For a property inside Wilmington, look for the building permit with New Hanover County. The City’s building-permit guidance says the County issues all building permits within Wilmington. City zoning and historic-preservation decisions remain a separate part of the research. Start with the County’s COAST portal for the construction record; do not stop at a City zoning approval.
Follow the building record first
- Use the County’s public address search in COAST. Its published help says issued permits for an address can be searched without registering or logging in.
- Enter the property address you are researching. Preserve any unit or suite in your research notes and compare it with the returned location before accepting a match.
- Keep the permit number, work description and dates for each relevant result. If the record does not answer the inspection or occupancy question, identify that missing document separately.
The County’s COAST help describes an address search; it does not describe a parcel-number search. Keep a known parcel identifier for a staff request. A tax parcel can help identify the land without proving which permit covers a specific tenant space.
Why a City file may still matter
Wilmington handles zoning through its land-development rules. A property in a historic district or overlay can also involve a certificate of appropriateness. The City page lists zoning help at 910-254-0900 or zoning@wilmingtonnc.gov, and certificate-of-appropriateness questions go to preservation@wilmingtonnc.gov. A certificate of appropriateness approves the design of exterior work in a historic district; it is not a building permit and does not show the work was inspected. County building-permit help is 910-798-7308. Ask the office responsible for the missing decision, rather than asking either office for an undifferentiated “property history.”
Build two lines in your notes when both agencies are involved: the City decision and its case reference, then the County construction permit and its number. Compare the property and proposed work. A connection between those files must come from their contents or the agencies; matching street names alone are insufficient. The city-versus-county guide explains why responsibilities can be divided.
An account problem is not a missing permit
The County explains that COAST is separate from its previous software and customers need a new account for account-based services. That is different from the published guest address-search route. If an old login fails, first identify whether you are trying to retrieve a public permit or manage an application. Do not make a new application merely to investigate existing work.
For help with COAST itself, Building Safety lists 910-798-7308 and a counter at 230 Government Center Drive, Suite 170, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The County also offers one-hour, one-on-one COAST account sessions; ask for one if you manage permits there regularly, not to look up a single address.
The County permits and inspections index links to the current permit system for permitting activity. The County’s guidance does not say how far back COAST records reach or whether every record from the previous software was carried over. For an older building, ask which record series and years are available online and which require staff research.
Request the missing construction file, not just a tax record
New Hanover County’s information-request page distinguishes property and tax information, handled through Tax, from its general public-records request route. A parcel or assessment response does not supply the construction permit. Start with Building Safety to identify the custodian of old permits or inspections, then use the County’s formal request route when a records request is needed.
- Give the current address, unit, known parcel number, approximate work date and any earlier address already documented.
- Name the records still needed: issued permit, approved scope, inspection history, final outcome or occupancy document.
- Explain whether the portal failed to load, found no address, or found a permit without the required file. Ask whether a predecessor index or an archived paper file must be checked.
Record an issued permit, inspection approval, closure and occupancy approval separately. An empty result does not prove unpermitted, unlawful or unsafe work. If your question is occupancy, the permit and occupancy comparison helps define the document to request.
Elsewhere in North Carolina, the city and county can share one system instead. Durham’s City-County portal holds most permit and inspection records since October 2007; see how to search Durham permits and inspections in LDO.
New Hanover County COAST help and City of Wilmington building-permit pages checked October 20, 2026.