City of Seymour Planning and Zoning Department

City of Seymour, Indiana

city

301-309 N. Chestnut St., Seymour, IN 47274

WHERE. The Planning and Zoning Department is in Seymour City Hall, 301-309 N. Chestnut St., Seymour, IN 47274. The Building Commissioner is on 812-523-5882, the Building Inspector on 812-523-5899 and the department's administrative line on 812-522-4746. WHOSE JOB IT IS. The department "Issues building permits for all construction work taking place within the city limits and the two mile jurisdictional area surrounding the city." Jackson County's own Planning and Zoning office serves only unincorporated Jackson County and sends property owners in the City's Two-Mile Fringe to the City, so a job just outside the city limits may still be Seymour's. HOW. The City's application is an online Improvement Location Permit form filed with a scaled plot plan: "ONE COPY OF A PLOT PLAN must accompany this application for an Improvement Location Permit." It goes to the Building Commissioner, who contacts the applicant, and it asks whether the property is in a special zoned flood area. FEES THE CITY PUBLISHES. $75 for a garage, a residential addition, porch or deck, or a remodel once plans are approved; eight cents a square foot for a new home; $10 for a curb cut or an excavation permit. No roofing fee is published, consistent with the page's statement that a new roof needs no permit.

STATE-SET: THE 2020 INDIANA RESIDENTIAL CODE, AND SEYMOUR HAS PUBLISHED NO EDITION OF ITS OWN. The residential rule is 675 IAC 14-4.4, whose opening section incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code, first printing August 2017, "by reference as if fully set out in this rule save and except those revisions made in this rule", and provides: "This rule shall be known as the 2020 Indiana Residential Code." It was filed November 26, 2019 and readopted November 18, 2025, and the state has adopted no later residential rule. The State Building Commissioner's guidance puts its reach plainly: "The 2020 Indiana Residential Code is in full force and effect statewide." WHAT THE CITY ITSELF SAYS. The Planning and Zoning Department describes its inspection role in one line: it "Inspects all construction work to assure compliance with all state codes." Its Improvement Location Permit application has the applicant agree that the work "will comply with and conform to all applicable laws of the state of Indiana and Ordinances of the City of Seymour". Neither names an edition. The City's codified ordinances sit on a vendor code library that could not be opened for this record, so whether that code names an edition, and which, was not established; the City has published no statement of which edition it enforces. TWO INDIANA STATUTES FRAME ANY LOCAL TEXT. IC 22-13-2-3(b) makes a local citation to the Indiana Administrative Code move forward with the rule: it "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". And IC 22-13-2-3(c) provides: "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." One vocabulary warning: "Class 2" in Indiana is a structure class, broadly one and two family dwellings, and has nothing to do with a fire or impact class of roof covering.

Required — REQUIRED BY THE STATE CODE ON A SHINGLE ROOF, WITH OR WITHOUT A CITY PERMIT. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's guidance reproduces the adopted Section R905.2.8.5, which opens: "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs." The same passage goes on to set laps, the extension below the sheathing and fastener spacing; read it in the guidance before detailing the edge. 675 IAC 14-4.4 amends Section R905.2.8 only by deleting the word "approved" and does not touch R905.2.8.5. Seymour's own ordinances could not be opened for this record, and IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city from an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules. The City's page says a new roof needs no permit; that removes the City's inspection, not this requirement, and the same guidance says the code's requirements "by law, must be followed" whatever the local enforcement practice. About drip edge

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY THE TABLE IN JACKSON COUNTY, BUT THE MANUFACTURER CAN STILL REQUIRE IT. Indiana replaces the model climatic table with its own county by county one: 675 IAC 14-4.4-5 directs "Delete TABLE R301.2(1) and the corresponding footnotes and substitute to read as follows". Row 36, Jackson, carries "No" in the column headed Ice Shield Underlayment Required. Allen, Elkhart and Jasper counties, among others, carry Yes, so an answer carried down from a northern Indiana job would be wrong here. The State Building Commissioner's guidance explains what the No leaves in place: "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)." Jackson County is in the second group, so read the shingle manufacturer's printed instructions for the assembly before leaving the membrane out. Seymour's ordinances could not be opened for this record, and IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars the City from adding a rule of its own. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY THE STATE CODE, AND NO SEYMOUR RULE COULD BE READ THAT ADDS ONE. 675 IAC 14-4.4 was read in full. Its four amendments to the model roof assemblies chapter are the deletions described in this record's layer field, none concerning impact resistance, and the rule imposes no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 requirement anywhere. The City's Improvement Location Permit application asks nothing about the roof covering. The City's codified ordinances could not be opened for this record; IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city from an ordinance more stringent or detailed than the state rules, and IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives those rules precedence over any local ordinance on the same subject. An insurer's discount for an impact-rated shingle is a private contract term, not a code requirement, and the "Class 2" in the state's roofing guidance is a structure class, not an impact class.

THE CITY'S OWN PERMITS PAGE SAYS A NEW ROOF DOES NOT REQUIRE A PERMIT, AND THIS RECORD REPORTS THAT RATHER THAN A YES OR NO. Under its heading Steps to Getting Permits, the Planning and Zoning Department's page lists which projects need a permit, and its entry for remodels says: "Painting, new flooring, windows, siding, or a new roof do not need a permit." The same entry says what does count as a remodel: "A remodel includes tearing down walls or adding walls or a room addition." A remodel permit is issued for $75 once the Building Commissioner approves the plans. WHAT THIS RECORD COULD NOT CHECK. That page is undated administrative guidance. The City's codified ordinances are published on a vendor code library whose pages could not be opened for this record, so whether the enacted building ordinance draws the permit line in the same place was not established, and no yes or no permit answer is published here for that reason. The page also does not say where a roof job stops being a new roof: replacing rafters or other framing is not addressed, so settle any job that goes below the deck with the Building Commissioner on 812-523-5882 before starting. NO PERMIT DOES NOT MEAN NO CODE. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's roofing guidance states: "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." A permit exemption removes the City's review and inspection, not the state code's installation requirements.

115 mph, FROM THE STATE'S COUNTY TABLE, NOT A SEYMOUR ENACTMENT. The Jackson County row of Indiana's substituted Table R301.2(1) at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5 gives wind speed 115 mph, seismic design category B, ground snow load 20 psf, foundation depth 24 inches, winter design temperature 9 degrees F, decay slight to moderate, termite moderate to heavy, weathering severe, ice shield underlayment required No, air freezing index 1500 or less, and mean annual temperature 52.5 degrees F. Wind exposure category is still decided site by site: the table's footnote a reads "Wind exposure shall be determined on a site-specific basis in accordance with SECTION R301.2.1.4". Two figures differ from many other Indiana counties and are worth checking before reusing a detail from elsewhere: seismic category B where many counties print A, and a 24 inch foundation depth where many print 30 or 36. Seymour's ordinances could not be opened for this record; IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city from varying the state's figures by ordinance.

NOT CLASSIFIED HERE, BECAUSE THE CITY'S OWN BUILDING CHAPTER WAS NOT READ. No Seymour layer rule could be read for this record, and the state rule adds none: 675 IAC 14-4.4, read in full, amends the model code's roof assemblies chapter in only four places, deleting the last sentence of Section R902.4 on rooftop photovoltaic panel systems, the word "approved" from Sections R905.2.6 and R905.2.8, and the word "printed" from Section R905.2.8.4. It makes no amendment to the model code's reroofing section, so that section of the 2018 International Residential Code applies in Seymour as the International Code Council published it. Base-code rule, read at 2018 International Residential Code Section R908.3.1.1, Roof recover not allowed: a roof recover "shall not be permitted" where "the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be recovered; a second existing layer means a tear-off to the deck. This record declares no classification because the City's own building chapter was not read. The City's own codified ordinances could not be opened either, and IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city from any ordinance "that conflicts with or includes more stringent or detailed requirements than the commission's rules." Establish what is already on the roof and confirm with the Building Commissioner on 812-523-5882 before quoting a recover. Because the City's page treats a new roof as needing no permit, the question will not reach you through a plan review.

NO LOCAL SHEATHING RULE COULD BE READ, AND THE STATE'S ONE SHEATHING AMENDMENT IS A DELETION ABOUT IDENTIFICATION. The only change 675 IAC 14-4.4 makes to the model code's roof sheathing section is Section 82, headed "Section R803.2.1; identification and grade", which reads in full: "Delete the words "or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency" from the text of SECTION R803.2.1 without substitution." It adds nothing and sets no thickness, span or fastening figure. The state's four roof covering amendments are all outside the sheathing section. Otherwise the roof sheathing provisions of the 2018 International Residential Code apply in Seymour as incorporated. Seymour's codified ordinances could not be opened, and IC 22-13-2-3(c) bars a city from adding a more stringent or detailed rule. Because the City's page treats a new roof as needing no permit, no City inspection of the deck is scheduled; if rotten decking turns up at tear-off, ask the Building Commissioner whether replacing it takes the job outside that exemption.

7.00% in Seymour, the Indiana state sales and use tax rate, with no county or municipal add-on. The Department of Revenue's county tax page states: "The sales tax for the entire State of Indiana is 7%." The local taxes it lists county by county are income, innkeeper's and food and beverage taxes, not a general sales tax, so neither Jackson County nor the City adds anything to the 7.00% a roofing contractor pays on materials here.