Howard County, Indiana - Kokomo-Howard County Plan Commission

Howard County, Indiana

county

224 N. Main Street, Kokomo, IN 46901

WHICH OFFICE. For unincorporated Howard County the office is the Kokomo-Howard County Plan Commission, a joint City and County body. The County's page for it gives 224 N. Main Street, Kokomo, IN 46901, telephone 765-456-2330, email [email protected], open Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm. The City of Kokomo's Plan Commission page lists the same telephone number for the remainder of Howard County but gives 120 E. Mulberry St., Suite 114, so confirm the counter before going in person. Check the address of the job first: the City of Kokomo's own Permit Office covers the City only, and the Town of Greentown (765-628-3263) and the Town of Russiaville (765-883-5739) have plan commissions of their own. WHAT THE COMMISSION ISSUES. The Improvement Location Permit is a zoning approval. The County's application asks for the property's zoning classification, township, flood plain status, estimated cost, lot dimensions and yards, and commits the owner to comply with the laws of the State of Indiana and the ordinances of the County. The information sheet requires a legal description, a plot plan drawn to scale, and the property owner's signature on every permit application. FEES. The Commission's fee schedule, as amended to February 28, 2012, prices the permit in Howard County at 1.00 dollar per 1,000 dollars of estimated cost, with a 100 dollar minimum and a 1,000 dollar maximum, and adds an after-the-fact surcharge of 10 dollars per 1,000 dollars where a stop work order is issued or notice is sent for a project under construction without the permit. The older information sheet gives a 15 dollar minimum instead, so confirm the figure. ONLINE. The County's departments page links an Apply for a Permit button to an online permitting portal; what it offers could not be established, and no County building department is listed.

STATE CODE, BUT THE COUNTY'S OWN CODE BOOK STILL NAMES A 1976 ONE. One- and two-family dwellings in Indiana are built to the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, which incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings, first printing August 2017. The rule was filed November 26, 2019 and readopted November 18, 2025. Its application section, as Indiana rewrites it, reads "The provisions of this code apply to the construction, prefabrication, alteration, addition, and remodel of detached one or two family dwellings", and the Indiana State Building Commissioner's published guidance on ice/water shield and drip edge says that "whether a local building authority even exists in any particular jurisdiction or location in the state, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code governs all Class 2 residential construction". THE COUNTY'S CODIFIED REFERENCE. Chapter 150 of the Howard County Code of Ordinances, Building Regulations, enacted by Ordinance 1977-41 in January 1978, adopts by reference "The Indiana Construction Rules and Regulations, Volume I, 1973 edition, amended 1974" and "The One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, 1976 edition, promulgated by the Administrative Building Council of Indiana", together with the 1978 National Electrical Code and the 1976 state plumbing and mechanical rules. That is how the chapter reads in the copy of the Code the County publishes itself, the 2017 S-13 supplement, current through Ordinance 2016 BCCO-47. The 1973 and 1976 texts were not read. The Code as now maintained online by its publisher is current through Ordinance 2025-BCCO-14 and could not be opened, so an amendment to Chapter 150 enacted after 2016 would not have been seen. The County has published no statement of which edition it enforces: its list of departments carries no building department, and the Plan Commission publishes no County building code page or building permit form. This record therefore gives the answers of the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, as it applies in Howard County, and discloses the County's codified reference beside each of them. The County writes no roofing provision of its own anywhere in Chapter 150.

Required — REQUIRED AT EAVES AND RAKES ON SHINGLE ROOFS, AND IT IS A STATE ANSWER. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's published guidance "ICE/WATER SHIELD & METAL DRIP EDGE IN CLASS 2 CONSTRUCTION with ASPHALT SHINGLES", issued through the Indiana Department of Homeland Security over the signature of Craig E. Burgess, Indiana State Building Commissioner, and dated February 25, 2020, sets out Section R905.2.8.5 as it applies in Indiana: "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs." The same page gives the lap, the extension below the sheathing, the fastening and the underlayment order; read them there rather than from a summary. Indiana does not amend the section: 675 IAC 14-4.4 was read in full and its only edits in this part of the code delete single words from the attachment and flashing sections next to it. The County's Chapter 150, read in full, says nothing on drip edge or any other roof-covering detail. The County's code book names the 1976 One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code rather than the 2020 Indiana Residential Code; that older text was not read, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces. The same state guidance says the 2020 code applies "whether a local building authority even exists in any particular jurisdiction or location in the state", so the drip edge is owed on the roof whether or not anyone inspects it. About drip edge

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY THE TABLE IN HOWARD COUNTY, BUT THE SHINGLE'S OWN INSTRUCTIONS CAN MAKE IT REQUIRED. In Indiana the ice barrier is decided county by county. 675 IAC 14-4.4-5 deletes the model climatic table and substitutes the state's own, one row for each of the 92 counties, and the Howard County row, numbered 34, reads No in the ice shield underlayment column. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's published guidance supplies the other half: "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)." So in Howard County the ice barrier becomes mandatory when the written installation instructions for the product being installed call for one; read them for the specific shingle before deciding. The neighboring counties split: Cass, Carroll and Miami read Yes, while Tipton, Clinton and Grant read No, so a crew working across the county line to the north or west can be on the other answer. Where it is required, the same guidance gives the extent, including a point "not less than 24 inches (610 mm) inside the exterior wall line of the building". The County's Chapter 150, read in full, says nothing on ice barriers. The County's code book names the 1976 One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code rather than the 2020 Indiana Residential Code; that older text was not read, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO IMPACT-RESISTANCE OR HAIL-RATING REQUIREMENT IN EITHER INSTRUMENT. The state rule that applies to roofing here, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code at 675 IAC 14-4.4, was read in full and contains no UL 2218 requirement, no Class 4 or Class IV impact rating and no FM 4473 reference; its only amendments to the roof assemblies chapter delete single words from the asphalt shingle attachment and flashing sections and the last sentence of the rooftop photovoltaic section, and none concerns impact resistance. The County's Chapter 150, read in full as the County publishes it, contains no technical roofing provision of any kind. The County's code book names the 1976 One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code rather than the 2020 Indiana Residential Code; that older text was not read, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces. The Code as now maintained online, current through Ordinance 2025-BCCO-14, could not be opened. Impact-resistant shingles are an insurance upgrade in this market, not a code obligation, and an insurance discount is never a code mandate. Two cautions when reading paperwork. A Class A, B or C designation, or a reference to ASTM E108 or UL 790, is a FIRE rating and says nothing about hail, and ASTM D3161 or D7158 is a WIND rating; only UL 2218 or FM 4473 answers impact. And the phrase "Class 2 construction" on Indiana roofing guidance is a class of STRUCTURE, a one- or two-family dwelling, not a rating of any roofing product.

ON THE COUNTY'S OWN CODE BOOK, ANY REPAIR COSTING MORE THAN 100 DOLLARS TAKES A PERMIT, BUT NO COUNTY OFFICE THAT ISSUES ONE COULD BE FOUND. Chapter 150 of the Howard County Code of Ordinances, Building Regulations, was read in full as the County publishes it. Section 150.05(A), enacted by Ordinance 1977-41 in January 1978, provides that no extension, repair or alteration of any existing building "having a contract price or estimated cost of more than $100 shall be started until a statement in writing of the work proposed to be done shall first be submitted by the contractor or individual in charge of the work to and approved by the Building Commissioner", with a permit issued. Section 150.05(D) exempts only painting and cosmetic work: "No permit shall be required for any outside or inside painting or other cosmetic repair or maintenance where the building is not altered or extended." Nothing in the section sets roofing apart from other repairs. Section 150.06 prices the permit on construction cost, from 5 dollars for work up to 5,000 dollars to a maximum permit fee of 100 dollars, plus 7.50 dollars for each required inspection, and Section 31.01 of the same Code establishes "a Department of Buildings and the Office of Building Commissioner" to administer it. WHAT COULD NOT BE FOUND IS THAT OFFICE AT WORK. The County's published list of its departments carries no building department. The Plan Commission's page on the County's site offers a County Improvement Location Permit application and a building permit application for the City of Kokomo, and no County building permit. Its information sheet sends applicants building in the City to the Kokomo Permit Office for the building permit, while for a new home in the county it lists only a septic or sewer tap permit, a stormwater permit from the County Surveyor and a driveway permit from the County Highway Department. Its fee schedule, as amended to February 28, 2012, carries a certificate of occupancy inspection fee footnoted "Certificate of Occupancy Inspection Fee will take effect when an inspector is appointed." The City's department does not fill the gap: its fee schedule states that "The City of Kokomo Inspection Services Department includes the City of Kokomo only." TWO LIMITS ON ALL OF THIS. The copy of the Code the County publishes itself is the 2017 supplement, current through Ordinance 2016 BCCO-47; the Code as now maintained online, current through Ordinance 2025-BCCO-14, could not be opened, so a later amendment to Chapter 150 would not have been seen. And whether an ordinary reroof takes an Improvement Location Permit, which is a zoning approval rather than a building permit, was not established. Before starting a reroof outside Kokomo, Greentown and Russiaville, ask the Plan Commission on 765-456-2330 whether any County permit applies, and get the answer in writing.

115 MPH, FROM THE STATE'S HOWARD COUNTY ROW. Indiana deletes the model climatic table and substitutes its own at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, county by county. The Howard County row, numbered 34, gives 115 in the wind speed column, and every one of the 92 county rows gives the same figure. The column carries footnote a, which reads in full: "Wind exposure shall be determined on a site-specific basis in accordance with SECTION R301.2.1.4." So the speed is fixed but the exposure category behind it is not, and an exposed site in open farmland is not the same case as a sheltered one. The rest of the Howard County row: Seismic Design Category A, ground snow 20 psf, foundation depth 30 inches, winter design temperature 2 degrees Fahrenheit, decay Slight to Moderate, termite Moderate to Heavy, weathering Severe, ice shield underlayment required No, air freezing index 2000, mean annual temperature 49.6 degrees Fahrenheit. These are county figures and should not be carried across a county line without checking the row. The County's code book names the 1976 One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code rather than the 2020 Indiana Residential Code; that older text was not read, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces. If a wind figure is going to drive a fastening pattern, an engineered detail or a warranty submission, take it from the 2020 code's table.

TWO LAYERS MAXIMUM, SET BY THE STATE CODE; THE COUNTY WRITES NO LAYER RULE OF ITS OWN. The County's Chapter 150, read in full as the County publishes it, all nine sections from 150.01 to 150.09, contains no technical roofing content at all: it adopts codes by reference and deals with permits, fees, appeals, stop orders and unsafe buildings. On the state side, 675 IAC 14-4.4 makes no amendment to the International Residential Code reroofing section, Section R908, which does not appear in the rule at any point. Its only amendments in the roof assemblies chapter delete the word "approved" from Sections R905.2.6 and R905.2.8, delete the word "printed" from Section R905.2.8.4 and delete the last sentence of Section R902.4 on rooftop photovoltaic panels. So the rule on recovering an existing roof in unincorporated Howard County is the one in Section R908 of the 2018 International Residential Code as published, unchanged by Indiana and by anything the County has codified. 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. The County's code book names the 1976 One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code rather than the 2020 Indiana Residential Code; that older text was not read, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces.

NO COUNTY SHEATHING RULE, AND INDIANA'S ONLY EDIT TO THE ROOF SHEATHING SECTION IS A DELETION OF WORDS ON GRADE MARKING. Chapter 150 of the County Code, read in full, contains no decking, sheathing or roof-covering provision of any kind. On the state side, 675 IAC 14-4.4 touches the roof sheathing section of the 2018 International Residential Code once: it deletes "or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency" from Section R803.2.1, identification and grade, which leaves panels to be identified by their grade mark. It makes no amendment to the roof covering deck requirements in Chapter 9. So the sheathing and deck requirements that apply are those of the 2018 International Residential Code as published, with that one deletion. The County's code book names the 1976 One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code rather than the 2020 Indiana Residential Code; that older text was not read, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces. No County inspection of a roof deck is published, so if a tear-off will expose damaged decking, agree the repair with the homeowner in writing before covering it.

7% statewide. Indiana levies a single state sales tax rate with no county or municipal add-on, so there is no Howard County figure to add on top. The Indiana Department of Revenue says so on the page that lists the county taxes it does administer: "The sales tax for the entire State of Indiana is 7%." How the tax falls on a roofing job depends on the shape of the contract rather than on the roof, and the Department's Sales Tax Information Bulletin 60 names roofing among its examples of contractors. Under a lump-sum contract the roofer pays sales or use tax on the materials and does not collect sales tax from the homeowner. Under a time and material contract, which the bulletin defines as "a contract in which the cost of construction material and the cost of labor or other charges are stated separately", the roofer is a retail merchant, may buy the materials exempt for resale, and collects sales tax on the material portion of the contract.