Contractor Licensing

Contractors working in unincorporated New Castle County providing construction and building improvement services are required to obtain a New Castle County contractor license. The type of contractor license you need depends on your roles and responsibility on a project. New Castle County offers two types of licenses:

  • Permit endorsed license - A permit endorsed license is required for those individuals or companies who perform construction related activities that require a permit. This would include building, plumbing, and HVACR contractors to name a few.
    Click Here to Apply

  • Non-permit endorsed license - Non-Permit endorsed licenses are valid to perform construction activity defined by Sector 23 of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code that does not require a permit or fall under HVACR/plumbing work.
    Click Here to Apply


Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I determine if my job is located in New Castle County’s jurisdiction? To determine if your job is located in unincorporated New Castle County, click on Parcel Search to look up the property details. From the Parcel Details page, the municipal information is listed in the top section. Any properties that are incorporated in a specific property tax area are not New Castle County's jurisdiction. 

My job does not require a permit from New Castle County. Do I still need a contractor’s license?  All persons engaging in any aspect of construction activity, as defined by Sector 23 - Construction of the current addition of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, excluding those solely engaged in subdivision and land development (Year 2002 NAICS 2372), electrical contractors (must be licensed with the State of Delaware as an electrician), heavy utility construction in the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) right of way, and maintenance employees of state-owned facilities, are defined as contractors requiring a license.

You can perform a keyword search of the NAICS database and also view categories within Sector 23 - Construction.


Search Licensed Contractors in New Castle County

You can search on line to see if your contractor is licensed with our Contractor License Search. The search results will provide the Licensed Contractor and the authorized trades.


For any Contractor Licensing questions, please call (302) 395-5420 or email [email protected].