How to find commercial upfit leads in Wilmington from building permits — free
Wilmington & New Hanover County filed 118 upfit and tenant improvement permits in the last 12 months — about 2.3 a week, 8 in the last 30 days. Every one is a public record naming the address, the work and, usually, who's doing it. Here's how commercial subcontractors and suppliers find them for free, which ones are worth a call, and when it's worth paying not to.
The busiest ZIP code was 28405, with 35% of them, and the most active name on them was Timeless Properties Inc, with 10.
- Last 12 months
- 118
- A week, on average
- 2.3
- Last 30 days
- 8
- Busiest month
- 31
- July 2026
Step 1: Search New Hanover County's COAST portal (free)
The permit office's own records, straight from the source. Search for: commercial alteration, upfit, tenant improvement or change of use.
- Open the portal and choose Search (no account needed to look).
- Set the search to Permit, then filter by permit type (residential or commercial building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing) and an applied or issued date range.
- Page through the results; each permit opens to its address, work description and status.
Who's on a permit: A permit's page lists its contacts on some permits, not all.
Step 2: Keep the permits worth a call
Does the work need a permit in North Carolina? Yes, almost always. Upfits build walls and move electrical, plumbing and HVAC, and Fire Code work is never exempt. So these are the upfit and tenant improvement permits on file, and what each is worth.
Tenant upfits
A new tenant means walls, ceilings, lighting, HVAC changes, plumbing, flooring, low voltage and signage. The general contractor on the permit hires every trade.
First-time interior completions
A shell building's first upfit is the largest: nothing is in place yet.
Change of use
Turning an office into a restaurant or a clinic triggers fire, plumbing and accessibility work.
Step 4: Know who's pulling them
These are the general contractors winning upfits — the people who hire commercial subs and buy materials. Ranked by permits in the last 12 months.
| Contractor | Last 12 months | Last 90 days |
|---|---|---|
| Timeless Properties Inc | 10 | 0 |
| Demill Builders LLC | 10 | 0 |
| Mckinley Building Corp | 7 | 1 |
| Robert High Development, LLC | 6 | 0 |
| Timeless Construction | 5 | 0 |
| Thomas Construction Group LLC | 4 | 0 |
| Chambliss & Rabil Contractors Inc | 4 | 2 |
| Pbc Building Corporation | 4 | 0 |
| Masonboro Construction And Development | 4 | 4 |
| Tmc-Taylor Construction, Inc. | 3 | 3 |
| Blue Ocean Construction Inc | 2 | 0 |
| Delphi Construction Inc | 2 | 0 |
Step 5: Reach out at the right time
Call the GC as soon as the upfit permit is filed. Commercial schedules are tight, and subs are lined up before the permit is issued.
The free way, and the fast way
The permits are free either way. What costs time is finding them, one office and one search at a time.
| The office's portal | TarSignal Free | TarSignal Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | One permit office's site at a time | 23 North Carolina offices, one search | 23 offices, one search |
| How recent | Same day, if you search every day | Permits over 30 days old | Up to today |
| Who's doing the work | Depends on the office; phone numbers rarely | Contractor and contact, on permits over 30 days old | Contractor and contact on every permit |
| New permits sent to you | No | Weekly, one ZIP code | Daily, every area |
| Export | Rarely | No | CSV |
| Cost | Free | Free | $199/month |
Upfit Leads in Wilmington: common questions
- How do I find commercial upfit leads in Wilmington for free?
- From the building permits. New Hanover County's COAST portal is free to search: Open the portal and choose Search (no account needed to look). TarSignal's free search has the same permits from 23 North Carolina offices in one place, with the contractor where the record names one, for permits more than 30 days old.
- How many upfit and tenant improvement permits are filed in Wilmington?
- 118 in the last 12 months, about 2.3 a week, and 8 in the last 30 days. The busiest ZIP codes were 28405, 28401 and 28403.
- Are building permits public record in North Carolina?
- Yes. Permits are public records under the North Carolina Public Records Act (G.S. Chapter 132), so anyone can look them up, and the contractor named on a permit is part of the record.
- Does a commercial upfit need a permit in Wilmington?
- Yes, almost always. Upfits build walls and move electrical, plumbing and HVAC, and Fire Code work is never exempt. That's state law (G.S. 160D-1110), so it's the same at any permit office in the state.
Related
The numbers behind this guide, with recent permits: Commercial upfit permits in Wilmington & New Hanover County. Every permit in the area: building permits in Wilmington & New Hanover County.
Upfit Leads in other places
See this week's commercial upfit leads
Permit Search has every upfit and tenant improvement permit filed in Wilmington & New Hanover County, with the contractor where the record names one. Free for permits over 30 days old; Pro has them the day they're filed.
Source: TarSignal, from North Carolina public building permit records, data through October 19, 2026. Refreshed nightly. Counts include every permit type a jurisdiction files — trade permits (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) as well as building permits — so one project can appear more than once. Values are what the applicant declared, where the jurisdiction records one. We keep improving how we collect each office's permits, so a count that steps up suddenly usually means more complete records, not more construction.