows in a one- or two-family dwelling that do not affect any framing or structural element are exempt unless the property is in a historical district; commercial windows require a permit. On the plumbing side, sealing a leak in a drain, waste, vent, water or soil line is exempt, but swapping out a concealed defective trap or length of pipe for new material counts as new work and needs a permit. Also exempt are clearing a blockage, fixing a leaking pipe, valve or fixture, and pulling and resetting a toilet, so long as no valve, pipe or fixture is replaced or relocated in the process. An exemption from the permit requirement is not permission to do work that breaks the code or any other city law. Where equipment replacement or repair must be performed in an emergency, the permit application is submitted to the building official on the next working business day, and the person performing the emergency repair must hold a City of Wilmington license.
Loading the full checklist…
Sources
- building — permit rules, building — fee schedule ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Wilmington publishes rules for
Listed because the city publishes a separate rule for each type — not because this project necessarily triggers one. Whether it does depends on your scope of work.
BuildSpec is a reference, not the authority having jurisdiction. Confirm requirements with Wilmington before you build.