Town of Highland, Indiana - Building and Inspection Department

Town of Highland, Indiana

city

3333 Ridge Rd, Highland, IN 46322

Required

Required

WHERE AND HOW. The Highland Building and Inspection Department is at the Highland Municipal Building, 3333 Ridge Road, Highland, Indiana 46322, on (219) 972-7595 with fax (219) 972-5097, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Kenneth Mika is Chief Inspector and Building Commissioner; the department also has an inspection secretary, an inspection clerk, associate inspectors for electrical and plumbing, and a code enforcement officer. The Town publishes its permit forms as PDFs and asks that they be faxed or emailed to the department. WHAT THE DEPARTMENT DOES, IN ITS OWN WORDS: "The Building Department was created to guarantee orderly development within the boundaries of the town and assist contractors, developers and homeowners as they look to construct new buildings as well as rehabilitate and expand existing homes and businesses. Our Code Enforcement Officer works as part of the department to ensure properties and buildings are kept safe and in compliance. Our inspectors follow workman to guarantee work that has been contracted is up to code." THE APPLICATION. Highland's Building Permit Application asks the applicant to tick New Construction, Addition or Remodel, notes that a plat of survey is required, and asks for roof rafter spacing and roof material among the structural details. It must be signed by both the contractor and the property owner, or accompanied by a signed copy of their contract, and it lists the separate contractors on the job. It carries two instructions worth reading before quoting: "BEFORE STARTING CONSTRUCTION CHECK WITH THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT FOR BUILDING & ZONING REGULATIONS" and "ALL CONTRACTED WORK MUST BE DONE BY CONTRACTORS LICENSED WITH THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND". INSPECTIONS. Highland does not publish a fixed inspection schedule for residential work. Municipal Code section 15.10.090(C) leaves the staging to the department: "The building commissioner or his designee shall in all cases designate the stage of construction when each required inspection must be requested by the permit holder." The same section lets the commissioner increase the number of required inspections on unusually large or complex work, with a right of appeal to the town council, and lets him assess a re-inspection fee where the permit holder failed to have the work ready at a designated stage. Re-inspection fees must be paid before a certificate of occupancy issues. Ask the department which stages it will want on a particular roof. AUTHORITY. Municipal Code section 15.10.030 authorises and directs the building inspector or his designee to administer and enforce the building code, and expressly limits that officer to "the discretion of determining whether the rules and standards established by ordinance have been complied with", with no power "to require conditions not prescribed by ordinances or to enforce ordinance provisions in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner". Section 15.10.180 gives a right of appeal. A SCOPE POINT. Highland is a town with its own department. Its Lake County neighbours - Griffith, Munster, Merrillville, Schererville, Crown Point, Hobart and Hammond among them - each run their own, with different permit thresholds and separate contractor registers. A Highland licence is not a Griffith licence. Confirm which office holds the job before applying.

STATE-SET - AND HIGHLAND'S OWN ADOPTION FLOATS FORWARD ONTO IT, WHICH IS WHY ITS STALE CODE LIST DOES NOT MATTER. The residential rule that applies here 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 readopted on November 18, 2025 by the Readopted Final Rule at Indiana Register 20251210-IR-675240566RFA, effective January 1, 2026; every one of the rule's 245 sections carries that readoption in its own history line. WHAT THE TOWN CODE SAYS. Highland Municipal Code Chapter 15.10 is the "Building Code of the Town of Highland, Indiana". Its section 15.10.050(A) adopts state building rules by reference: "Building rules of the Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission as set out in the following articles of IAC Title 675 are hereby incorporated by reference in this chapter and shall include later amendments, those articles as the same are published in the Indiana Register for the Indiana Administrative Code with effective dates affixed therein". The list that follows adopts the whole of Article 14, the One- and Two-Family Dwelling Codes, and that is the article the current residential rule sits in. THE STALE PART, AND WHY IT IS HARMLESS. The sub-labels beneath Article 14 in section 15.10.050(A)(2) read "Council of American Building Officials One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code", "CABO One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code; Amendments" and "Standard for Permanent Installation of Manufactured Homes". Those describe rules that have since been repealed and replaced within the same article. Because the Town adopted the ARTICLE and said in the same sentence that the adoption includes later amendments, the current rule in that article - 675 IAC 14-4.4 - is what the ordinance now reaches. IC 22-13-2-3(b) provides that a reference to the commission's rules by 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 to the Indiana Administrative Code." So an Indiana local ordinance citing 675 IAC tracks the current rule instead of freezing at its adoption date - the opposite of the usual rule elsewhere. AND IT WOULD NOT MATTER EVEN IF THE ORDINANCE HAD FROZEN. IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives the commission's rules precedence over "any ordinance or other regulation adopted by a political subdivision that covers the same subject matter as the commission's fire safety rules or building rules", and 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." Indiana is the strongest building-code ceiling in this book: a local government may not be stricter, and may not be more detailed either. So build to the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, not to the sub-labels in the Town Code. Two copies of the adopted building rules are on file with the Town clerk-treasurer under IC 36-1-5-4. WHAT THE TOWN ADDS RATHER THAN CHANGES. Chapter 15.10 was read in full - all nineteen sections, 15.10.010 through 15.10.190 - and it is administrative throughout: title, purpose, authority, scope, adoption by reference, permit application, permit requirement, fees and inspections, review, inspections, entry, stop order, certificate of occupancy, standards, violations, appeal and remedies. It contains no roof-covering provision. Section 15.10.040 states its reach: the chapter applies "to the construction, alterations, repair, use, occupancy, maintenance, and additions to all buildings and structures, other than fences, in the town of Highland, Indiana." ONE VOCABULARY WARNING: "Class 2 structure" in Indiana means a one or two dwelling unit building. It is a STRUCTURE class and has nothing to do with a fire class or an impact class of roof covering.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT TOWN-SET, and unconditional on a shingle roof. Highland 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. The same guidance states that the 2020 Indiana Residential Code applies "Regardless of any established local enforcement policies or practices to the contrary". Highland's own building chapter was read in full and adds nothing on the point. Note in particular that this does not depend on the Town Code's codified list of adopted codes, which still names the CABO One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code. About drip edge

Required — REQUIRED IN LAKE COUNTY - IT IS A COUNTY-BY-COUNTY ANSWER IN INDIANA, NOT A STATE ONE. Indiana 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 45 is Lake, 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 Lake 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, decay Slight to Moderate, termite Moderate to Heavy, weathering Severe, air freezing index 2000 and mean annual temperature 49.0 degrees. Neighbouring Porter and LaPorte Counties read "Yes" as well, so the whole lakeshore corridor is consistent on this point. WHAT THE BARRIER HAS TO BE, from the version of the section actually in force. The Indiana State Building Commissioner publishes the adopted Section R905.1.2 first-hand, on Indiana Department of Homeland Security letterhead, in the Ice/Water Shield and Metal Drip Edge guidance of February 25, 2020: "In areas where there has been a history of ice forming along the eaves causing a backup of water as designated in Table R301.2(1), an ice barrier shall be installed for asphalt shingles, metal roof shingles, mineral-surfaced roll roofing, slate and slate-type shingles, wood shingles and wood shakes. The ice barrier shall consist of not fewer than two layers of underlayment cemented together, or a self-adhering polymer-modified bitumen sheet shall be used in place of normal underlayment and extend from the lowest edges of all roof surfaces to a point not less than 24 inches (610 mm) inside the exterior wall line of the building. On roofs with slope equal to or greater than eight units vertical in 12 units horizontal ( 67-percent slope), the ice barrier shall also be applied not less than 36 inches (914 mm) measured along the roof slope from the eave edge of the building." The section carries one exception: "Detached accessory structures not containing conditioned floor area." AND THE SAME GUIDANCE MAKES A POINT WORTH CARRYING ACROSS THE COUNTY LINE: "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". Lake County is in the first group, so in Highland the barrier is required by the table itself and does not depend on what the shingle manufacturer says. Do not take the answer from the Town Code's own list of adopted codes, which names the superseded CABO dwelling code; the requirement in force comes from the current state rule and its substituted table. About ice & water barrier

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement applies in Highland. 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: 675 IAC 14-4.4-84 directs "Delete the text of the last sentence of SECTION R902.4 without substitution", the rooftop-mounted photovoltaic panel section; 675 IAC 14-4.4-85 directs "Delete the words 'approved' from the text of SECTION R905.2.6 without substitution", on asphalt shingle attachment; 675 IAC 14-4.4-86 directs "Delete the word 'approved' from the text of SECTION R905.2.8 without substitution", on flashing; and 675 IAC 14-4.4-87 directs "Delete the word 'printed' from the text of SECTION R905.2.8.4 without substitution", on other flashing. Nothing in the rule imposes a UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 impact rating. Nor has Highland imposed one, and it could not. Its Building Code chapter 15.10 was read in full - nineteen sections - and contains no roof-covering performance requirement of any kind; its contractor licensing chapter 5.20 was read in full as well and imposes no roofing product standard. IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives the commission's rules precedence over "any ordinance or other regulation adopted by a political subdivision that covers the same subject matter as the commission's fire safety rules or building rules", and 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." Indiana is the strongest building-code ceiling in this book: a local government may not be stricter, and may not be more detailed either. An impact rating on a roof covering is the same subject matter as the state roofing chapter and would be a more stringent requirement, so a local mandate could not stand. TWO THINGS THAT GET MISTAKEN FOR AN IMPACT MANDATE IN INDIANA: the phrase "Class 2 structure", which is Indiana's STRUCTURE class for one and two dwelling unit buildings 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.

A COST THRESHOLD OF $500.00, STATED IN THE TOWN CODE ITSELF - AND A RE-ROOF CLEARS IT. Highland Municipal Code section 15.10.070, headed "Permit required", reads in full: "A permit shall be obtained before beginning construction, alteration, or repair of any building or structure, the cost of which exceeds $500.00, using forms furnished by the building inspector or his designee, and all fees required by this code shall be paid to the clerk-treasurer of the town of Highland." There is no roofing exemption anywhere in the chapter, which was read in full. WHAT THE PERMIT COSTS. Highland charges by the value of the work, not by the trade. Under section 15.05.020, on the schedule effective July 1, 2020, a building permit is $54.00 for a total valuation of $100 to $1,000 and $16.50 for each additional $1,000 or fraction of it, with a residential plan review fee of $90.00. Inspections are charged separately - the Town's published fee sheet gives $54.00 for the first, $108.00 for the second - and a red-tagged re-inspection is $46.00 for the first and $63.25 for the second. Section 15.10.090(A) sets how the valuation is worked out for new structures: "the total valuation shall be based on the current square footage cost data published by a recognized construction data service, multiplied by the number of square feet of total square footage of the structure". A permit is valid for 180 days, renewable at fifty percent of the original cost. WHO MAY DO THE WORK. Highland's own Building Permit Application states, in capitals: "ALL CONTRACTED WORK MUST BE DONE BY CONTRACTORS LICENSED WITH THE TOWN OF HIGHLAND". The application must be signed by both the contractor and the property owner, or accompanied by a signed copy of their contract, and it asks for the roof rafter spacing and the roof material by name. ONE MORE THING TO CHECK BEFORE STARTING. The application carries the instruction "BEFORE STARTING CONSTRUCTION CHECK WITH THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT FOR BUILDING & ZONING REGULATIONS", and Highland requires a plat of survey with the application.

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 Lake County row, number 45, 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 and Severe weathering, with an air freezing index of 2000 and a mean annual temperature of 49.0 degrees. Highland cannot raise or lower any of it by ordinance, because IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a town from an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules. EXPOSURE IS NOT SET BY THE TABLE AND MUST BE DETERMINED ON THE JOB: the table's own footnote to the wind column reads "Wind exposure shall be determined on a site-specific basis in accordance with SECTION R301.2.1.4." Indiana has also amended that section itself, at 675 IAC 14-4.4-4, to fix how exposure is judged on a site in a subdivision or master-planned community where neighbouring structures are not built yet. Settle the exposure category for the particular address rather than assuming one. Highland sits on flat open ground a few miles from Lake Michigan.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE EXISTS IN HIGHLAND, AND NONE COULD. The residential code that applies here 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 it makes no amendment at all to the model code's reroofing and roof recover section, which does not appear anywhere in it. Its only amendments touching the model roofing chapter are deletions: a sentence struck from the rooftop-mounted photovoltaic panel section, the word "approved" struck from the asphalt shingle attachment section, the word "approved" struck from the flashing section and the word "printed" struck from the other-flashing section. Nothing in the state rule addresses how many layers of covering a roof may carry, so the base International Residential Code rule on recovering an existing roof applies here as published. The Town has added nothing. Highland Municipal Code Chapter 15.10, the Building Code of the Town of Highland, was read in full - all nineteen sections from 15.10.010 to 15.10.190 - and the word roof does not appear in it at all; the chapter adopts the state building rules by reference and then deals only with permits, fees, inspections, occupancy and enforcement. Chapter 5.20, the Town's licensing of building contractors, was also read in full and contains no roofing rule either. Nor could the Town impose one. IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives the commission's rules precedence over "any ordinance or other regulation adopted by a political subdivision that covers the same subject matter as the commission's fire safety rules or building rules", and 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." Indiana is the strongest building-code ceiling in this book: a local government may not be stricter, and may not be more detailed either. A local layer cap would be both more detailed and on the same subject matter as the state roofing chapter. The number of layers a particular roof may carry therefore comes out of the adopted International Residential Code itself. Settle the existing layer count with the Building and Inspection Department on (219) 972-7595 against that code before quoting a recover rather than a tear-off - and either way the job needs a Highland permit, because it will cost more than $500.00.

7.00% statewide, with no county or town add-on in Highland or Lake County. Indiana levies a single state sales tax rate. The Department of Revenue's own page listing what Indiana does tax at county level - County 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 Lake County levies is an income tax, not a sales tax, so there is no local percentage to add to a materials invoice. ONE THING THAT MATTERS MORE IN HIGHLAND THAN IN MOST OF INDIANA: the town is a short drive from the Illinois line, and a crew buying materials across it is buying under a different state's sales tax rules, with its own local add-ons, not Indiana's. Keep the two states' invoices apart. WHO PAYS THE TAX 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 - "Examples of contractors include, but are not limited to, persons engaged in building, concrete work, carpentry, plumbing, heating and cooling, electrical work, roofing, plastering, tile work, road construction, landscaping, installing underground sprinkler or drainage systems, and making other improvements or repairs to real property" - 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.