City of Goshen, Indiana - Building Department

City of Goshen, Indiana

city

204 E Jefferson St, Suite 5, Goshen, IN 46528

Required

Not required

WHERE AND HOW. The Building Department is in the Annex Building at 204 E Jefferson St, Suite 5, Goshen, on (574) 534-1811. Its own handout states the filing route: "Permits may be obtained in person by visiting the at the Building Department, located at the Annex Building, 204 E Jefferson St, Suite 5, Goshen, or by applying online, using the City of Goshen's web portal. We accept cash, check or credit/debit cards." The wording "the at the" is in the City document as published. WHO MAY APPLY: "For residential construction: Homeowners may apply for any permits related to their own properties", while electrical, HVAC and plumbing permits must be applied for by licensed contractors. A zoning clearance may be required on top of a permit, though the City ties that requirement to new construction rather than to a re-roof. PERMIT LIFE: Goshen City Code 6.1.1.8 provides that "A permit shall expire one (1) year from the date of issue." INSPECTIONS are open-ended rather than staged in the code - 6.1.1.12 provides that after a permit issues the Building Commissioner "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 Code article and the terms of the permit", and re-inspection of work found incomplete or not ready is charged at the rate in the current fee ordinance. The City publishes no roofing inspection stage, so agree the timing with the inspector; the department has four inspectors and a building commissioner listed by name and direct line on its page. STARTING WITHOUT A PERMIT: the City describes the stop-work power in its own words - "Whenever any work is being done contrary to the provisions of the codes and/or ordinances, the Building Commissioner or his/her designee may order the work to be stopped", by written notice served on the people doing the work or posted at the site, and the work must stop "until authorized by the Building Commissioner or his/her designee to proceed". APPEALS go first to a five-member Board of Building Appeals under Goshen Municipal Code 6.1.1.19, within fifteen days of the decision appealed from, and from there to the State Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission, which "may modify or reverse any order that is issued by the City of Goshen". COMMERCIAL WORK is a different track: a Construction Design Release from the State may be required before the City will issue anything, and 6.1.1.6 requires a copy of it before a permit issues for construction covered by one.

STATE-SET, AND GOSHEN WROTE THE FLOATING REFERENCE INTO ITS OWN CODE - WHICH IS WHY ITS OWN OUT-OF-DATE HANDOUT DOES NOT CHANGE THE ANSWER. 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 the article. Goshen City Code 6.1.1.5, headed "Adoption of rules by reference", takes it up in the widest possible terms: building rules of the Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission set out in listed articles of Title 675, item (2) being "675 IAC 14 - ONE AND TWO FAMILY DWELLING CODES", "are incorporated by reference into this Code article and shall be construed to include all amendments as of the date the rule is written and any later amendments thereto." That matches what Indiana law does anyway - IC 22-13-2-3(b) provides that a local citation 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" - so the Goshen adoption moves forward with the state rule instead of freezing. READ THIS BEFORE TRUSTING THE CITY HANDOUT: Goshen still publishes a page headed "CURRENT CONSTRUCTION CODES IN EFFECT IN INDIANA - 2015 (revised 1/22/15)", which lists the residential code as "Indiana Residential Code 2008 (IAC-675-14-4.2.1) Based on: International Residential Code (2003 Edition)". That handout is a decade old and the edition it names has been superseded; the floating clause in the City's own code and the state rule both point to the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, and the Indiana State Building Commissioner states that "The 2020 Indiana Residential Code is in full force and effect statewide." Goshen could not be on a different edition in any event: 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. 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. Goshen 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

Required — REQUIRED IN ELKHART COUNTY. This is a county-by-county answer in Indiana and it is the field most often got wrong here by carrying an answer up from a job further south. 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 20 is Elkhart, and it carries "Yes" 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; the other sixty-five carry "No". The rest of the Elkhart County row is the northern Indiana set: wind speed 115 mph, seismic design category A, ground snow 30 psf, foundation depth 36 inches, winter design temperature 1 degree F, weathering Severe. Neighbouring St. Joseph and LaGrange Counties read "Yes" as well, so the whole Goshen to South Bend corridor is consistent on this point. Goshen has no power to change it: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules. The Indiana State Building Commissioner adds the point that matters in a "No" county and is worth knowing here too - Sections R903.1, R904.1 and R905.1 require roofing materials to be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's installation 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 (per Sections R903 .1, R904.1 and R905 .1)." In Elkhart County both routes point the same way. About ice & water barrier

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement applies in Goshen. 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 word "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. The Goshen City Code was searched across its whole text for each of those terms and none of them appears anywhere in it. Goshen 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 construction", which runs through the State Building Commissioner's roofing guidance and 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 - A ROOF REPLACEMENT NEEDS A PERMIT IN GOSHEN, AND THE CITY NAMES ROOFING WHEN IT SAYS SO. The Building Department page states: "The Building Department issues permits that are required for the construction, alteration, remodeling, rehabilitation, or additions to any building or structure or the placement of a mobile home. This would include roof replacement, siding and windows." The codified requirement behind that is Goshen City Code 6.1.1.7, headed "Permit required": "A permit shall be obtained before a person begins to construct, alter, remodel, rehabilitate, or add to any building or structure, or the placement of a mobile home." Section 6.1.1.6 puts it the other way round - "No construction, alteration or repair of any building or structure, including plumbing, electrical work, mechanical work, ventilation work or air conditioning shall be commenced until a permit is issued for the proposed work." Article 1 of Title 6 of the Goshen City Code was read in full, all twenty-two sections from 6.1.1.1 Title to 6.1.1.22 Suspension or revocation, and it contains no list of work exempt from permit and no square-footage, dollar-value or layer threshold of any kind. So unlike most of the Indiana records in this directory there is no small-repair carve-out to measure a job against; if the work alters the building, it needs a permit. WHO IS ON THE HOOK: 6.1.1.7 makes it "the joint obligation of the property owner and contractor to obtain all necessary permits", and failure "will subject both the property owner and the contractor to the penalties established by this Code article." A permit expires one year from the date of issue. Fees are not set in the code - 6.1.1.10 refers them to "the current Building Department Fee Ordinance" - and the City publishes its current fee schedule only through a document viewer that does not serve its text, so confirm the roofing permit fee with the Building Department on (574) 534-1811 before quoting. If the job is unclear, the department invites the question directly: "If you are unsure as to whether or not your project requires permits, please either contact the office by phone at 574-534-1811".

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 Elkhart 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 A, ground snow 30 psf, a 36 inch foundation depth, a winter design temperature of 1 degree F and Severe weathering. Goshen 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. Wind exposure category is still a site-by-site determination made under the residential code rather than a figure the city or state sets - the table's own footnote a reads "Wind exposure shall be determined on a site-specific basis in accordance with SECTION R301.2.1.4" - and Indiana amends that exposure-category rule at 675 IAC 14-4.4-4 for sites in a subdivision or master-planned community where the adjacent structures are not built yet.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE, AND NONE IS POSSIBLE IN INDIANA. Goshen's residential code is the state's: Goshen City Code 6.1.1.5 incorporates 675 IAC 14 by reference together with all later amendments, and 675 IAC 14-4.4, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code. That rule runs to 245 numbered sections and its only amendments touching the model roofing chapter are word deletions in the asphalt shingle attachment and flashing sections and in the rooftop photovoltaic section. 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. The Goshen City Code was searched across its whole text and contains no roof-covering provision of any kind - its roofing references are a chicken-coop standard, storm-water and sewer provisions, and the property-maintenance requirement that "The roof and flashing shall be sound, tight and not have defects that admit rain." 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. Goshen 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 an overlay rather than a tear-off should settle the existing layer count with the Building Department against that code before quoting. Either way the job needs a Goshen permit.

7.00% statewide, with no county or city add-on in Goshen or Elkhart 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 Elkhart 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.