Town of Munster, Indiana - Community Development Department

Town of Munster, Indiana

city

1005 Ridge Rd, Munster, IN 46321

Required

Required

WHERE AND HOW. Munster's Community Development Department is at Town Hall, 1005 Ridge Rd, Munster, on (219) 836-6990, by email at [email protected], open 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday to Friday. The Town describes the department as "responsible for the development of long and short-range planning documents and enforcement of the Town's building codes and zoning ordinances", and the Town Code puts the operative powers in the building inspector: § 26-61 creates the office, and § 26-62 makes it "the duty of the building inspector to approve all building permits in accordance with the provisions of this article, and to have charge of and enforce all ordinances pertaining to the erection, construction, alteration, repair or removal of buildings or other structures." Permits may be applied for online through the Town's permit page, or the application form can be downloaded from it. FEES ARE NOT PUBLISHED AS A ROOFING FIGURE, AND THE VALUATION IS SET BY THE INSPECTOR. § 26-74(a) provides that after the application and plans are approved the applicant "shall be entitled to a permit upon the payment of a fee in the amount established by the town", paid to the clerk-treasurer at Town Hall, and § 26-71(a) provides that no permit issues "until the building inspector has determined the valuation of the finished work". Ask the department for the figure before you quote, and note that the application itself asks for "the fair cash value of the finished work, including all material, labor and equipment costs (valuation)". THE TOWN INSPECTS THREE TIMES ON A BUILDING AND CHARGES FOR ANY MORE. § 26-62 requires the building inspector to examine all buildings in the course of erection "a minimum of three specific times" - foundation complete before backfill, framing and mechanical rough-in complete, and ready for occupancy - and provides that "The builder, whether a contractor or owner, shall be responsible for notifying the building inspector in writing when the building is ready for the first, second and third inspection", with construction not proceeding "until an inspection is termed satisfactory by the building inspector by means of an inspection card left near the main entrance to the building." Those three are the new-building sequence; the same section requires the inspector to examine "all alterations or repairs throughout the town as often as practicable", which is the branch a re-roof falls into, and the Town does not publish a staged roofing-inspection schedule. RE-INSPECTIONS COST MONEY: § 26-74(a) provides that "Reinspection required in addition to the three regular inspections shall be at owners or contractors expense at the rate established by the town for each reinspection." PLANS STAY ON SITE AND MAY NOT BE CHANGED WITHOUT PERMISSION (§ 26-71(a)), AND THE PERMIT STAYS IN FULL VIEW (§ 26-71(c)). SIXTY DAYS TO START. § 26-71(e) voids a permit if work is not commenced within 60 days of issue, or if it is suspended or abandoned for six months after commencing; a new permit is then needed for the unfinished portion. REVOCATION AND APPEAL: under § 26-71(c) the building inspector reports a violation or a mistaken issue to the clerk-treasurer, who revokes the permit, notifies the applicant in writing and refunds the fee where it was issued in error; that action may be appealed to the town council. § 26-63 lets the inspector require defects to be corrected in writing and makes each day of refusal a separate offence. CHECK YOUR OWN REGISTRATION BEFORE YOU BOOK THE JOB: the Town publishes a list of currently registered contractors and warns that an unregistered contractor "will need to obtain contractor registration before the release of the permit and before work is started."

STATE-SET - AND THE TOWN'S OWN CODIFIED LIST IS BADLY OUT OF DATE, SO DO NOT WORK FROM IT. The residential rule that applies in Munster 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, AND IT NAMES A CODE THAT NO LONGER EXISTS. Munster Town Code § 26-33(a) adopts a numbered list of "State of Indiana Building Codes", and item (3) reads: "Indiana Residential Code: (75-IAC-14 OTFDC). Based on: 2003 International Residential Code (5th printing) with Indiana amendments, effective April 5, 2008." That describes the 2005 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.3, which has been repealed; the rule in force in its place is 675 IAC 14-4.4. The rest of the list is of the same vintage - the 2006 International Building Code, the 2008 National Electrical Code, the 2006 International Mechanical Code, the 2006 International Fire Code - and the section was last amended in 2013. WHICH ONE GOVERNS IS NOT A CLOSE QUESTION, AND IT IS NOT A QUESTION FOR THE TOWN. 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." The Indiana State Building Commissioner has put the same point in terms that need no interpretation: the 2020 Indiana Residential Code "is in full force and effect statewide. 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. Local units of government are statutorily mandated to require compliance with the code." So build to the 2020 Indiana Residential Code. WHAT THE TOWN ADDS RATHER THAN CHANGES. Article II of Chapter 26 was read in full. It is administrative - the office of building inspector, permits, plans, certificates of occupancy, fees and fire zones - and it contains no roof-covering rule; the only occurrence of the word "roof" in the article is in a plan-dimension requirement. § 26-32 states the article's reach: it applies "to the construction, alteration, repair, use or occupancy of and additions to all buildings and structures, other than industrialized building systems or mobile structures certified under IC 22-15-4". Copies of the adopted codes are on file in the office of the Munster Building Department. 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. Munster's codification is current through Ordinance No. 2011, enacted May 4, 2026.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT TOWN-SET, and unconditional on a shingle roof. Munster 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. NOTE THAT THIS DOES NOT DEPEND ON MUNSTER'S OWN CODIFIED CODE LIST, which names a superseded edition - the same guidance states that the 2020 Indiana Residential Code governs "Regardless of any established local enforcement policies or practices to the contrary". 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 Munster the barrier is required by the table itself and does not depend on what the shingle manufacturer says. Do not take the answer from Munster's own codified list of adopted codes, which names the 2003 International Residential Code; the barrier 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 Munster. 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 could Munster impose one by ordinance: 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", and IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives those rules precedence over any local ordinance covering the same subject matter. 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. Munster's own building article and its contractor registration article were both read in full and neither imposes a roof-covering performance requirement of any kind. 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.

NO THRESHOLD - MUNSTER NAMES RE-ROOFING ON ITS OWN LIST OF PERMIT WORK. The Town's Permits page asks "WHEN DO I NEED A PERMIT?" and answers "Permits are required for most property improvement projects. Any work that is governed by the building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing code, or zoning ordinance requires a permit so that inspections can be made for compliance with the relevant regulations." Its worked examples put a re-roof in the first category by name, under the heading of work that requires a permit: "Repairs such as re-roofing, re-siding, concrete work including replacing sidewalks, aprons, driveways, patios, and rebuilding porches, guardrails or stairs." The companion list of work that does NOT require a permit is short and contains nothing structural: "Installing new cabinets and countertops", "Sewer rodding or maintenance", "Painting or wallpapering", "Installing new floor coverings", "Installing new tile", "Minor landscaping". There is no dollar figure and no square-footage figure on either list. THE ORDINANCE BEHIND IT. Town Code § 26-71(a) provides that "It shall be unlawful for any person to erect, construct, build or cause to be erected, constructed or built, or assist in the erection, construction or building, or alter any such building, or to make any additions thereto, without first obtaining a permit therefor", and § 26-71(c) speaks of "Every permit or license for the construction or repair of any building within the town". § 26-32 makes the building article apply "to the construction, alteration, repair, use or occupancy of and additions to all buildings and structures". WHAT THE APPLICATION ASKS FOR. § 26-71(a) requires the application to be in writing and to state "the exact site to be occupied, the number of the lot and block, or legal description, the name of the street, the fair cash value of the finished work, including all material, labor and equipment costs (valuation), and the length of time allotted for construction", and provides that "No permit shall be issued until the building inspector has determined the valuation of the finished work and the fee therefor has been paid to the clerk-treasurer." So the fee follows a valuation the inspector sets, not one the contractor declares. Duplicate sets of plans and specifications are required for an alteration or addition, one set stays with the inspector as a public record and one "shall be kept on such building or work at all times during which the work authorized thereby is in progress"; approved plans "shall not be changed, modified or altered without authorization from the building inspector". THE PERMIT HAS TO BE DISPLAYED: § 26-71(c) provides that the permit "shall be kept in full view at all times at the location of the construction work", and that it is not valid until signed by the clerk-treasurer, approved by the building inspector and issued by the clerk-treasurer on payment of the fee. THE EXPIRY IS SHORT AND CATCHES SLOW STARTS. § 26-71(e): a permit "shall expire by limitation and become null and void if the building work authorized by such permit is not commenced within 60 days from the date of such permit, or is suspended or abandoned at any time after the work is commenced for a period of six months." Sixty days is a tighter start window than most Indiana jurisdictions allow, so do not pull the permit long before the crew is booked. ONE MORE THING THE PERMIT ITSELF DECIDES: § 26-71(d) requires the permit to "particularly specify as to whether or not a part of the street may be occupied by the builders with the building material", which is worth raising when a dumpster or a material drop will sit on the street. AND NOTE THAT THE TOWN REGISTERS CONTRACTORS EVEN WHERE NO PERMIT IS NEEDED: "all contractors doing work in the Town of Munster must be licensed with the Town regardless if a permit is required or not."

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 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. Munster cannot raise or lower any of it by ordinance, because IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county 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 - Munster sits on flat open ground close to the Illinois line and the Little Calumet corridor.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE IS POSSIBLE IN MUNSTER. 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. Munster has not added one and could not: Article II of its Chapter 26 was read in full and contains no roof-covering provision, its § 26-33 adopts state building rules rather than writing its own, and 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 state rules while IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives the state rules precedence over any local ordinance covering the same subject matter. 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 Community Development Department on (219) 836-6990 against that code before quoting a recover rather than a tear-off - and either way the job needs a Munster permit, because the Town names re-roofing on its own list of permit work.

7.00% statewide, with no county or town add-on in Munster 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 MUNSTER THAN ALMOST ANYWHERE ELSE IN INDIANA: the town borders Illinois, and a crew buying materials across the line 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 INDIANA 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.