City of Richmond, Indiana - Permits and Inspections

City of Richmond, Indiana

city

50 North 5th St, Richmond, IN 47374

Required

Not required

WHERE AND HOW. Permits and Inspections is at 50 North 5th St, Richmond, on (765) 983-7341. Filing is through the City's BS&A online system: contractors need a BS&A account and a City-issued PIN, homeowners may apply online too, and inspection requests are made online or by telephoning the division. HOW LONG IT TAKES, in the City's own words: "Once your application is received, it will be reviewed for completeness. If any further information is needed, our office will contact you. Small projects typically take 5 business days to process. Larger projects may take up to 15 business days to process. While the online system will send email updates throughout the process, we will call you to let you know when your permit is ready to be paid for and picked up." A permit is not live until it is paid for - the City's own application form states that "NO PERMIT IS VALID UNTIL IT IS BOTH PAID & SIGNED FOR". THE APPLICATION asks for the owner and project address, a description of work, dimensions where applicable, and the total job cost including labour and materials - which is the figure that decides both whether the $500 permit threshold is crossed and what the fee is. WHAT IT COSTS: a re-roof is priced as a remodel or repair, "$2.00 per $1,000.00 of actual cost - minimum - $50.00". IS A ZONING PERMIT NEEDED TOO? Richmond requires an Improvement Location Permit before construction, installation, addition, alteration or relocation of a structure, and the examples the City lists are new dwellings, new commercial units, garages and carports, room additions, impervious surface, a change in a structure's height, ponds, manufactured homes, pools, driveways, decks and patios over 400 square feet, and any structure over 200 square feet. A like-for-like re-roof appears in none of them, but a job that changes the roof height or adds structure is a different matter, so raise it with the office before filing. INSPECTIONS are requested at least twenty-four hours ahead, the person responsible for the work must be on site, and no work may be covered or concealed until inspected and approved. STOPPING WORK: under section 150.11 the Director may order work stopped on part or all of a project by posting a Stop Work Card on the site, it is the owner's responsibility to see that the order is obeyed, and continuing work other than corrective work is a $100 fine for the owner, the contractor and anyone else who continues it, each day counting as a separate offence. COMMERCIAL WORK is a different track - section 150.04 requires a Design Release issued by the State Building Commissioner, with stamped plans, to be lodged with the City before a permit issues for construction covered by one.

STATE-SET, AND RICHMOND'S OWN ADOPTION CITES THE STATUTE THAT MAKES IT FLOAT. The residential rule is the state's: 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 formally readopted November 18, 2025, and it is the newest rule in its article. Richmond adopts it whole and dates itself forward on purpose. Section 150.03 of the City Code, headed "ADOPTION OF RULES BY REFERENCE", provides: "Pursuant to IC 22-13-2-3-(b), the rules of the Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission as set out in the following Articles of Title 675 of the Indiana Administrative Code are hereby incorporated by reference in this code and shall include any later amendments to those rules." The list that follows runs from 675 IAC 13 Building Codes through "675 IAC 14 Indiana Residential Code" to the plumbing, electrical, mechanical, energy, swimming pool, fire and fuel gas articles. The statute it cites says the same thing: IC 22-13-2-3(b) provides that a local 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 there is no stale Richmond edition to argue about, and no Indiana city 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. THE SCOPE OF THE CITY CHAPTER, in its own words at section 150.02: "The provisions of this Code apply to the construction, alterations, repair, use, occupancy, maintenance, demolition, moving and additions to all buildings and structures, other than fences, in the City of Richmond, Indiana." One vocabulary warning that catches people in Indiana: "Class 2" is a STRUCTURE class, broadly one and two family dwellings, and has nothing to do with a fire class or an impact class of roof covering.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT CITY-SET, and unconditional on a shingle roof. Richmond 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. About drip edge

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY THE TABLE IN WAYNE COUNTY - BUT READ THE SECOND HALF OF THIS BEFORE LEAVING IT OFF. This is a county-by-county answer in Indiana. The state 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 89 is Wayne, 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; Wayne County, on the Ohio line east of Indianapolis, is not one of them. The rest of the Wayne County row is wind speed 115 mph, seismic design category A, ground snow 20 psf, foundation depth 30 inches, winter design temperature 2 degrees F and weathering Severe. THE MANUFACTURER'S INSTRUCTIONS CAN STILL REQUIRE ONE, AND THE STATE SAYS SO IN TERMS. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's Ice/Water Shield and Metal Drip Edge guidance of February 25, 2020 explains that Sections R903.1, R904.1 and R905.1 require roofing materials to be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's installation instructions, and concludes that "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)." Wayne County is in the second group. So the correct answer on a Richmond job is to read the shingle manufacturer's published instructions for that product: if they call for an ice barrier, the code requires you to follow them, and a warranty may depend on it as well. Richmond has added nothing of its own - Chapter 150 of the City Code was read in full and contains no ice barrier or underlayment provision - and it could not: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO ROOFING INSPECTION IS ON RICHMOND'S MANDATORY LIST. City Code section 150.09(b) sets out the inspections a permit holder must request, and it is a closed enumeration: "Any person, firm or corporation who has obtained a Permit from the City Enforcement Authority shall be required to request an inspection of the work performed in the following instances", followed by ten numbered items. They are a temporary electrical service on a pole; footing and foundation excavations before concrete; underground and underslab electrical, heating and air conditioning, fire-extinguishing, fire-alarm and plumbing systems before being covered; the structural components of a new building or an addition, "including floors, walls, ceilings and roof, prior to said structural components being covered"; rough-in and final mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems; an electrical meter; replacement furnaces, heat pumps, central air conditioning and water heaters; demolition at two stages; an inground pool excavation and bonding; and a modular or manufactured home on a permanent foundation. A re-roof of an existing house appears in none of them - item (4) is a structural inspection on new construction and additions, not a roof-covering inspection - so there is no mid-roof hold point to build into the schedule. TWO THINGS THAT STILL APPLY. Section 150.09(a) gives the Director "or his duly authorized representatives" a general power to "make inspections whenever necessary to enforce any of the provisions of this Code", and to inspect work after a permit issues "as are necessary to insure full compliance with the provisions of this Code and the terms of the permit", so an inspector may attend a roof even though no stage is scheduled. And where any inspection is required, section 150.09(b) requires it to be requested at least twenty-four hours in advance, requires the person responsible for the work to be on site, and provides that "No portion of any work shall be covered or concealed until inspected and approved" - so if Permits and Inspections does call for a look at the deck on a particular job, do not sheet over it first. Confirm the inspection points with the division when the permit is issued.

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement applies in Richmond. 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: 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. Chapter 150 of the Richmond City Code, the Building Code, was read in full across all twenty-seven sections and searched for each of those terms and for the word "impact"; none of them appears anywhere in it, and the chapter's only roof-covering language is a maintenance standard about loose shingles. Richmond could not add one on top: IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city, town or county from adopting 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 those rules precedence over any local ordinance on the same subject. Two things that get mistaken for an impact mandate in Indiana: the phrase "Class 2", which is Indiana's STRUCTURE class for one and two family dwellings 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.

FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, AND ROOFING IS NAMED IN THE THRESHOLD ITSELF. Most Indiana cities leave a roofer to work out whether a re-roof counts as a remodel. Richmond does not. City Code section 150.05, headed "PERMIT REQUIRED", opens "A Building Permit or Service Installation Permit is required to be obtained prior to commencing work from the City Enforcement Authority on forms furnished by said Department in the following instances", and its first two Building Permit items are: "(1) All construction, alteration, remodeling or repair of any building or structure, the cost of which exceeds five hundred dollars ($500.00)" and "(2) All roofing and siding installations, the cost of which exceeds five hundred dollars ($500.00)." So the test is the cost of the job, not its square footage, not the number of layers, and not whether it is called a repair or a replacement. In practice almost every residential re-roof clears $500, and a small patch may not. The five remaining Building Permit items are demolition, moving a building, a public swimming pool, a modular or manufactured home on a permanent foundation, and a temporary commercial mobile unit - none of them a roofing exemption. The chapter contains no list of work exempt from a building permit at all; the only exemptions in section 150.05 sit under the SERVICE INSTALLATION Permit heading at (b)(7) and cover public utilities, railway utilities, portable appliances and radio transmitting stations, none of which is roofing. WHAT IT COSTS. The City's published fee schedule prices a re-roof as a repair or remodel: "Remodel or repair of all buildings or structures - $2.00 per $1,000.00 of actual cost - minimum - $50.00". That is a fee bracket, not a second threshold, and it does not change when a permit is needed. STARTING EARLY IS EXPENSIVE: section 150.09(a) provides that where an inspection finds "work has commenced on a job site prior to the issuance of a Permit a re-inspection fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be assessed and added to the cost of a Permit", and the City's own permit application form warns in capitals that "ANY PROJECT BEGUN WITHOUT A VALID PERMIT WILL BE STOPPED & A FINE ASSESSED". Continuing work after a Stop Work Card is posted is a separate offence carrying a $100 fine for each day under section 150.11(a), and the fine reaches the owner and the contractor alike.

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 Wayne 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 20 psf, a 30 inch foundation depth, a winter design temperature of 2 degrees F and Severe weathering. Richmond 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 Chapter 150 of the City Code sets no design criteria of its own. Wind exposure category remains a site-by-site determination made under the residential code rather than a figure the city or state sets - the table's own footnote marker on the Wind Speed column points to Section R301.2.1.4 - so settle the exposure category for the particular site rather than assuming one.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE, AND NO INDIANA CITY MAY WRITE ONE. Richmond's residential code is the state's: City Code section 150.03 incorporates 675 IAC 14, the Indiana Residential Code, together with any later amendments, and 675 IAC 14-4.4, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code. That rule runs to 245 numbered sections and its only amendments touching the model roofing chapter are word and sentence deletions in the rooftop photovoltaic section and in 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. Chapter 150 of the Richmond City Code, the Building Code, was read in full - all twenty-seven sections, 150.01 Authority through 150.27 Effective Date - and it contains no roof-covering provision of any kind: its three roofing references are the permit threshold for roofing and siding installations, the structural inspection required before the floors, walls, ceilings and roof of a new building or an addition are covered, and the exterior maintenance standard requiring roofs to be kept in good repair and surfaces free of loose shingles. So the base International Residential Code rule on recovering an existing roof applies here exactly as published, and neither the state nor the City has changed it. Richmond 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. 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 Permits and Inspections against that code before quoting. Either way, a roofing installation costing more than $500 needs a Richmond permit first.

7.00% statewide, with no county or city add-on in Richmond or Wayne 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 Wayne 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 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. One local point worth keeping straight: the $500 figure that decides whether a Richmond roofing permit is needed is the cost of the job, and the permit fee is calculated on actual cost, so the way a contract is priced can move both - but neither is a tax.