Wilmington, NC contractor license lookup: which state board, the County's COAST portal and the permits

Which license each job needs in Wilmington

The general contractor rule is G.S. 87-1: a license is needed where the cost of the undertaking is "forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or more". The license limitation caps the job: Limited "up to seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000)", Intermediate up to "one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000)", Unlimited without a cap (G.S. 87-10). New Hanover County's Building Safety FAQ adds the practical version: "Labor and materials both count toward project value. Splitting purchases does not avoid licensing requirements." The usual Wilmington new-home permit carries $258,519, well over the line.

The plumbing and heating board's license is needed by "Anyone who contracts to install, alter or restore plumbing, heating (includes air conditioning) or fire sprinkler systems", while "Minor repairs and service work to plumbing and heating systems do not require a state license" (Consumer Awareness).

How to run the lookup in five minutes

1. Pick the board from the table. A whole-house remodel over $40,000 is the general contractors' board; its HVAC sub is the plumbing and heating board; its electrician is the electrical board.
2. General contractor: search portal.nclbgc.org/Public/Search by license number or company name, and open the details for the limitation and qualifier.
3. Electrician: search arls-public.ncbeec.org/Public/Search.
4. Plumber or HVAC: search public.nclicensing.org/Public/Search by license number, company or person; tick "Include like sounding names" if nothing comes back.
5. Track record: open the firm on our Wilmington HVAC list, electrician list or new-home builder list.

How to search Wilmington permit records

Permits for homes inside the City are issued by New Hanover County Building Safety, through the County's COAST portal ("Apply & track your building permits online"), linked from the Building Safety page as "Check Permit Status" (read 22 October 2026). For addresses, the County's FAQ says to search "with the address number and the first few letters of the street name until you see the correct address appear." If a permit is on hold by the City, City of Wilmington Zoning is on 910-254-0900.

On a trade permit, check that the contractor named is the one you hired. A different name means someone else's license is on your job; a blank means the County did not record one.

COAST is organised by permit. Ours is organised by firm: each firm's Wilmington permits, the share completed and the days to final, on the Wilmington permit statistics page and the compare lists.

What 11,287 Wilmington permits show

"Completed" is the share of permits a year or more old the County marked complete or issued a certificate for, adjusted for permit age; expired permits count against it. Trade permits mostly close: HVAC 89.2%, the usual one in 27 days. Remodels are the weak spot at 56.0%, and deck and porch permits only 21.1%, because many sit open until they expire. Ask who will book the final inspection before the last payment.

See every Wilmington HVAC contractor by permits completed →

Red flags in Wilmington

• A job of $40,000 or more split into smaller contracts to stay under the general contractor line.
• A request that you pull an owner-builder permit on a house that is a rental, a flip or held in an LLC; the County says the exemption may not apply there.
• An HVAC or plumbing installer with no license number from the plumbing and heating board.
• A general contractor whose limitation is below your job value.
• A firm that has gone quiet: 21 electrical firms and 11 home builders with 5+ permits filed none in the last 12 months of our data.

What this lookup does not tell you

North Carolina's boards publish no bulk license file, so our Wilmington pages show no license status; a blank there says nothing about the firm. The County names the contractor on only about half of recent HVAC, electrical, plumbing and gas permits, so those lists cover about half the City's trade work, and a trade permit pulled by the builder of the same house counts as the builder's. Most building permit values are the County's fee-table valuation, not a price. Beach towns and the unincorporated county are not in our view. The statewide rules are in How to check a contractor's license in North Carolina.