LaPorte County Building Department

LaPorte County, Indiana

county

809 State Street, Suite 503 A, LaPorte, IN 46350

Required

Required

WHERE. The Building Department is in the LaPorte County Government Complex, 809 State Street, Suite 503 A, La Porte, IN 46350, on 219-326-6808 extensions 2221, 2563 and 2591, fax 219-362-5561, open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central, with Michael Polan as Building Commissioner. For inspections the page is direct: "For all inspection requests, please call the Office." The inspection line is extension 2030. HOW. Permits and contractor registrations are filed online through the County's GovWell portal, and the department asks applicants to "Please allow 5-7 business days for permits to be approved." Every contractor on the job must be registered, insured and bonded before the permit issues. The page also states "All structure permits can now be paid by cash, check, debit/credit card." and "ALL PERMITS NEED TO BE PRINTED & POSTED ON-SITE!" PERMIT LIFE. Section 151.20(C)(1) provides: "All permits issued by the Office of the Building Commissioner shall expire if work has not begun within 120 days of the issuance of the permit. All permits will expire within two years from the date of issuance." INSPECTION ON A RE-ROOF IS NOT SPELLED OUT. The Building Commissioner's inspection notice, revised May 23, 2024, applies "to all new residential construction, additions, and remodels" and lists a roof inspection "prior to shingles" among the inspections to be called; it does not say whether a stand-alone re-roof permit carries that stop, so ask when the permit issues. The fine schedule charges $250.00 for a missed inspection and $1,000.00 for violating a stop order, and section 151.23(E) lets the Commissioner stop work that is contrary to the chapter. SCOPE. Chapter 151 applies to the unincorporated county; the cities of La Porte and Michigan City permit their own territory. Whether any town within the county relies on this office for building permits is not established by the County's published documents, so confirm by address.

THE COUNTY'S CODIFIED ADOPTION NAMES A STATE RESIDENTIAL RULE THAT THE STATE HAS SINCE REPEALED, AND THIS RECORD DOES NOT DECIDE WHAT FOLLOWS FROM THAT. Section 151.05, "Adoption of regulations by reference", enacted by Ord. 2001-03 of February 13, 2001, provides that "The building rules of the state Department of Fire and Building Services, as set out in the following articles of Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code, as well as later amendments, supplements, or additions to those articles as the same are published in the Indiana Register or the Indiana Administrative Code, are hereby incorporated by reference in this code as rules and regulations governing the construction, alteration, use, and occupancy of buildings and structures within the county", and its residential item is "675 I.A.C. 14-4.2-1 et seq., One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code". The 2026 edition of the Indiana Administrative Code lists every section of that rule as repealed, beginning "675 IAC 14-4.2-1 Adoption by reference; title; availability; purpose (Repealed)". WHAT THE STATE RULE IS AS READ IN SEPTEMBER 2026. The current residential rule is 675 IAC 14-4.4, which incorporates "the 2018 International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings, first printing August 2017" and provides that "This rule shall be known as the 2020 Indiana Residential Code." It was filed November 26, 2019 and readopted November 18, 2025. Indiana law speaks to references like the County's: IC 22-13-2-3(b) provides that "a reference to the rules adopted by the commission, by citation to the Indiana Administrative Code (IAC), 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." WHAT THIS RECORD PUBLISHES. The County has published no statement of which residential edition it enforces: its building department page, permit guidance, fee sheet and inspection notice name no edition. This record gives the answers of the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, the rule in force at state level as read on 2026-09-11, and discloses the codified reference beside them; it does not decide whether section 151.05 reaches the 2020 rule. The online codification the County's code is read from states "Local legislation current through Ord. 2020-1, passed 3-4-20", so a later County amendment would not appear in it. Chapter 151 writes no roofing amendment of its own, 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."

Required — REQUIRED BY THE STATE CODE, NOT BY A COUNTY RULE. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's guidance on ice/water shield and metal drip edge reproduces the adopted Section R905.2.8.5, which opens: "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs." The 2020 Indiana Residential Code amends the flashing section above it only by deleting one word - "Delete the word "approved" from the text of SECTION R905.2.8 without substitution" - and does not touch R905.2.8.5. Chapter 151 of the County Code has no drip-edge provision; it contains no technical roof-covering content at all, and IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars the County from adding one. The County's codified adoption names an earlier state residential rule, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's. About drip edge

Required — REQUIRED IN LaPORTE COUNTY, AND THIS IS THE NORTHERN-INDIANA ANSWER. Indiana replaces the model climatic table with its own county-by-county table: 675 IAC 14-4.4-5 directs "Delete TABLE R301.2(1) and the corresponding footnotes and substitute to read as follows", and row 46 of the substituted table, LaPorte, reads Yes in the column headed Ice Shield Underlayment Required. Lake and Porter Counties to the west read Yes as well. WHAT THE BARRIER IS. The State Building Commissioner's guidance reproduces the adopted Section R905.1.2: "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 same section carries the barrier from the lowest edge of the roof to a point at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line, measured from the wall and not the eave, so a deep overhang pushes it further up the slope. The County writes nothing on the subject: Chapter 151 has no ice, snow-load or underlayment provision. The County's codified adoption names an earlier state residential rule, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NOT REQUIRED. Chapter 151 of the LaPorte County Code was read in full and none of the terms UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or impact occurs in it. The 2020 Indiana Residential Code's four roofing-chapter amendments concern a rooftop photovoltaic sentence and the words "approved" and "printed" in the shingle attachment and flashing sections; none imposes an impact rating. And IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a county from adopting an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules. Impact-rated shingles are an insurance and warranty decision in unincorporated LaPorte County, not a code requirement. The County's codified adoption names an earlier state residential rule, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's.

THE COUNTY'S OWN CODE DRAWS THE PERMIT LINE IN TWO PLACES, AND THE BROADER ONE IS THE ONE THAT REACHES A RE-ROOF. Chapter 151 of the LaPorte County Code, the County Building Code, was read in full, all forty-one sections. Section 151.20(A), headed Permit required, is narrow: "A permit shall be obtained before beginning any construction or alterations of any building in the county which requires a change or addition to any support members or the installation of new plumbing, heating, air conditioning, stationary or permanent, electrical wiring, installation of new water heaters, and fireplaces and stoves, whether gas or wood burning." Read alone, that would leave a like-for-like re-roof with no structural work outside the permit system. The fee sections of the same chapter do not. Section 151.26(A) states "Permit fees apply to all new construction and all alterations, repairs, and remodeling", section 151.26(B) states "No person, company, or corporation shall perform or cause to be performed any work on or in the unincorporated areas of the county without obtaining in advance a permit from the Building Department", and the enacted schedule at section 151.27 carries a line of its own, "Re-roof and re-side. $20." So a re-roof is permit work in the unincorporated county whether or not the deck or framing is touched. THE DEPARTMENT AGREES. Its online permit menu lists Roofing/Siding as its own permit type, and its current fee sheet prices "Re-Roof or Re-Side" separately and closes with a "No Permit Needed" list naming door and storm door replacement, same-size window replacement, garage doors, painting, gutter replacement, concrete flatwork and fences. Roofing is not on that list; gutter replacement is. THE FEE ITSELF IS NOT SETTLED. The online codification prints $20 for a re-roof, while the department's fee sheet, headed as an amendment to section 151.27 and revised June 4, 2020, prints $50.00. The codification is current only through an ordinance passed in March 2020, so it may lag the department's schedule; confirm the amount with the office. STARTING WITHOUT ONE COSTS TRIPLE: section 151.26(C) provides that where a person proceeds without a required permit "the permit fees shall be tripled as a penalty". A homeowner may do their own roof - section 151.21(A)(4) provides that "Nothing in this chapter will prevent a homeowner from performing his or her own work so long as the required inspections are performed" - but still needs the permit, and the department's Home Owner Sign Off form lists Roofing among the work a homeowner certifies they are installing themselves.

115 mph, FROM THE STATE'S COUNTY-INDEXED TABLE AND NOT FROM A COUNTY ENACTMENT. Row 46 of the Indiana Residential Code's Table R301.2(1), substituted by 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, gives LaPorte County a wind speed of 115 mph, seismic design category A, ground snow load 30 psf, a foundation depth of 36 inches, a winter design temperature of 1 degree F, decay slight to moderate, termite moderate to heavy, weathering severe, ice shield underlayment required Yes, an air freezing index of 2000 and a mean annual temperature of 49.7 degrees F. Chapter 151 publishes no design criteria of its own; its only occurrences of "wind" are in the unsafe-building standards, and IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars the County from varying the state figures. Wind exposure category remains a site determination under the residential code. Note the snow load and frost depth, 30 psf and 36 inches, which are the northern-tier figures; a detail carried up from central Indiana will be wrong on both. The County's codified adoption names an earlier state residential rule, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's.

NO COUNTY RULE AND NO STATE AMENDMENT TO THE REROOFING SECTION, SO THE ANSWER IS THE BASE CODE'S. Chapter 151 of the LaPorte County Code was read in full, all forty-one sections, and the terms that would carry a layer rule were counted across it: "layer", "overlay", "R908" and "shingle" each occur zero times. Its only roofing references are the roof contractor in the registration ordinance and the re-roof fee line. On the state side, the roofing-chapter amendments in 675 IAC 14-4.4, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, are four and none touches reroofing: "Delete the text of the last sentence of SECTION R902.4 without substitution", "Delete the words "approved" from the text of SECTION R905.2.6 without substitution", "Delete the word "approved" from the text of SECTION R905.2.8 without substitution" and "Delete the word "printed" from the text of SECTION R905.2.8.4 without substitution". Nor could the County write a layer rule of its own: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a county from an ordinance that conflicts with or is more stringent or detailed than the state rules. So the base International Residential Code rule on recovering an existing roof applies here as published. 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. Establish the existing layer count with the Building Department on 219-326-6808 before quoting a recover rather than a tear-off. The adopted-code field explains the County's codified reference to an earlier state rule.

NO LOCAL SHEATHING RULE. Chapter 151 was read in full and contains no occurrence of "sheathing"; its only decks are the open and enclosed deck and porch lines in the permit fee schedule, which are structures and not roof decks. It carries no technical roof-covering provision of any kind. The roofing-chapter amendments in 675 IAC 14-4.4 are the four word and sentence deletions set out in this record's layer field, none of which reaches the roof deck. So the sheathing requirements on a LaPorte County re-roof are those of the 2018 International Residential Code as incorporated by the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, unmodified by the County. The County's codified adoption names an earlier state residential rule, and the County has published no statement of which edition it enforces; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's.

7.00% in LaPorte County, the Indiana state sales tax rate, with no county add-on. The Indiana Department of Revenue's county tax information page, which lists the taxes Indiana counties do levy, states: "The sales tax for the entire State of Indiana is 7%." So there is no local percentage to add to a materials invoice in the unincorporated county or in either city.