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Permitting Authorities / Indiana / City of Hammond, Indiana - Inspections Department, Building Division

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Hammond, IN?

Adopted code

City of Hammond, Indiana - Inspections Department, Building Division

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Hammond, IN, issued by City of Hammond, Indiana - Inspections Department, Building Division. Re-roofing is a permit type on Hammond's own building permit application. The City's Building Division "is responsible for issuing building permits and performing inspections for construction and remodeling projects within the city limits," and the Building Permit Application it publishes asks the applicant to check one work type from a list that begins "Roof(Shingles)" and "Roof (Tear Off)" - so both a shingle-over and a full tear-off are permitted work in Hammond, and the form is filed either as a Home Owner or as a Contractor. A contractor filing it must attach a copy of the signed contract. The form states plainly that "THE CONTRACTOR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR INSPECTIONS," and it carries separate Building and Zoning approval sign-offs. It does not cover electrical, HVAC or plumbing work, which take their own permits from the same department. Applications are filed in person at the Building Division on the ground level of Hammond City Hall, Room G1, 5925 Calumet Avenue, open Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The separate Improvement Location Permit the Zoning Division issues is described by that division as a new-construction step - "All new construction must be approved and issued an Improvement Location Permit by the Zoning Department prior to receiving a Building Permit." Hammond's codified ordinances are published only through a vendor that does not serve them to this directory, so no ordinance section number, fee figure or exemption threshold is restated here; confirm the current fee with the Building Division at (219) 853-6317 before quoting a job.

Roof code checklist: Hammond, IN

ItemAnswerCode citeSourceVerified
Permit to replace a roofYesgohammond.com2026-09-03
Repair permit thresholdNot published
Layer limit / roof-overPublishedR908.3.1.1iar.iga.in.gov2026-09-11
Deck & sheathingNot published
Drip edgeYesR905.2.8.5Ice-and-Water-Shield-Update-2020-...2026-09-04
Ice & water shieldYesiar.iga.in.gov2026-09-03
Mid-roof inspectionNot published
Impact-resistant (Class 4) roofingNoiar.iga.in.gov2026-09-03
Wind design criteriaPublishediar.iga.in.gov2026-09-03
Adopted codePublishediar.iga.in.gov2026-09-03
Contractor license / registrationYesgohammond.com2026-09-03
Sales & use taxPublishedin.gov2026-09-03

Each row comes from the sourced record on this page; full wording is in the table below. "Not published" means no official source for that item was found when the record was last verified.

Jurisdiction
City of Hammond, Indiana
Jurisdiction type
city
Address
5925 Calumet Avenue, Room G1, Hammond, IN 46320
Contact
  • phone: (219) 853-6317
  • url: https://www.gohammond.com/departments/inspections-department/building-division/
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Required
Registration details
  • license: Hammond licenses contractors itself, and roofing is one of its own licence categories. The Building Division states that "Any contractor, sub-contractor, or specialty contractor working within the city limits must be registered with the city," and that an unlicensed contractor found performing construction work of any kind inside the city limits is subject to court proceedings brought by the Building Commissioner. The City's contractor licence application lists "Residential Roofing" and "Commercial Roofing" as separate licence types alongside Residential General, Commercial General, Exterior Remodeling, Drywall and Metal Studs, Concrete, Masonry, Electrical and HVAC. Getting one is a real process: a written examination is required for Residential Roofing and Commercial Roofing, given on the first Monday of the month, open book, one hour, 70% to pass, written on the 2018 IRC with Indiana Amendments or the 2020 Indiana Residential Code; a $100 non-refundable examination fee; a limited criminal background check obtained from the Hammond Police Department before the test; and mandatory attendance at the relevant Board of Contractors meeting, the Building Contractors Board sitting at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of every month. Before the licence issues the applicant must file a certificate of insurance naming the City of Hammond as certificate holder with $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury and $50,000 property damage limits, workers' compensation coverage or a certification of waiver, a $5,000 licence and permit bond in the name of the Board of Lake County Commissioners and all cities, towns and municipalities of Lake County recorded at the Lake County Recorder's Office in Crown Point, and a $200 initial licence fee. Licences expire December 31 and renew for $100 between January 1 and January 31. The City states that an applicant whose background check reveals a conviction for a crime involving theft, fraud, dishonesty, misrepresentation, deceit, violence against another person or a sexual offence shall not be licensed as a contractor or subcontractor in Hammond. At state level there is nothing to obtain: Indiana licenses no general-contractor, roofing or home-improvement trade, and the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency's published list of the professions it regulates includes plumbing but no general-contractor or roofing credential. The credential a roofer needs in Hammond is the City one.
Permit process note
Re-roofing is a permit type on Hammond's own building permit application. The City's Building Division "is responsible for issuing building permits and performing inspections for construction and remodeling projects within the city limits," and the Building Permit Application it publishes asks the applicant to check one work type from a list that begins "Roof(Shingles)" and "Roof (Tear Off)" - so both a shingle-over and a full tear-off are permitted work in Hammond, and the form is filed either as a Home Owner or as a Contractor. A contractor filing it must attach a copy of the signed contract. The form states plainly that "THE CONTRACTOR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR INSPECTIONS," and it carries separate Building and Zoning approval sign-offs. It does not cover electrical, HVAC or plumbing work, which take their own permits from the same department. Applications are filed in person at the Building Division on the ground level of Hammond City Hall, Room G1, 5925 Calumet Avenue, open Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The separate Improvement Location Permit the Zoning Division issues is described by that division as a new-construction step - "All new construction must be approved and issued an Improvement Location Permit by the Zoning Department prior to receiving a Building Permit." Hammond's codified ordinances are published only through a vendor that does not serve them to this directory, so no ordinance section number, fee figure or exemption threshold is restated here; confirm the current fee with the Building Division at (219) 853-6317 before quoting a job.
Adopted code
Not a City choice. Building-code content in Hammond is set by the State of Indiana: the 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4, which incorporates by reference the 2018 International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings, first printing August 2017. The rule was filed November 26, 2019 and formally readopted November 18, 2025, and it is the newest rule in Article 14 of Title 675. Under IC 22-13-2-3 the state rules take precedence over any local ordinance covering the same subject matter, and a city, town or county may not adopt an ordinance that conflicts with or includes more stringent or more detailed requirements than those rules, so Hammond cannot be on a different residential code. Hammond's own Inspections Department confirms the same edition from the city side: the residential examination a contractor must pass to hold a Hammond licence is written on "2018 IRC with Indiana Amendments or 2020 Indiana Residential Code."
Drip edge
Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT CITY-SET, and unconditional. Indiana localities cannot vary this: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from an ordinance that conflicts with or is more stringent or more detailed 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 and Water Shield Update memo of 2020-02-25 (revised), which reproduces 2018 IRC 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." Note the memo reproduces a typo in the enacted text it quotes ("rood deck" for "roof deck"); the reading is not in doubt. 675 IAC 14-4.4 amends R905.2.8 only by deleting the word "approved" (14-4.4-86) and does not touch R905.2.8.5, so the model text governs as written. About drip edge
Ice & water shield
Required — Hammond is in Lake County, and Lake County is one of the 27 Indiana counties where the ice barrier is required outright. Indiana deletes the model IRC Table R301.2(1) and substitutes its own county-by-county table at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5; the Lake County row states "Yes" in the column headed "Ice Shield Underlayment Required". This is a per-county answer, not a state one - most Indiana counties, including Marion (Indianapolis) and Hamilton (Carmel), are marked "No" and get an ice barrier only where the shingle manufacturer's written instructions call for one. A roofer working both ends of Indiana should not carry the central-Indiana answer north. About ice & water barrier
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Hammond. The 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, was read in full across all 245 of its numbered sections and contains no reference to UL 2218, to Class 4 or Class IV impact ratings, or to FM 4473; its only amendments touching IRC Chapter 9 delete the word "approved" from the asphalt shingle attachment and flashing sections, delete the word "printed" from the other-flashing section, and delete one sentence from the rooftop photovoltaic section. Hammond has no power to add such a requirement by ordinance: 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's own building rules. An insurance discount for impact-rated shingles is not a code requirement.
Wind design criteria
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, and the Lake County row - the row that governs Hammond - reads 115 mph design wind speed, Seismic Design Category A, 30 psf ground snow load, 36-inch frost depth and a 1 degree F winter design temperature. All 92 Indiana counties carry the same 115 mph figure, so wind speed is the one genuinely statewide number in the table. Wind exposure category is not set by the state or the city; it is determined site by site.
Roof layer limit / recover
No Indiana or Hammond rule changes the model answer. Indiana's residential code is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, which incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code. Its 245 sections contain no amendment to the reroofing and roof-recover provisions of IRC Section R908 - that section is not referenced anywhere in the rule - and under IC 22-13-2-3 no Indiana city, town or county may impose a conflicting, more stringent or more detailed requirement. So the base International Residential Code rule on recovering an existing roof applies in Hammond as published, and there is no separate Hammond layer cap to look up. Base-code rule, read at 2018 International Residential Code Section R908.3.1.1, Roof recover not allowed, and quoted here rather than left behind the ICC paywall: 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.
Sales & use tax
7% - the Indiana state rate, with no Lake County or City of Hammond add-on. Indiana levies a single statewide sales tax and authorises no local-option general sales tax; the taxes Indiana does levy at county level are a local income tax, an innkeeper's tax and a food-and-beverage tax, none of which reaches roofing materials. The Department of Revenue states it on the page that enumerates the county-level taxes: "The sales tax for the entire State of Indiana is 7%." How the 7% falls depends on the shape of the contract rather than on the trade. Under a lump-sum contract the roofer pays the tax on the materials as the consumer and charges the homeowner no sales tax; under a time-and-material contract - one stating the cost of materials and the cost of labor separately - the roofer buys the materials exempt for resale and collects the 7% from the homeowner on the material portion, with separately stated installation labor not included in the taxable amount. Roofing is named by the Department of Revenue as a contractor trade for these purposes.

Local roofing hub

Roofing in Hammond, IndianaCity hub

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The permitting authority for the City of Hammond, Indiana, a Lake County city on the Illinois state line at the north-west corner of the state. The Building Division of Hammond's Inspections Department issues building permits and performs inspections inside the city limits, and the same office runs the city's contractor licensing. Two things set Hammond apart for a roofer. It licenses roofing as its own trade - "Residential Roofing" and "Commercial Roofing" are separate City licence categories, each requiring a written open-book examination on the residential code, a contractors' board appearance, a criminal background check and a bond recorded with the Lake County Recorder. And Lake County is one of the 27 Indiana counties the state's own climatic table marks "Yes" in the column headed "Ice Shield Underlayment Required", unlike the central-Indiana counties that hold most of the state's population.

Hail reports near Hammond, IN

Reports, last 24 months
2
Largest, last 24 months
1.00 in Jun 24, 2026
Most recent
Jun 24, 2026 1.00 in
Reports, last 5 years
3
3 most recent reports, last 5 years
DateHail sizeDistance
Jun 24, 20261.00 in5 mi SSE
Mar 26, 20261.00 in5 mi SE
Feb 27, 20241.75 in3 mi NW

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database and daily storm reports (reports since the start of the current year are preliminary), within 10 miles of Hammond, IN (Census point). Data through Oct 7, 2026, not updated since. A report is an observation, not a damage record.

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Sources

Roofing questions: Hammond, IN

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Hammond, IN?

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Hammond, IN.

Is ice & water shield required in Hammond, IN?

Yes. Hammond is in Lake County, and Lake County is one of the 27 Indiana counties where the ice barrier is required outright. Indiana deletes the model IRC Table R301.2(1) and substitutes its own county-by-county table at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5; the Lake County row states "Yes" in the column headed "Ice Shield Underlayment Required". This is a per-county answer, not a state one - most Indiana counties, including Marion (Indianapolis) and Hamilton (Carmel), are marked "No" and get an ice barrier only where the shingle manufacturer's written instructions call for one. A roofer working both ends of Indiana should not carry the central-Indiana answer north.

Is drip edge required in Hammond, IN?

Yes. STATE-GOVERNED, NOT CITY-SET, and unconditional. Indiana localities cannot vary this: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from an ordinance that conflicts with or is more stringent or more detailed 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 and Water Shield Update memo of 2020-02-25 (revised), which reproduces 2018 IRC 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." Note the memo reproduces a typo in the enacted text it quotes ("rood deck" for "roof deck"); the reading is not in doubt. 675 IAC 14-4.4 amends R905.2.8 only by deleting the word "approved" (14-4.4-86) and does not touch R905.2.8.5, so the model text governs as written.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Hammond, IN?

No Indiana or Hammond rule changes the model answer. Indiana's residential code is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, which incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code. Its 245 sections contain no amendment to the reroofing and roof-recover provisions of IRC Section R908 - that section is not referenced anywhere in the rule - and under IC 22-13-2-3 no Indiana city, town or county may impose a conflicting, more stringent or more detailed requirement. So the base International Residential Code rule on recovering an existing roof applies in Hammond as published, and there is no separate Hammond layer cap to look up. Base-code rule, read at 2018 International Residential Code Section R908.3.1.1, Roof recover not allowed, and quoted here rather than left behind the ICC paywall: 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.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Hammond, IN?

Yes. Hammond licenses contractors itself, and roofing is one of its own licence categories. The Building Division states that "Any contractor, sub-contractor, or specialty contractor working within the city limits must be registered with the city," and that an unlicensed contractor found performing construction work of any kind inside the city limits is subject to court proceedings brought by the Building Commissioner. The City's contractor licence application lists "Residential Roofing" and "Commercial Roofing" as separate licence types alongside Residential General, Commercial General, Exterior Remodeling, Drywall and Metal Studs, Concrete, Masonry, Electrical and HVAC. Getting one is a real process: a written examination is required for Residential Roofing and Commercial Roofing, given on the first Monday of the month, open book, one hour, 70% to pass, written on the 2018 IRC with Indiana Amendments or the 2020 Indiana Residential Code; a $100 non-refundable examination fee; a limited criminal background check obtained from the Hammond Police Department before the test; and mandatory attendance at the relevant Board of Contractors meeting, the Building Contractors Board sitting at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of every month. Before the licence issues the applicant must file a certificate of insurance naming the City of Hammond as certificate holder with $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury and $50,000 property damage limits, workers' compensation coverage or a certification of waiver, a $5,000 licence and permit bond in the name of the Board of Lake County Commissioners and all cities, towns and municipalities of Lake County recorded at the Lake County Recorder's Office in Crown Point, and a $200 initial licence fee. Licences expire December 31 and renew for $100 between January 1 and January 31. The City states that an applicant whose background check reveals a conviction for a crime involving theft, fraud, dishonesty, misrepresentation, deceit, violence against another person or a sexual offence shall not be licensed as a contractor or subcontractor in Hammond. At state level there is nothing to obtain: Indiana licenses no general-contractor, roofing or home-improvement trade, and the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency's published list of the professions it regulates includes plumbing but no general-contractor or roofing credential. The credential a roofer needs in Hammond is the City one.

What building code does Hammond, IN use?

Not a City choice. Building-code content in Hammond is set by the State of Indiana: the 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4, which incorporates by reference the 2018 International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings, first printing August 2017. The rule was filed November 26, 2019 and formally readopted November 18, 2025, and it is the newest rule in Article 14 of Title 675. Under IC 22-13-2-3 the state rules take precedence over any local ordinance covering the same subject matter, and a city, town or county may not adopt an ordinance that conflicts with or includes more stringent or more detailed requirements than those rules, so Hammond cannot be on a different residential code. Hammond's own Inspections Department confirms the same edition from the city side: the residential examination a contractor must pass to hold a Hammond licence is written on "2018 IRC with Indiana Amendments or 2020 Indiana Residential Code."