Porter County, Indiana - Building Department

Porter County, Indiana

county

155 Indiana Avenue, Valparaiso, IN 46383

Required

Required

WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH, AND WHERE. The Porter County Building Department sits inside the Department of Development and Stormwater Management at 155 Indiana Avenue, Valparaiso. The County describes it plainly: "The Building Department processes applications for almost every building project and performs subsequent inspections." The Code puts the same power in the same place - Sec. 6-23 authorises and directs the building commissioner and his authorised representatives to administer and enforce the chapter, Sec. 6-163 creates the building section, and Sec. 6-88 gives the general authority to inspect and investigate. Numbers the County publishes: Building Department 219-465-3676; building, planning and zoning questions 219-465-3540; building inspections 219-465-3473; the County switchboard 219-465-3400. SCOPE - THIS IS THE UNINCORPORATED COUNTY. Sec. 6-209(a) frames the permit requirement as applying "Within the jurisdiction of the county building department", and Sec. 6-261(a) frames contractor registration as applying "within the unincorporated portions of the county". Valparaiso, Portage, Chesterton and the other incorporated municipalities in Porter County administer their own building permits, so confirm which side of a municipal boundary a job sits on before filing. EVERYTHING GOES THROUGH THE ONLINE PORTAL. The County has moved permitting to permitting.schneidergis.com and states that "*All Contractors will need to register in the new Portal*". An account gives a dashboard that lets you "Register/Renew Contractor Registration", "Apply for Building Permits", "Track Permit through the Review process", "Pay Online", upload documents and attachments, and pull permit history reports. The County publishes portal instructions for contractor registration. TWO PERMITS, NOT ONE, ON WORK THAT BREAKS GROUND. Sec. 6-209(b) requires an improvement location permit before excavation and footings and a building permit before construction, alteration or repair; Sec. 6-210(c)(1) then requires the approved improvement location permit and its supporting documentation to accompany the building permit application. A re-roof breaks no ground, so ask the department which of the two it wants for a replacement roof rather than assuming both. WHAT THE APPLICATION ASKS FOR generally, from Sec. 6-210(c): outlines and dimensions of existing and proposed structures, distances between lot lines and structures, "A plat or sketch of the proposed location showing lot boundaries and by plans and specifications showing the work to be done", a state design release where applicable, and a working set of blueprints for stick-built structures. Much of that is aimed at new construction; the County's advice is to "print out the associated permit guide first and review those instructions" before filling in an application. There is a five-working-day waiting period before a building permit issues for new residential and commercial construction after the improvement location permit. A STATE DESIGN RELEASE IS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT AND ONLY SOME JOBS NEED IT: Sec. 6-210(c)(7) requires "a copy of a design release issued by the state building commissioner and the state fire marshal pursuant to IC 22-15-3-1" where applicable. The Indiana design-release scheme is for Class 1 structures, so an ordinary one or two family dwelling re-roof is not in it - but a roof on an apartment building, a church or a commercial property may be. FEES, from Appendix B: a residential re-roof is the "Exterior remodel (includes re-roofs)" line at "$150.00—$25.00 of the fee shall revert to the Unsafe Building Fund"; a "Commercial re-roof" is "$250.00—$50.00 of the fee shall revert to the Unsafe Building Fund". Both are flat fees, not per square foot. INSPECTIONS ARE BOOKED BY VOICEMAIL AND THE COUNTY SAYS NOT TO CHASE THEM: "Please call 219-465-3473 to schedule your inspection request. If you receive the voice mail box, please leave your name, phone number, jobsite address, and permit number. All inspection requests are retrieved from this voice mail box periodically throughout the day. Confirmation calls are not necessary." A CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST RULE WORTH KNOWING: Sec. 6-56(b) and (c) bar a building commissioner, code official or inspector with a conflict of interest from issuing or overseeing a permit, and require the conflict to be reported to the director, who assigns another staff member. APPEALS from a revocation go to the board of commissioners at its next regular meeting under Sec. 6-213(a).

STATE-SET, AND PORTER COUNTY'S OWN ORDINANCE FLOATS FORWARD WITH IT BY STATUTE. The residential rule 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. THE COUNTY'S ADOPTION, AND IT CITES THE FLOATING-REFERENCE STATUTE BY NAME. Porter County Municipal Code Sec. 6-138(a) provides that "Pursuant to IC 22-13-2-3(b), the building rules of the state fire prevention and building safety commission, as set out in the following articles of title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code, are incorporated by reference in this Code and shall include any later amendments to those rules", and its second item is "Article 14—Indiana Residential Code". IC 22-13-2-3(b) is the provision under which a reference to the commission's rules by citation to the Indiana Administrative Code "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." So the County is on whatever 675 IAC Article 14 currently says, which is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code. Two copies of the adopted rules are on file with the clerk for the legislative body under IC 36-1-5.4. Nor could the County set a different code: 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 THE COUNTY ADDS RATHER THAN CHANGES. Chapter 6 was read in full, all ten articles. It is an administrative chapter - permits, the building department, inspections, enforcement, contractor registration, building numbering, carbon monoxide detectors, fair housing and the unsafe building law - and it contains no roof-covering rule of any kind. The word "roof" appears in it exactly once, in the contractor-registration definition of the roofing specialty. VARIANCES ARE A STATE MATTER, NOT A COUNTER MATTER: Sec. 6-138(c) provides that a variance granted by the building commissioner "is not effective until it has been approved by fire prevention and building safety commission." ONE VOCABULARY WARNING: "Class 2 structure", which Chapter 6 uses throughout, is Indiana's STRUCTURE class for one and two dwelling unit buildings. It has nothing to do with a fire class or an impact class of roof covering. The County's codification is current through Ordinance No. 25-23, adopted December 9, 2025.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT COUNTY-SET, and unconditional on a shingle roof. Porter County cannot vary it: its own Sec. 6-138(a) adopts the state building rules by reference, 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 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. About drip edge

Required — REQUIRED IN PORTER 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 64 is Porter, 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 Porter 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 49.6 degrees. Neighbouring Lake 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". Porter County is in the first group, so here the barrier is required by the table itself and does not depend on what the shingle manufacturer says - but a crew working a job further south is in the second group and has to read the wrapper. About ice & water barrier

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement applies in Porter County. 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 Porter County impose one by ordinance: its Sec. 6-138(a) adopts the state building rules by reference rather than writing 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", 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. Porter County Code Chapter 6 was read in full, all ten articles, and it imposes no roof-covering performance requirement of any kind - the word "roof" occurs in it exactly once, naming the roofing contractor specialty. TWO THINGS THAT GET MISTAKEN FOR AN IMPACT MANDATE IN INDIANA: the phrase "Class 2 structure", which Porter County Code uses throughout and 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 DOLLAR OR SQUARE-FOOTAGE THRESHOLD, AND PORTER COUNTY NAMES RE-ROOFING IN ITS OWN FEE SCHEDULE. Two provisions require the permit and neither carries an exemption. Sec. 6-54 provides that "Construction is prohibited unless in conformity with a valid building permit obtained from the building commissioner prior to commencement of construction." Sec. 6-209(b) is the one that names repair outright: "No construction shall commence until a building permit is issued by the county building commissioner. An improvement location permit shall be obtained prior to the commencement of excavation and installation of footings and foundations, and a building permit shall be obtained prior to the commencement of construction, alteration or repair of any building or structure." THE FEE SCHEDULE SETTLES IT BEYOND ARGUMENT. Appendix B to the County Code, the municipal fee and fine schedule keyed to Sec. 6-239, carries under the heading "Alterations, Repairs, or Remodeling to all Residential Structures" a line reading "Exterior remodel (includes re-roofs)", priced at "$150.00—$25.00 of the fee shall revert to the Unsafe Building Fund." Under "Commercial, Industrial and Nonresidential Uses" there is a separate line reading "Commercial re-roof" at "$250.00—$50.00 of the fee shall revert to the Unsafe Building Fund." A jurisdiction that prices a re-roof by name has answered whether a re-roof needs a permit. Note the residential re-roof fee is flat rather than per square foot, so a large roof and a small one cost the same to permit. NO ROOFING EXEMPTION EXISTS. Chapter 6 was read in full, all ten articles, and its only exclusions from the building chapter are the statutory ones at Sec. 6-22: certified industrialized building systems and mobile structures under IC 22-15-4, and regulated amusement devices, boilers, pressure vessels and lifting devices under IC 22-13-2-9. Nothing exempts a roof, a repair, or work under a dollar figure. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU SKIP IT. Sec. 6-214(a) provides that if construction is commenced before the permit issues "the penalty imposed for that violation will be a fine of $50.00 per day with each day constituting a separate and distinct offense", and the same per-day fine applies to work continued after a permit expires. Sec. 6-109 gives the building commissioner a stop-work power and Sec. 6-107 lets the department withhold further permits. PERMITS EXPIRE. Sec. 6-211 voids a permit if the work is not commenced within 180 days or not completed within 24 months, with a discretionary 90-day extension from the building commissioner for good cause and an appeal to the board of commissioners beyond that.

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 Porter 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 49.6 degrees. Porter County 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, and the County's Sec. 6-138(a) adopts the state rules by reference rather than writing its own. 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. That amendment matters in unincorporated Porter County, where a great deal of the work is on open ground and in part-built subdivisions - settle the exposure category for the particular address rather than assuming one.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE IS POSSIBLE IN PORTER COUNTY. 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. The County has not added one and could not: its own Sec. 6-138(a) adopts the state building rules by reference rather than writing its own, its Chapter 6 was read in full and contains no roof-covering provision, 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 Building Department on 219-465-3676 against that code before quoting a recover rather than a tear-off - and either way the job needs a County permit, priced on the "Exterior remodel (includes re-roofs)" line.

7.00% statewide, with no county or municipal add-on in Porter 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 taxes Porter County levies are of those kinds, not sales taxes, so there is no local percentage to add to a materials invoice. ONE THING PECULIAR TO THIS CORNER OF THE STATE: Porter County is within easy reach of the Illinois line, and a crew buying materials in Illinois 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.