City of Franklin, Indiana - Building Permits and Inspections

City of Franklin, Indiana

city

70 E. Monroe St., Franklin, IN 46131

Required

Not required

WHERE AND HOW. Building permits and inspections sit with the City of Franklin's building inspector, administered through the Department of Planning and Economic Development at City Hall, 70 E. Monroe St., Franklin. Applications are filed through the City's online permitting portal. BOOKING AN INSPECTION HAS TWO WINDOWS, and the City states both: "All building inspections must be scheduled with the Department of Planning & Economic Development at least one (1) business day before the inspection is to be conducted. Inspections will not be scheduled for more than five (5) days in advance." So a re-roof cannot be booked a fortnight ahead, and it cannot be booked the same morning either. WHAT THE INSPECTOR MAY DO: under City Code 15.04.070(A), after a permit issues the building inspector "shall make, or shall cause to be made, inspections of the work being done as are necessary to insure full compliance with the provisions of this chapter and the terms of the permit", and re-inspections of work found incomplete or not ready attract a re-inspection fee. The chapter sets out no fixed schedule of inspection stages for a re-roof, so agree the inspection points with the department when the permit is issued. The inspector may also enter any building, structure or premises in the city at reasonable times on presentation of proper credentials. WHAT THE INSPECTOR MAY NOT DO is worth knowing: 15.04.030 gives the building inspector "only the discretion of determining whether this chapter has been complied with", and says expressly that no provision shall be construed as giving any officer "power to require conditions not prescribed by ordinances or to enforce this chapter in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner." A variance from the adopted state building rules is not the City's to grant and goes to the state under IC 22-13-2-7(b). PAYMENT: cash, money order, debit or credit; a card payment costs an extra "$4.00 PLUS 2%". STOP WORK: under 15.04.080 the building inspector may order the work stopped by written notice served on anyone doing or causing it, and the work must stay stopped until the inspector authorises it to proceed. APPEALS run under 15.04.120 and remedies under 15.04.130; a certificate of occupancy question is governed by 15.04.090, which matters on new construction rather than on a re-roof.

STATE-SET, AND FRANKLIN'S OWN LIST IS DECADES OUT OF DATE WHILE ITS OWN FLOATING CLAUSE FIXES THAT. The operative rule is 675 IAC 14-4.4, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 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 formally readopted November 18, 2025, and it is the newest rule in its article. WHAT FRANKLIN'S CODE SAYS. City Code 15.04.040(A) provides that "Building rules of the Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission as set out in the following Articles of Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code are incorporated by reference in this chapter and shall include later amendments to those Articles as the same are published in the Indiana Register or the Indiana Administrative Code with effective dates as fixed therein", and then lists Articles 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. READ THE ARTICLE 14 SUB-LIST WITH CARE RATHER THAN ACTING ON IT: it names the "Council of American Building Officials One and Two Family Dwelling Code", the "CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code; Amendments" and the "Standard for Permanent Installation of Manufactured Homes". Those are the CABO-era rules; two of the three are repealed, and none of them is the residential code now in force. What controls is that the adoption is of the ARTICLE and expressly carries later amendments, so it reaches 675 IAC 14-4.4 as the current rule in Article 14. Indiana law reaches the same result independently: IC 22-13-2-3(b) provides that a local reference to the Indiana Administrative Code "shall be construed to include all amendments as of the date that the reference is written and any later amendments to that provision, unless accompanied by a reference to a specific edition or supplement to the Indiana Administrative Code." And no Indiana city could be on a different residential code in any event, because 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", with IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) giving those rules precedence over any local ordinance covering the same subject matter. So a roofer working in Franklin is on the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, whatever the sub-list says. SCOPE OF THE LOCAL CHAPTER, in its own words at 15.04.020(B): "The provisions of this chapter apply to the construction, alteration, repair, use, occupancy and addition to all buildings and structures, other than industrialized building systems or mobile structures certified under IC 22-15-4, in the city." VARIANCES are not a local matter: 15.04.030 closes "Any variance from adopted building rules are subject to approval under IC 22-13-2-7(b)." The code text used here is the Municipal Code as codified through Ordinance No. 2024-09, passed November 4, 2024. One vocabulary warning: "Class 2" in Indiana is a STRUCTURE class, broadly one and two family dwellings, and has nothing to do with a fire class or an impact class of roof covering.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT CITY-SET, and unconditional on a shingle roof. Franklin cannot vary it: 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." The operative text is published first-hand by the Indiana State Building Commissioner, on Indiana Department of Homeland Security letterhead, in the Ice/Water Shield and Metal Drip Edge guidance of February 25, 2020, which reproduces the adopted Section R905.2.8.5 in full: "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs. Adjacent segments of drip edge shall be overlapped not less than 2 inches (51 mm). Drip edges shall extend not less than ¼ inch (6.4 mm) below the roof sheathing and extend up back onto the roof deck not less than 2 inches (51 mm). Drip edges shall be mechanically fastened to the rood deck at not more than 12 inches (305 mm) o.c. with fasteners as specified in Section R905.2.5 Underlayment shall be installed over the drip edge along eaves and under the drip edge along rake edges." The word "rood" in that passage is a typographical error in the published guidance, quoted here as printed; it plainly means the roof deck. The Indiana rule amends Section R905.2.8 only by deleting the word "approved" and does not touch R905.2.8.5, so this text governs as published. About drip edge

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY THE TABLE IN JOHNSON COUNTY - BUT READ THE SECOND HALF OF THIS BEFORE LEAVING IT OFF. This is a county-by-county answer in Indiana. The state deletes the model climatic table and substitutes its own: 675 IAC 14-4.4-5 directs "Delete TABLE R301.2(1) and the corresponding footnotes and substitute to read as follows", and the substituted table runs one row per county. Row 41 is Johnson, and it carries "No" in the column headed "Ice Shield Underlayment Required". Twenty-seven of Indiana's ninety-two counties carry "Yes" there and they are the northern tier; Johnson County, immediately south of Marion County and Indianapolis, is not one of them, and neither is Marion. The rest of the Johnson County row is wind speed 115 mph, seismic design category B, ground snow 20 psf, foundation depth 30 inches, winter design temperature 2 degrees F and weathering Severe. THE MANUFACTURER'S INSTRUCTIONS CAN STILL REQUIRE ONE, AND THE STATE SAYS SO IN TERMS. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's Ice/Water Shield and Metal Drip Edge guidance of February 25, 2020 explains that Sections R903.1, R904.1 and R905.1 require roofing materials to be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's installation instructions, and concludes that "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 (per Sections R903.1, R904.1 and R905.1)." Johnson County is in the second group. So the correct answer on a Franklin job is to read the shingle manufacturer's published instructions for that product: if they call for an ice barrier, the code requires you to follow them, and a warranty may depend on it as well. Franklin has added nothing of its own - Title 15 of the City Code was read in full and contains no ice barrier or underlayment provision - and it could not: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules. About ice & water barrier

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement applies in Franklin. The 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, makes four amendments touching the model code's roofing chapter and not one of them concerns impact: it deletes the text of the last sentence of Section R902.4 on rooftop-mounted photovoltaic panel systems, deletes the words "approved" from Section R905.2.6 on asphalt shingle attachment, deletes the word "approved" from Section R905.2.8 on flashing, and deletes the word "printed" from Section R905.2.8.4 on other flashing. Nothing in the rule imposes a UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 impact rating. Title 15 of the Franklin City Code, Buildings and Construction, was read in full across all four chapters and searched for each of those terms and for the word "impact"; none appears, and the chapter's only roofing language is a housing-standards weathertightness requirement. Franklin could not add one on top: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from adopting an ordinance that conflicts with or includes more stringent or detailed requirements than the state rules, and IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives those rules precedence over any local ordinance on the same subject. Two things that get mistaken for an impact mandate in Indiana: the phrase "Class 2", which is Indiana's STRUCTURE class for one and two family dwellings rather than any 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.

NO THRESHOLD AND NO EXEMPTION LIST - THE FRANKLIN RULE IS ONE SENTENCE WIDE. City Code 15.04.050(A), headed "Permit Required", provides: "A permit required by this chapter shall be obtained before beginning construction, alteration or repair of an building or structure, using forms furnished by the building inspector, and all fees required by this chapter shall be paid to the building inspector." The words "an building" appear in the codified text as published. The chapter's scope provision, 15.04.020(B), covers "the construction, alteration, repair, use, occupancy and addition to all buildings and structures", excepting only industrialized building systems and mobile structures certified under IC 22-15-4. Title 15 of the City Code was read in full - all four chapters, the Building Code, Minimum Housing Standards, Dangerous Buildings and House Numbers - and there is no list of work exempt from permit anywhere in it, and no square-footage, dollar-value or layer threshold of any kind. A re-roof is a repair or alteration of a building, so it is inside the rule, and the practical question is not whether a permit is needed but which application to file. WHAT THE APPLICATION MUST CARRY: 15.04.050(B) provides that no building permit shall issue "unless the application for a permit is accompanied by a plat or sketch of the proposed location showing lot boundaries, and by plans and specifications showing the work to be done", and requires a state design release issued under IC 22-15-3-1 to be lodged before a permit issues for construction covered by one - which is a commercial matter rather than a house re-roof. Franklin does not publish a roofing fee figure, so settle the fee with the department before quoting; note that the City charges "$4.00 PLUS 2%" on card payments. THERE IS AN EXPEDITED ROUTE if timing matters: 15.04.060 authorises the board of public works and safety to allow expedited review, at the applicant's cost, with a minimum expedited review fee of one hundred dollars on top of the normal permit fee. STARTING WITHOUT ONE: under 15.04.080 the building inspector may order work stopped by written notice served on anyone doing or causing the work, and the work must stop "until authorized by the building inspector to proceed with the work."

115 mph. Indiana replaces the model IRC Table R301.2(1) with its own county-by-county table at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, which opens "Delete TABLE R301.2(1) and the corresponding footnotes and substitute to read as follows". The Johnson County row gives 115 in the column headed "Wind Speed", in miles per hour, and every one of the ninety-two county rows carries the same figure, so 115 mph is the one genuinely statewide Indiana roofing number. The same row gives seismic design category B, ground snow 20 psf, a 30 inch foundation depth, a winter design temperature of 2 degrees F and Severe weathering. Franklin cannot raise or lower any of it by ordinance, because IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules, and its own Building Code chapter sets no design criteria. Wind exposure category remains a site-by-site determination made under the residential code rather than a figure the city or state sets - the table's own footnote marker on the Wind Speed column points to Section R301.2.1.4 - so settle the exposure category for the particular site rather than assuming one.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE, AND NO INDIANA CITY MAY WRITE ONE. Franklin's residential code is the state's: City Code 15.04.040 incorporates Article 14 of Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code together with later amendments, and the rule now in force in that article is 675 IAC 14-4.4, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, which incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code. That rule runs to 245 numbered sections and its only amendments touching the model roofing chapter are word and sentence deletions in the rooftop photovoltaic section and in the asphalt shingle attachment and flashing sections. It makes no amendment at all to the model code's reroofing and roof recover section, which does not appear anywhere in the Indiana rule. Title 15 of the Franklin City Code was read in full across all four chapters and contains no roof-covering provision of any kind; its single roofing reference is the housing-standards requirement that "Every foundation, floor, wall, ceiling and roof shall be reasonably weathertight". So the base International Residential Code rule on recovering an existing roof applies here exactly as published, and neither the state nor the City has changed it. Franklin could not change it: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from an ordinance that conflicts with or includes more stringent or detailed requirements than the state rules. The number of layers a particular roof may carry therefore comes out of the adopted International Residential Code itself, and a roofer planning a recover rather than a tear-off should settle the existing layer count with the building inspector against that code before quoting. Either way the job needs a Franklin permit.

7.00% statewide, with no county or city add-on in Franklin or Johnson County. Indiana levies a single state sales tax rate. The Department of Revenue's own page listing what Indiana does tax at county level - innkeeper's tax, food and beverage tax and local income tax - closes with the sentence "The sales tax for the entire State of Indiana is 7%." The county-level tax Johnson County levies is an income tax, not a sales tax, so there is no local percentage to add to a materials invoice. WHO PAYS IT DEPENDS ON THE SHAPE OF THE CONTRACT, NOT ON THE ROOF. Indiana Department of Revenue Sales Tax Information Bulletin #60 (March 2024) names roofing in its own definition of a contractor and then splits on contract form. A "Time and Material Contract" is one "in which the cost of construction material and the cost of labor or other charges are stated separately"; a contractor working under one "is a retail merchant that is selling the construction material that it incorporates into real property, and must be registered with the department and collect sales tax on the material portion of their contracts", and may buy the material exempt for resale. A contractor working under any other form, such as a lump sum, is not a retail merchant: they "must pay sales or use tax on their construction material" and "do not collect sales tax from their customers". On labour the bulletin adds that "Installation charges separately stated on an invoice are not included in gross retail income." The bulletin is Department guidance and says of itself that information bulletins are not binding on the department or the taxpayer, so a roofer should settle their own contract form with an accountant. One local point that is a fee and not a tax: the City charges "$4.00 PLUS 2%" for paying by debit or credit card.