Town of Plainfield, Indiana - Development Services, Building Department

Town of Plainfield, Indiana

city

206 W. Main Street, Plainfield, IN 46168

WHAT IS AND IS NOT ESTABLISHED. Plainfield operates its own Building Department inside Development Services, at 206 W. Main Street on (317) 839-2561, and it issues its own permits and runs its own inspections. What this entry could NOT establish is whether a straightforward re-roof needs a permit here. The Town's permit page lists its residential application forms individually - new residential building, portable accessory structure, detached garage, basement finish or remodel, deck, pool, electrical, solar energy systems - and there is no roofing form among them and no published statement of what work is exempt. The Town's codified ordinances, which would settle it, are published through a vendor site that refuses automated access. Ask the Building Department before scheduling, because the penalty for guessing wrong is set out below and it is not small. HOW THE PROCESS WORKS. Applications go through the Town's iWorQ portal, and inspection requests go through the same portal: search for the permit by its building permit number and enter the contractor access code, which is "Typically, main contractor phone number minus area code and dashes". Requests "shall be made two (2) business days in advance of the date of the inspection", and the Town notes that its inspection schedule covers Monday to Friday with no inspections on Town holidays. THE PERMIT HAS TO BE ON DISPLAY: "The Building Permit shall be clearly displayed at the site during construction ... When a permit is not posted on the site, the requested inspection will not be conducted, a $25 per day fee for each day not displayed and a re-inspection fee will be assessed." THE FEES AND FINES, FROM THE FEE SCHEDULE THE TOWN ADOPTED EFFECTIVE JANUARY 12, 2026, with some items effective February 10, 2026. Residential re-inspections are $150 for the first, $300 for the second and $600 for each subsequent one - among the steepest in this corpus, and worth building into a quote if the job is likely to need a return visit. Starting work without a required permit costs "Twice the Normal Permit Fee". Working without an inspection, "Assessed when there is no notification or request for inspection prior to continuance of the construction", carries a residential minimum of $300. Working during a stop work order is $600 a day, and reinstating a stopped permit is $400 and includes one re-inspection. Occupying without a certificate of occupancy is $1 per square foot up to $2,500 per day per occurrence. There is no roofing line in the fee schedule; the nearest residential building categories are Single-Family Addition/Remodel at $100 plus $0.05 per square foot and Single-Family Plan Review at $100 per application, so confirm which category the department applies to a re-roof rather than assuming. CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION IS NOT ESTABLISHED EITHER: the Town publishes no contractor registration or licensing page and its adopted fee schedule contains no contractor licence fee, and Indiana licenses no contractor trade at state level, so nothing here should be read as saying a Plainfield roofer does or does not need a local credential. Confirm with the department.

STATE-SET, AND PLAINFIELD SAYS SO ITSELF. The Town's Ordinances, Standards and Codes page states under its Building heading: "The Town of Plainfield adopted the Articles of Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code. For the current codes refer to the Indiana Association of Building Officials website, and for the State of Indiana amendments, visit the Indiana website." Title 675 is the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission's title, and a house re-roof falls under its Article 14. THAT ADOPTION FLOATS RATHER THAN FREEZING. IC 22-13-2-3(b) provides that a reference to the rules "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." Plainfield names no edition, so it tracks the current rule. WHAT ARTICLE 14 IS TODAY. The rule in force is 675 IAC 14-4.4, 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 formally readopted November 18, 2025, and it is the newest rule in its article. No Indiana town could be on a different residential code in any event: 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. WHAT INDIANA CHANGES IN THE ROOFING CHAPTER, read section by section: 675 IAC 14-4.4 makes exactly four amendments to the model code's roofing chapter. Section 84 deletes the text of the last sentence of the rooftop photovoltaic panel section without substitution - a whole sentence, not a word. Sections 85 and 86 delete the word "approved" from the asphalt shingle attachment section and from the flashing section. Section 87 deletes the word "printed" from the other-flashing section. Indiana makes no amendment at all to the model reroofing and roof-recover section. WHAT THIS ENTRY COULD NOT READ: the Town's own codified ordinances are published through a vendor site that refuses automated access, so Plainfield's building chapter has not been read here. That does not unsettle the residential code - the state rule governs either way and the Town's own page says it adopted Title 675 - but it is why the permit question below is left open rather than answered.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED AND UNCONDITIONAL ON A SHINGLE ROOF. Plainfield 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" - and the Town's own codes page says it adopted the Articles of Title 675 rather than writing roofing rules of its own. 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 and is quoted here as printed; it plainly means the roof deck. The Indiana rule amends the flashing section only by deleting the word "approved" and does not touch the drip edge subsection, so this text governs as published. Note that the drip edge requirement is NOT conditioned on the county the way the ice barrier is - it applies on every shingle roof in Indiana, including the sixty-five counties whose climatic row reads "No" for the ice shield, and Hendricks is one of those. About drip edge

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY THE TABLE IN HENDRICKS COUNTY - BUT THE MANUFACTURER'S INSTRUCTIONS CAN STILL REQUIRE IT, AND THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS ANSWER. 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 32 is Hendricks, and it carries "No" 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; Hendricks is one of the other sixty-five. The rest of the Hendricks row reads wind speed 115 mph, seismic design category B, ground snow 20 psf, foundation depth 30 inches, winter design temperature 2 degrees F and weathering Severe. WHAT "NO" ACTUALLY MEANS HERE, IN THE STATE BUILDING COMMISSIONER'S OWN WORDS. The requirement in Section R905.1.2 is triggered "as designated in Table R301.2(1)", and the Commissioner's Ice/Water Shield and Metal Drip Edge guidance of February 25, 2020 explains that the sections requiring installation in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions still apply on top of the table: "Together, these sections and Table R301.2(1) set forth the locations and circumstances in which ice/water shield are required. In short, 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)." Hendricks County is in the second group. So in Plainfield the ice barrier is not required by the table, and it IS required wherever the shingle you are installing calls for it in its own written installation instructions. Read the wrapper, not the map - and note that a manufacturer's warranty is a separate matter the Commissioner expressly declines to enforce. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO MID-ROOF OR ROOF-STAGE INSPECTION IS PRESCRIBED. The Town publishes its Residential Building Inspection Procedures as a single sheet and it names every inspection it requires: a combined Footing/Foundation/Under-Slab inspection before backfilling and before covering any mechanical, electrical or plumbing; a Rough-in inspection with all mechanical, electrical, plumbing, framing, anchoring and draft stopping installed and exposed; an Energy Efficiency inspection with all insulation installed and windows and doors caulked and foamed; and an Occupancy inspection. The sheet was read in full and none of the four is a roofing, roof-deck or mid-roof inspection. ONE ROOF-ADJACENT CONDITION IS BURIED IN THE ROUGH-IN ENTRY AND IS WORTH KNOWING: "Homes must have a weather resistant covering on the exterior prior to inspection." On new construction that puts the exterior envelope ahead of the rough-in inspection rather than after it. WHAT ELSE THE SHEET REQUIRES, BECAUSE IT IS EXPENSIVE TO GET WRONG. All inspection requests go through the Town's iWorQ portal, searched by building permit number with a contractor access code that is "Typically, main contractor phone number minus area code and dashes", and "All requests shall be made two (2) business days in advance of the date of the inspection." The permit must be on display: "The Building Permit shall be clearly displayed at the site during construction ... When a permit is not posted on the site, the requested inspection will not be conducted, a $25 per day fee for each day not displayed and a re-inspection fee will be assessed. A re-inspection request must be submitted." The only exception to posting is the footing, foundation and under-slab inspection, where the inspector places a green tag instead. Residential re-inspections run $150 for the first, $300 for the second and $600 for each one after that, and working without an inspection carries a residential minimum fine of $300.

Not required — NO IMPACT-RESISTANCE REQUIREMENT APPLIES IN PLAINFIELD. The Town's adopted building rules are the Articles of Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code, by the Town's own statement on its codes page, and the residential rule in that title carries no impact requirement. 675 IAC 14-4.4 makes four amendments touching the model code's roofing chapter and not one concerns impact: it deletes the text of the last sentence of Section R902.4 on rooftop-mounted photovoltaic panel systems, deletes the words "approved" from Section R905.2.6 on asphalt shingle attachment, deletes the word "approved" from Section R905.2.8 on flashing, and deletes the word "printed" from Section R905.2.8.4 on other flashing. Nothing in the rule imposes a UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 impact rating. Nor could Plainfield 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. This answer rests on the state rule and the statutory ceiling; the Town's own codified ordinances are published through a vendor site that refuses automated access and have not been read here, which is why the reasoning is given rather than a bare negative. TWO THINGS IN INDIANA THAT GET MISTAKEN FOR AN IMPACT MANDATE: "Class 2 construction", which appears on the Indiana State Building Commissioner's own roofing guidance and describes the buildings the residential code applies to, is Indiana's STRUCTURE class for one and two family dwellings and says nothing about a roof covering; and an insurer's premium discount for an impact-rated shingle is a private contract term, not a code requirement.

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". Row 32 is Hendricks County and it gives 115 in the column headed "Wind Speed (MPH)". Every one of the ninety-two county rows carries the same figure, so 115 mph is the one genuinely statewide Indiana roofing number and a roofer moving between counties does not have to re-check it. The same Hendricks row gives seismic design category B, ground snow 20 psf, a 30 inch foundation depth, a winter design temperature of 2 degrees F and Severe weathering. Plainfield 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 more detailed than the state rules. EXPOSURE CATEGORY IS STILL A SITE DECISION, NOT A TOWN NUMBER. Indiana amends the exposure-category section itself, at 675 IAC 14-4.4-4, to deal with part-built subdivisions: for a site where multiple detached one and two family dwellings, townhouses or other structures are to be constructed as part of a subdivision or master-planned community, or are otherwise designated as a developed area by the authority having jurisdiction, the exposure category for an individual structure is based on the site conditions that will exist once all adjacent structures on the site have been built, provided their construction in that section is expected to begin within two years. That matters in Plainfield, where a great deal of the town is newer subdivision and open ground on the west side. Settle the category for the particular site rather than assuming one.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE IS POSSIBLE IN PLAINFIELD. The Town states that it "adopted the Articles of Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code", and the residential rule in that title 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 its only amendments touching the model roofing chapter are the deletion of the last sentence of the rooftop photovoltaic section and deletions of the words "approved" and "printed" from the asphalt shingle attachment and flashing sections. It makes no amendment at all to the model code's reroofing and roof-recover section, which does not appear anywhere in the Indiana rule. So the base International Residential Code rule on recovering an existing roof applies here exactly as published. Plainfield could not change it: 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, and 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, and a roofer planning a recover rather than a tear-off should settle the existing layer count with the Building Department against that code before quoting.

7.00% statewide, with no county or town add-on in Plainfield or Hendricks County. Indiana levies a single state sales tax rate. The Department of Revenue's own page listing what Indiana does tax at county level - 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 Hendricks County levies is an income tax, not a sales tax, so there is no local percentage to add to a materials invoice. WHO PAYS IT 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 settle your own contract form with an accountant.