Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission

Kosciusko County, Indiana (unincorporated areas and participating towns)

county

100 W. Center Street, Room 303, Warsaw, IN 46580

WHERE. The Area Planning Office is in Room 303 of the county building at 100 W. Center Street, Warsaw, IN 46580, on (574) 372-2304, open 8:00am to 4:30pm; the Permitting FAQ sheet says permits are issued from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday. HOW. Apply in person or through the County's GeoPermits portal, which "allows you to apply for Improvement Location Permits, Sign Permits, Flood Development Permits, and Property Research Requests"; a free user account comes first, and anyone named as contractor must be registered. WHAT IS ASKED FOR. The residential checklist and the FAQ sheet ask for the property's legal description and key number, a scaled site plan with setbacks measured to the closest point including gutters and overhangs, sewage and water sign-off, an estimated cost, and the contractor's name and contact details. On a flood-zone parcel, "a Flood Development Permit must be issued prior to obtaining an improvement location permit." TIME AND MONEY. With every document in hand, the FAQ sheet says an in-office permit "can typically be processed in 20 minutes", and an online application typically in a day or two. The fee schedule is section 4.10 of the Zoning Ordinance and the County's fee sheet for permits issued on or after January 1, 2022; work begun before a permit is issued is charged on a separate, higher after-the-fact schedule. Card payments carry a 3% service fee. A permit expires if work has not begun within 180 days of issue, or has not been substantially completed within two years. APPEALS from the Ordinance Administrator go to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

NO COUNTY BUILDING CODE; THE STATE RESIDENTIAL CODE APPLIES BY STATE LAW, WITH OR WITHOUT A LOCAL BUILDING OFFICE. The ordinances the Area Plan Commission publishes are land-use instruments - the Flood Control, Mobile Home Park Control, Stormwater & Erosion Control, Subdivision Control and Zoning Ordinances - and the Zoning Ordinance, Ord. #75-1 as last revised May 19, 2026, is adopted "pursuant to Indiana Code 36-7-4", the planning and zoning statute. Read for this record, it contains no reference to Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code, to a building code or to a residential code. WHAT APPLIES INSTEAD. 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, states: "Regardless of any established local enforcement policies or practices to the contrary, or 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, and its requirements, by law, must be followed." The rule is 675 IAC 14-4.4, whose first section incorporates "the 2018 International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings, first printing August 2017, published by the International Code Council" and provides that "This rule shall be known as the 2020 Indiana Residential Code." Its amendments to the model roofing chapter are four: Sec. 84 deletes the text of the last sentence of Section R902.4 on rooftop-mounted photovoltaic panel systems, Secs. 85 and 86 delete the word "approved" from Sections R905.2.6 and R905.2.8, and Sec. 87 deletes the word "printed" from Section R905.2.8.4. The County could not add roofing rules of its own: 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." ONE TOWN IN THE AREA DOES ENFORCE A CODE. The Town of Syracuse procedure the County publishes states that the Town "has adopted state building codes"; a job inside Syracuse is permitted and inspected by the Town as well as zoned by the County.

Required — SET BY THE STATE, AND IT APPLIES HERE EVEN THOUGH THE COUNTY HAS NO BUILDING OFFICE. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's Ice/Water Shield and Metal Drip Edge guidance of February 25, 2020, on Indiana Department of Homeland Security letterhead, reproduces the adopted Section R905.2.8.5, which begins "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs." and ends "Underlayment shall be installed over the drip edge along eaves and under the drip edge along rake edges." Between those sentences it requires adjacent segments to overlap by not less than 2 inches, the drip edge to extend below the roof sheathing and back up onto the roof deck, and mechanical fastening at not more than 12 inches on center. Indiana amends the flashing section only by deleting the word "approved" and does not touch the drip edge subsection. The same guidance says whose rule it is where no local office inspects: "Regardless of any established local enforcement policies or practices to the contrary, or 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, and its requirements, by law, must be followed." That is the Kosciusko County position exactly: an ordinary re-roof outside a flood zone needs no county permit, and the drip edge is still required. About drip edge

Required — REQUIRED ON EVERY SHINGLE RE-ROOF OF A CONDITIONED BUILDING - KOSCIUSKO IS ONE OF INDIANA'S "YES" COUNTIES. Indiana replaces the model climatic table with its own county-by-county Table R301.2(1) at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, and the State Building Commissioner reprints it at the end of the February 25, 2020 guidance. Row 43 is Kosciusko, and it carries "Yes" in the column headed "Ice Shield Underlayment Required". The guidance explains what that column does: "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)." Kosciusko is in the first group, so the barrier goes on whatever the shingle wrapper says. The guidance reproduces the adopted section: the barrier runs "to a point not less than 24 inches (610 mm) inside the exterior wall line of the building", and "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." Its one exception is "Detached accessory structures not containing conditioned floor area." No county ordinance touches any of this, and the absence of a county permit on an ordinary re-roof does not remove it. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO COUNTY INSPECTION OF ANY ROOFING STAGE. Article 4 of the Zoning Ordinance, sections 4.1 through 4.12, provides for an Improvement Location Permit before work and an Occupancy Permit once "the structure is complete and in compliance with this Ordinance", and for no construction-stage inspection between them; read for this record, the ordinance uses the word inspection only for public inspection of maps the office keeps and for the inspection of nearby wells under its wind turbine and solar energy system rules. For flood-zone construction the Flood Control Ordinance asks for paperwork at the end rather than an inspection during the work: "Upon completion of construction, a fully completed elevation certification (FEMA Elevation Certificate Form 81-31 or any future updates)" showing the as-built elevations goes to the Floodplain Administrator. INSIDE SYRACUSE THE ANSWER IS THE TOWN'S. The Town procedure the County publishes says projects under a Town building permit "are also subject to building inspections", scheduled with the Town building inspector; ask the Town which stages it wants to see on a re-roof.

Not required — NO IMPACT-RESISTANCE REQUIREMENT APPLIES. Neither the Kosciusko County Zoning Ordinance, as last revised May 19, 2026, nor the Flood Control Ordinance contains a roof-covering standard of any kind; no UL 2218 or Class 4 impact requirement appears in either. The state residential rule, 675 IAC 14-4.4, amends the model roofing chapter only by the four word and sentence deletions described under the adopted code, none of which concerns impact, and no UL 2218 or Class 4 requirement appears anywhere in it. Nor could the County add one: 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." Impact-rated shingles are an insurance and warranty decision here, not a code requirement.

THE ANSWER TURNS ON WHERE THE HOUSE IS, AND THE COUNTY'S OWN DOCUMENTS DO NOT ALL AGREE. OUTSIDE A FLOOD ZONE, NO COUNTY PERMIT FOR AN ORDINARY RE-ROOF. The County's only construction permit outside a flood zone is the Improvement Location Permit, a zoning permit; its online portal "allows you to apply for Improvement Location Permits, Sign Permits, Flood Development Permits, and Property Research Requests", and none of those is a building permit. Section 4.3 of the Zoning Ordinance requires an Improvement Location Permit "before any structure may be constructed, reconstructed, moved, or enlarged", and section 4.9, "No Improvement Location Permit shall be required for", lists at 4.9.2 "Routine maintenance, repair, or remodeling of existing structures not involving any change in use, lot coverage, or additional square and/or cubic footage of living space." A re-roof that neither enlarges the building nor changes its use sits inside that exemption. INSIDE A SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA, THE COUNTY'S GUIDANCE AND ITS ORDINANCE PULL APART. The County's floodplain page links a one-page list headed "What improvements/remodeling/repair require permits in a special flood hazard area?", and among structural elements it names "Wood or reinforced concrete decking or roofing" and "Re-shingling or retiling a roof"; the list closes "Note: This list is intended for guidance only, and may not be all-inclusive". The Area Plan Commission's FAQ says the same in general terms: any development "in a floodplain from remodeling/repairing a home to filling a property requires a flood development permit." But the Flood Control Ordinance itself defines development so that it "does not include activities such as the maintenance of existing structures and facilities such as painting, re-roofing". This record follows the County's list, which is the requirement a flood-zone roofer will be held to at the counter, and discloses the ordinance's definition beside it. On a lakefront or riverside parcel, check the flood map and ask the Area Plan Commission on (574) 372-2304 before the tear-off; under the ordinance the Area Plan Commission is also the County's Floodplain Administrator. INSIDE THE TOWN OF SYRACUSE, A TOWN BUILDING PERMIT AS WELL. A Town procedure the County publishes, attributed to the Syracuse Town Manager on 3/27/12, states that the Town "has adopted state building codes and requires all projects within the corporate limits of Syracuse to obtain a Building Permit from the Town prior to beginning any work". That is the Town's permit, not the County's, and the statement is dated, so confirm it with the Town before starting. ABOUT THE TEXTS THEMSELVES. The consolidated Zoning Ordinance the County publishes is headed "Last Revised May 19, 2026" and "Effective May 19, 2026", but its closing adoption article is a template that reads "the X Day of Month, Year". The Flood Control Ordinance copy is headed "Adopted 9/30/15" and "Revised 11/26/19" and its signature lines are blank; the County's floodplain page states that the County "has adopted and enforces the Flood Control Ordinance."

115 mph. Indiana replaces the model climatic table with its own county-by-county Table R301.2(1) at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, and row 43, Kosciusko, gives 115 in the column headed Wind Speed (MPH). The rest of the Kosciusko row reads seismic design category A, ground snow load 30 psf, foundation depth 36 inches, winter design temperature 1 degree F, decay slight to moderate, termite moderate to heavy, weathering severe, ice shield underlayment required Yes, air freezing index 2000 and mean annual temperature 49.0 degrees F. The County publishes no design criteria of its own and could not vary these by ordinance under IC 22-13-2-3(c). Exposure category is still a site question rather than a county number, and Indiana amends the exposure-category section itself at 675 IAC 14-4.4-4; settle it for the particular site, which matters on open lakefront.

NO COUNTY RULE AND NO STATE AMENDMENT, SO THE BASE CODE APPLIES UNMODIFIED. The County has no building code in which a layer rule could sit. Its Zoning Ordinance, read for this record, mentions roofs only in passing - in a list of the parts of a structure, in its solar energy system rules, where section 3.30.5.1 provides that "No Improvement Location Permit shall be required to install a roof mounted SES on the roof of an existing structure", and in two definitions - and says nothing about layers of roof covering, recovering a roof or tearing one off. Nor could the County write such a rule: 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 commission's rules", and IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives those rules precedence over "any ordinance or other regulation adopted by a political subdivision that covers the same subject matter". On the state side, 675 IAC 14-4.4 makes no amendment to the model code's reroofing and roof-recover section; its only edits in the roof assemblies chapter are the four word and sentence deletions described under the adopted code. So the base 2018 International Residential Code reroofing provision applies here exactly as published, unchanged by Indiana and by the County. Base-code rule, read at 2018 International Residential Code Section R908.3.1.1, Roof recover not allowed: 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. Establish the existing layer count before quoting a recover, and remember that a job inside the Town of Syracuse also answers to the Town's building inspector.

NO COUNTY SHEATHING RULE, AND ONE STATE AMENDMENT THAT CHANGES PAPERWORK RATHER THAN CONSTRUCTION. The County publishes no building code, and its Zoning Ordinance contains no occurrence of the word sheathing. The state rule makes one amendment in this area: Sec. 82 of 675 IAC 14-4.4 deletes the words "or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency" from Section R803.2.1, the section headed identification and grade. Otherwise the sheathing provisions of the 2018 International Residential Code apply as incorporated, unamended by Indiana and by the County. ON A FLOOD-ZONE PARCEL, the County's floodplain permit list names "Wood or reinforced concrete decking or roofing" among the structural elements whose replacement or repair requires a permit, so a tear-off that replaces deck there is permit work under the County's guidance.

7.00% throughout Kosciusko County, the Indiana state rate, with no county or town add-on. The Indiana Department of Revenue's county tax information page states in terms: "The sales tax for the entire State of Indiana is 7%." So there is no local percentage to add to a materials invoice anywhere in the county. Whether the roofer or the homeowner bears the tax on materials depends on how the contract is written, which is a question for the contractor's accountant.