Town of Brownsburg Development Services - Building and Inspections

Town of Brownsburg, Indiana

city

61 N. Green Street, Brownsburg, IN 46112

WHERE AND HOW. Building permits in Brownsburg are run by the Town's Department of Development Services at 61 N. Green Street, Brownsburg, IN 46112, on (317) 852-1128, email [email protected]. Everything is filed through the Town of Brownsburg Development Services Portal; the Town says customers "can apply, pay online, and request inspections or permits through the portal." WHO PULLS IT. The Town's permitting page says: "A property owner may obtain a permit in their own name. However, when a contractor will perform the work, the contractor should obtain the permit and be listed as the responsible party." INSPECTIONS. The Town's current Scheduling Inspections sheet says requests "should be submitted at least one business day before the inspection is needed and no later than 3:30 p.m.", and that inspections run Monday to Friday between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in morning and afternoon windows. The older Building and Inspections page still says two business days' notice and an 8:30 a.m. start, so follow the portal sheet and confirm with the department. Work that is not ready when the inspector arrives may be failed and charged a re-inspection fee, which section 40.15 sets at $100 for the first, $200 for the second and $400 for the third or more. Permits expire one year after issuance if no inspections have been scheduled. A DETAIL FOR TEAR-OFFS. The Town's permitting page says: "Trash dumpsters and roll-off containers must be located on private property or within a driveway. They may not obstruct sidewalks or be placed within a public roadway." NOT THE COUNTY. Brownsburg runs its own building division; the Hendricks County Planning and Building Department in Danville is a different counter with different rules.

STATE-SET, AND THE TOWN SAYS WHICH EDITION ON ITS OWN SHEET. The Town's permitting portal publishes a one-page list headed Indiana Currently Adopted Code whose residential line reads "2020 INDIANA RESIDENTIAL CODE" and "BASED ON: 2018 INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE (1ST PRINTING) WITH INDIANA AMENDMENTS." That is the state rule, 675 IAC 14-4.4, whose opening section provides that "That certain document being titled the 2018 International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings, first printing August 2017, published by the International Code Council" is "hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set out in this rule save and except those revisions made in this rule", and that "This rule shall be known as the 2020 Indiana Residential Code." It was filed November 26, 2019 and readopted on November 18, 2025 by the Readopted Final Rule at Indiana Register 20251210-IR-675240566RFA. WHY THERE IS NO LOCAL EDITION TO LOOK FOR. IC 22-13-2-3(c) provides that "A city, town, or county may not adopt an ordinance that conflicts with or includes more stringent or detailed requirements than the commission's rules", and IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives those rules precedence over any local ordinance covering the same subject matter. WHAT WAS NOT READ. The Town's Code of Ordinances is published only on a vendor platform that would not serve its text to this research session, so any local section adopting the state rules by reference, and any administrative amendment to them, has not been read here. The Town's own adopted-code sheet, its permit guidance and the state rule itself were. The same sheet also lists the Town's commercial, fire, plumbing, electrical and mechanical codes; those do not apply to a house and are not repeated here.

Required — REQUIRED ON A SHINGLE ROOF, BY THE STATE RATHER THAN BY THE TOWN. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's ice/water shield and drip edge guidance of February 25, 2020, on Indiana Department of Homeland Security letterhead, reproduces the adopted provision, R905.2.8.5 Drip edge, which opens "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs." and goes on to set the overlap, the extension below the sheathing, the fastening and the underlayment order at eaves and rakes. The state rule touches the flashing section only by deleting one word, 675 IAC 14-4.4-86 reading "Delete the word "approved" from the text of SECTION R905.2.8 without substitution.", and makes no amendment to R905.2.8.5. The same guidance states that "Regardless of any established local enforcement policies or practices to the contrary", the 2020 Indiana Residential Code applies to all Class 2 residential construction. So the drip edge requirement travels with the roof whether or not the particular job needs a Brownsburg permit; a permit exemption removes the inspection, not the rule. Brownsburg could not relax it either, because IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a town from an ordinance that conflicts with the state rules. About drip edge

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY THE TABLE IN HENDRICKS COUNTY, WHERE BROWNSBURG SITS, AND THAT IS NOT THE WHOLE ANSWER. Indiana replaces the model climatic table with its own county-by-county table: 675 IAC 14-4.4-5 directs "Delete TABLE R301.2(1) and the corresponding footnotes and substitute to read as follows", and row 32, Hendricks, carries "No" in the column headed "Ice Shield Underlayment Required". THE PART A ROOFER MUST NOT SKIP. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's guidance of February 25, 2020 explains that the roofing chapter also requires installation to the manufacturer's instructions, so "there are specific counties in which it is always required (per Table R301.2(1)), and specific counties in which it is required only when the roofing manufacturer's written installation instructions require it". Hendricks County is in the second group. On an ordinary Brownsburg job, read the shingle manufacturer's printed installation instructions for the assembly being installed before treating the membrane as optional. The Town could not add a requirement of its own, because IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a more stringent or more detailed local ordinance. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO ROOFING STAGE APPEARS IN THE TOWN'S ITEMISED INSPECTION LIST. An exempt like-for-like reroof carries no permit and so no inspection at all. Where roof work does need a permit, the Town's One and Two Family Residential permit page lists its required inspections as footing, two under-slab inspections, sewer lateral and water supply line, rough-in, energy code, final, and driveway or sidewalk, and none of them is a roof, deck or underlayment stage. The same page adds that "inspections may vary based on project scope", so a non-exempt roof job can still draw whatever inspection the department sets on it. If the deck should be seen before it is covered, arrange that with the department when the permit issues.

Not required — NOT REQUIRED. The state residential rule, 675 IAC 14-4.4, makes four amendments touching the model code's roofing chapter and none concerns impact: 675 IAC 14-4.4-84 deletes the last sentence of Section R902.4 on rooftop-mounted photovoltaic panel systems, 675 IAC 14-4.4-85 deletes the word "approved" from Section R905.2.6 on attachment, 675 IAC 14-4.4-86 deletes the word "approved" from Section R905.2.8 on flashing, and 675 IAC 14-4.4-87 deletes the word "printed" from Section R905.2.8.4 on other flashing. No UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 impact rating appears anywhere in the state residential rule. Brownsburg could not add one: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a town from an ordinance "that conflicts with or includes more stringent or detailed requirements than the commission's rules". The Town's own published instruments agree: its list of work exempt from permitting, its fee schedule, its residential permit page and its Unified Development Ordinance were read and none names an impact rating or any other performance standard for a roof covering. The Town's Code of Ordinances could not be opened for this record. Two things get mistaken for an impact mandate in Indiana: the phrase "Class 2 construction", which is Indiana's structure class for one and two family dwellings and not a rating of the roof covering; and an insurer's premium discount for an impact-rated shingle, which is a private contract term and not a code requirement.

A LIKE-FOR-LIKE REROOF IS ON THE TOWN'S OWN LIST OF WORK EXEMPT FROM PERMITTING, AND THREE CONDITIONS PULL A JOB BACK IN. The Department of Development Services publishes a residential list headed "RESIDENTIAL - WORK EXEMPT FROM PERMITTING", which states "PERMITS SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED FOR THE FOLLOWING" and, under Building, lists "REPLACEMENT OF AN EXISTING ROOF THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE:" three things: "CHANGING ROOF CONFIGURATION"; "CHANGING TYPE OF ROOF COVERING (E.G., TILE ROOF REPLACING ASPHALT SHINGLES) THAT WOULD INCREASE DEAD LOAD ON STRUCTURE"; or "INSTALLATION OF HEAT-APPLIED ROOFING MATERIAL". The same list exempts "GUTTER REPLACEMENT" as a separate item. So on the Town's own statement, replacing the covering on the same roof shape with nothing heavier needs no permit, while a change of roof shape, a switch to a heavier covering such as tile, or a heat-applied membrane brings the job back into permit territory. THE EXEMPTION IS FROM THE PERMIT, NOT FROM THE CODE. The list opens: "EXEMPTION FROM PERMIT REQUIREMENTS SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO GRANT AUTHORIZATION FOR ANY WORK TO BE DONE IN ANY MANNER IN VIOLATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE 2020 INDIANA RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CODE (IRC)". WHAT KIND OF DOCUMENT THIS IS. The list is the department's published guidance, dated 2023 on its cover, not a codified ordinance. The Town's Unified Development Ordinance points the same way at section 8.17, headed Permits Required, whose list of "Exempt Structures and Activities" that "may commence without obtaining a building permit" includes "Property Maintenance: maintenance and repairs to an existing structure or site features is allowed without a permit." That clause does not name roofing. The Town's Code of Ordinances, which would hold any building-permit requirement the Town Council has enacted, is published only on a vendor platform that would not serve its text to this research session, so it has not been read. FEES IF A PERMIT IS NEEDED. Section 40.15 of the Town Code, the Building Department Fee Schedule (Ord. 2011-16, amended by Ord. 2013-30), as republished on the Town's permit portal, carries no roofing line; its single-family residential categories are dwelling, addition and remodel, the last at "$62.50 PER DISCIPLINE". Ask the department which category a non-exempt roof job is filed under. SETTLE A BORDERLINE JOB IN WRITING. The Town's Building and Inspections page says: "If you are unsure if your construction project needs a permit, email your project outline and a staff member will contact you with the necessary next steps." The address is [email protected].

115 mph, FROM THE STATE'S COUNTY-INDEXED TABLE, NOT FROM A TOWN ENACTMENT. Indiana replaces the model Table R301.2(1) with its own table at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, which runs one row per county. Row 32, Hendricks, reads: wind speed 115 mph, seismic design category B, ground snow 20 psf, 30 in the foundation depth column, winter design temperature 2 degrees, decay Slight to Moderate, termite Moderate to Heavy, weathering Severe, ice shield underlayment required No, air freezing index greater than 1500, and mean annual temperature 52.3 degrees. EXPOSURE IS A SITE QUESTION. The table's footnote to the wind column reads "Wind exposure shall be determined on a site-specific basis in accordance with SECTION R301.2.1.4.", and Indiana amends that section itself at 675 IAC 14-4.4-4, so settle the exposure category for the particular address rather than assuming one. Brownsburg cannot vary any of these figures by ordinance, because IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a town from an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules.

NO TOWN RULE FOUND AND NO STATE AMENDMENT, SO THE BASE CODE'S REROOFING PROVISIONS APPLY UNMODIFIED. The state residential rule, 675 IAC 14-4.4, makes only four amendments to the model code's roofing chapter, the word and sentence deletions at 675 IAC 14-4.4-84 through 87 on rooftop photovoltaic panels, shingle attachment, flashing and other flashing, and none of them touches reroofing or recovering an existing roof. The Town's list of work exempt from permitting speaks of "REPLACEMENT OF AN EXISTING ROOF" and says nothing about overlays or layer counts, and its fee schedule has no roofing line at all. The Town could not add a layer cap of its own: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a town from an ordinance that conflicts with or includes more stringent or detailed requirements than the state rules. Base-code rule, read at 2018 International Residential Code Section R908.3.1.1, Roof recover not allowed: a roof recover "shall not be permitted" where "the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be recovered; a second existing layer means a tear-off to the deck. This record declares no classification because the Town's own building code was not read. Confirm the existing layer count and the tear-off question with the department before quoting a recover.

7.00% in Brownsburg, the single Indiana state sales tax rate, with no county or town add-on. The Indiana Department of Revenue's county tax information page, which lists the taxes Indiana counties do levy, closes with the sentence "The sales tax for the entire State of Indiana is 7%." Hendricks County's local levy is an income tax, not a sales tax, so there is no local percentage to add to a materials invoice.