Town of Schererville, Indiana - Planning and Building Department

Town of Schererville, Indiana

city

10 E Joliet St, Schererville, IN 46375

Required

Required

WHERE AND HOW. The Planning and Building Department is at Town Hall, 10 E Joliet St, Schererville, on (219) 322-2211 - extension 4 for contractor registration, extension 6 for inspections. The office is open Monday to Friday, 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM, and the Town asks that you arrive at least fifteen minutes before closing. The department "is in charge of issuing permits, inspections, contractor licenses, and zoning information", and it is "responsible for issuing building permits and performing inspections for construction and remodeling projects within Town limits." WHICH FORM: a replacement roof uses the short-form Building and Zoning Application, which is for work "not requiring plans, state release or plat of survey". A job needing a survey or plans uses the long form, and then the Building Permit Requirements packet applies - completed application, application fee, two plats of survey, two sets of building plans, a complete list of contractors and subcontractors, an energy conservation code report, and state release paperwork on commercial projects. The Town publishes the requirements but not a roofing fee figure, so confirm the fee with the department before quoting. THE PERMIT MUST BE DISPLAYED. The Town says so twice, in capitals, on two different documents: "NO WORK IS TO BE STARTED WITHOUT BENEFIT OF A PERMIT DISPLAYED AT JOB SITE" and "PERMITS MUST BE POSTED ON SITE". INSPECTIONS are booked by telephone and by the trade doing the work: "Please call in inspections to 322-2211 Ext. 6, Planning & Building Department 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE and NO LATER than 3:30 to be on the schedule for the following day. YOU MUST SPEAK TO OFFICE STAFF FOR CONFIRMATION", and the Town adds "PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE INSPECTION REQUESTS ON VOICE MAIL." It also requires that "INSPECTIONS FOR ALL JOBS MUST BE CALLED IN BY THE SUB CONTRACTOR DOING THE WORK", and warns that the rough and final building inspections will not be done until every other subcontractor has called theirs in - so on a job where the roof is one trade among several, the roofer books their own. Ladders must be provided as needed, and a re-inspection costs $50 payable before the re-inspection. A DISCLOSURE THAT CATCHES NEW CONSTRUCTION: the packet carries the SEA 393 disclosure, effective July 1, 2018, under which "all Class 2 structures must disclose the types of advanced structural components used in the qualifying property", with roof trusses and roof I-joists among the types to be declared. That is a structural disclosure on the building, not a rule about roof coverings. AND A CONTRACTOR-CHECKING SERVICE WORTH KNOWING ABOUT: the Town publishes a list of registered contractors and invites homeowners to "contact the Planning and Building Department to determine if they are licensed with the Town of Schererville" before hiring - so an unregistered roofer is visibly unregistered here.

STATE-SET. 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 formally readopted November 18, 2025, and it is the newest rule in its article. Schererville describes its own permits as the means of enforcing it: "Permits enable the Town to enforce the Indiana Building Code and local ordinances. These codes provide a minimum standard for protection of life, health, property, and public welfare." The Town's own codes page sends a builder to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security list of building and fire safety codes "used by our department". 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. If a Schererville ordinance cites the state rule, that citation moves forward with it rather than freezing, because IC 22-13-2-3(b) provides that a reference 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." WHAT THIS ENTRY COULD NOT READ: the Town's codified ordinances are published through a vendor site that refuses automated access, so the local building chapter itself has not been read here. That leaves the residential code unaffected - the state rule governs either way - and everything below rests on documents the Town publishes directly. 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, and the phrase appears on Schererville's own permit packet in that sense.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT TOWN-SET, and unconditional on a shingle roof. Schererville 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

Required — REQUIRED IN LAKE COUNTY - AND DO NOT WORK FROM THE EXCERPT ON THE TOWN'S OWN CODES PAGE, WHICH IS A SUPERSEDED SECTION. The requirement itself is not in doubt. 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 F, weathering Severe. 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." THE DISCREPANCY A ROOFER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT. Schererville's own Town Codes page highlights an ice-protection provision under the heading "R905.2.7.1 Ice Protection", and the text it prints is the older form of the rule, keyed to "areas where the average daily temperature in January is 25°F (-4°C) or less". Under the 2020 Indiana Residential Code the ice barrier provision is Section R905.1.2, it is triggered by the substituted Table R301.2(1) rather than by a January temperature, and it adds the 36 inch measurement on roofs of 8 in 12 or steeper - which the Town's excerpt does not mention. Both point the same way in Lake County, since the table says Yes, but the steep-slope measurement is a real difference on a job. Build to the section in force and raise the excerpt with the department if it is quoted back at you. About ice & water barrier

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement applies in Schererville. 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. Nor could Schererville 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. The Town's published building materials were searched for each of those terms as well, and none of them appears; this answer rests on the state rule and the statutory ceiling rather than on the Town's codified ordinances, which are published through a vendor site that refuses automated access. Two things that get mistaken for an impact mandate in Indiana: the phrase "Class 2 structure", which appears on Schererville's own permit packet and 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.

NO THRESHOLD IS PUBLISHED, AND SCHERERVILLE NAMES RE-ROOFING TWICE. The Town's "Do I Need a Building Permit" page opens "Check with the Building Department before beginning home-improvement projects. Permits are required for home-improvement projects, including electrical, mechanical, structural or plumbing work", and its list headed "Projects That Usually Require Permits" has "Re-roofing, re-siding, etc." as its second item. The Town's own application form settles what kind of permit that is: the Building and Zoning Application short form is marked "ONLY to be used for permits not requiring plans, state release or plat of survey, including: Replacement windows, doors, roofs, siding. Interior work not requiring plans such as minor remodel, replacement fixtures, furnace, sump pump, lawn irrigation systems, etc." So a straightforward tear-off and replacement is a short-form job - no plat of survey, no plans, no state release - but it is still a permit, and the form requires the job address, a description of work, the general contractor's details, the owner's details, the total job cost and a debris disposal plan. The form carries the Town's own warning in capitals: "NO WORK IS TO BE STARTED WITHOUT BENEFIT OF A PERMIT DISPLAYED AT JOB SITE", and the permit packet repeats it as "PERMITS MUST BE POSTED ON SITE". A JOB THAT GOES BEYOND A LIKE-FOR-LIKE REPLACEMENT changes the paperwork rather than the answer: the long form is "Needed for new construction or permits that require a plat of survey", and the Town's Building Permit Requirements packet then asks for two plats of survey, two sets of building plans, a complete list of contractors and subcontractors, an energy conservation code report, and a copy of state release paperwork on commercial projects. The Town does not publish a dollar or square-footage figure below which a roofing job is exempt, and it invites the question instead: "If you are not sure whether or not your project requires a permit just contact the Building Department." DEBRIS: the packet states that "The Town Dump is NOT for construction debris", so a tear-off needs a dumpster or another disposal route named on the application.

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 F and Severe weathering, with an air freezing index of 2000 and a mean annual temperature of 49.0 degrees F. Schererville 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. Wind exposure category remains a site-by-site determination made under the residential code rather than a figure the town 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, which matters on the open ground toward the lake.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE IS POSSIBLE IN INDIANA. The residential code that applies in Schererville 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 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. So the base International Residential Code rule on recovering an existing roof applies here exactly as published. Schererville 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 Planning and Building Department against that code before quoting. Either way the job needs a Schererville permit, and the permit has to be displayed on site.

7.00% statewide, with no county or town add-on in Schererville 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 - 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 PECULIAR TO THIS CORNER OF THE STATE: Schererville is a short drive from 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 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.