City of Vincennes, Indiana City Inspector's Office

City of Vincennes, Indiana

city

205 Vigo Street, Vincennes, IN 47591

Required

Not required

WHERE AND HOW. Building permits in Vincennes come from the City Inspector's Office at 205 Vigo Street, Vincennes, IN 47591, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, telephone 812-882-3338. The City Inspector is Brad Snider ([email protected]). Section 150.17 of the City Code provides that "The City Inspector is hereby authorized and directed to administer and enforce all of the provisions of this code." The office lists among its duties building and remodel, demolition, electrical, fencing, heating and air conditioning, plumbing, roofing, roll-off dumpster, shed and swimming pool permits. WHAT THE APPLICATION NEEDS: under 150.21, "No building permit shall be issued for the foregoing purposes, unless the application for a permit is accompanied by a plat or sketch of the proposed location showing lot boundaries, and by plans and specifications showing the work to be done", so bring a sketch of the lot and a written description of the roofing work. THE COUNTY STEP: the Knox County Area Plan Commission, at 111 North 7th Street, Suite 13, on the third floor of the Knox County Courthouse, 812-885-2544, is "responsible for reviewing applications for Improvement Location Permits for new developments", and City Code 150.20(B) requires an improvement location permit before a City permit for new construction or an addition. A reroof is neither, but a job that adds to the house goes to the county first. THE HISTORIC DISTRICT STEP: inside the district whose boundary City Code 151.02 traces street by street from the low water mark of the Wabash River, a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic District Review Board comes before the building permit for a conspicuous change in exterior appearance, resurfacing included (151.18(A)). The application is made "in the office of the City Inspector on forms adopted and provided by the Board", with "Preliminary drawings, plans, and specifications", and the code sets the fee at $25 (151.18(B)(1)) while the Inspector's Office page prints a Historic Review Board application fee of $50.00, so confirm the figure when you file. If the Board does not act within 30 days of a complete application, the certificate issues (151.19(B)), and beginning work in violation of 151.18 is a Class B infraction (151.99). INSPECTIONS: under 150.25, after a permit issues "the City Inspector shall make, or shall cause to be made, inspections of the work being done as are necessary to insure full compliance with the provisions of this subchapter and the terms of the permit", and work found incomplete or not ready for inspection is subject to a reinspection fee. The chapter names no fixed inspection stages for a roof, so ask at permit issue what the Inspector will want to see. Under 150.27 the Inspector may enter any building, structure or premises in the city at reasonable times on presentation of proper credentials. STOP WORK AND PENALTIES: under 150.28 the Inspector may order work stopped by written notice, and under 150.99(B) a violation of sections 150.15 through 150.34 draws a fine "not less than $100, nor more than $2,500. Each day of such unlawful activity shall constitute a separate offense." APPEALS go first to the Board of Public Works and Safety and then to the state Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission (150.33). DUMPSTERS: the office lists a dumpster permit at $25.00 residential and $50.00 when placed on City property, good for 30 days.

THE 2020 INDIANA RESIDENTIAL CODE, AND THE CITY'S OWN CHAPTER TAKES IN THE STATE RULES WITH THEIR LATER AMENDMENTS. One and two family dwellings in Indiana are built to 675 IAC 14-4.4, whose first 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, 500 New Jersey Avenue NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001-2070, 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 by a filing of November 18, 2025. Its application section, as Indiana rewrote it, provides that "The provisions of this code apply to the construction, prefabrication, alteration, addition, and remodel of detached one or two family dwellings and one family townhouses not more than 3 stories in height and their accessory structures." The Indiana State Building Commissioner puts the reach of the rule plainly in guidance on ice/water shield and drip edge dated February 25, 2020: "The 2020 Indiana Residential Code is in full force and effect statewide. 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." WHAT THE CITY CODE SAYS. Section 150.19(A) of the Vincennes Code of Ordinances provides that "Building 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 subchapter and shall include later amendments to those articles as the same are published in the Indiana Register or the Indiana Administrative Code with effective dates as fixed therein", and it lists Articles 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Its Article 14 entry still names the "Council of American Building Officials One and Two Family Dwelling Code", the "CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code; Amendments" and the "Standard for Permanent Installation of Manufactured Homes"; the section's history note cites the 1971 Code and an amendment by Ord. 7-88, passed March 14, 1988. The state's own 2026 listing of Article 14 shows Rule 3, Permanent Installation of Manufactured Homes, as repealed, shows every section of Rule 2.1, CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code; Amendments, as repealed, and carries the 2020 Indiana Residential Code as Rule 4.4. The City has published no statement of which residential edition its Inspector's Office enforces, and the text of the CABO code that list names has not been read for this record, so every answer in this pack is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's. The City Code was read as codified through Ord. 15-2025, passed December 8, 2025. ONE LOCAL CONSTRUCTION RULE sits in the same chapter: 150.01 sets the city's fire limits as "the same as and contiguous with the business district as shown on the zone map of the city", and provides that "Within the fire district, all new construction and all alterations to existing structures shall be constructed with fire-resistant materials as defined in the National Building Code of the Board of Fire Underwriters." That is a fire rule, it reaches only the business district, and a roof job there should be checked against it with the City Inspector. One vocabulary warning: "Class 2" in Indiana is a STRUCTURE class, one and two family dwellings, and says nothing about a fire, wind or impact class of roofing.

Required — REQUIRED AT BOTH EAVES AND RAKES, AND IT IS A STATE ANSWER RATHER THAN A VINCENNES ONE. The Indiana State Building Commissioner, Craig E. Burgess, published guidance on ice/water shield and metal drip edge on Indiana Department of Homeland Security letterhead, dated February 25, 2020, which sets out Section R905.2.8.5 as it applies in Indiana: "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 words "rood deck" are how the guidance prints it; read it as the roof deck. The requirement does not depend on the county or on the shingle manufacturer's instructions. The 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, does not amend this section: its only edit nearby deletes the word "approved" from Section R905.2.8, the flashing section above it. Chapter 150 of the Vincennes Code of Ordinances was read in full and adds nothing on drip edge. Vincennes has published no statement of which residential edition it enforces, and the Article 14 list in City Code 150.19 still names the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code, whose text has not been read for this record; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's. About drip edge

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY THE TABLE IN KNOX COUNTY, BUT THE SHINGLE INSTRUCTIONS CAN STILL REQUIRE ONE. In Indiana the ice barrier is a county-by-county answer. The state deletes the model climatic table and substitutes its own at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, one row per county, and row 42 is Knox, which reads No in the column headed "Ice Shield Underlayment Required." Vincennes is the Knox County seat, so that is the row to read. The Indiana State Building Commissioner's guidance of February 25, 2020 supplies the other half: "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)." Knox County is in the second group, so read the written installation instructions for the specific shingle before leaving the barrier off; if they call for one, the code requires it. Where it is required, the same guidance gives the extent: 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", and on roofs of 8:12 or steeper it "shall also be applied not less than 36 inches (914 mm) measured along the roof slope from the eave edge of the building", with an exception for "Detached accessory structures not containing conditioned floor area." Chapter 150 of the Vincennes Code of Ordinances was read in full and adds nothing on underlayment. Vincennes has published no statement of which residential edition it enforces, and the Article 14 list in City Code 150.19 still names the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code, whose text has not been read for this record; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO IMPACT-RESISTANCE OR HAIL-RATING REQUIREMENT APPLIES IN VINCENNES. Neither 675 IAC 14-4.4, the 2020 Indiana Residential Code that adopts the 2018 International Residential Code, nor Chapter 150 of the Vincennes Code of Ordinances amends the roof assemblies chapter's impact-rating provisions, and no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 impact requirement appears in the state rule or in the City's building regulations. The state rule's only amendments in the roof assemblies chapter delete the last sentence of the rooftop photovoltaic section, the word "approved" from the asphalt shingle attachment and flashing sections, and the word "printed" from the other-flashing section. Chapter 150 was read in full, all 46 sections: its only mention of roofing is a permit fee, and its one materials rule, in 150.01, requires fire-resistant materials in the business district, which is a fire rule and says nothing about hail. Chapter 151, Historic District, asks only that materials in the district be visually compatible. Impact-resistant shingles are an insurer-driven upgrade in this market, and an insurance discount is not a code requirement. Two cautions when reading paperwork on a Vincennes job: a Class A, B or C designation, or a reference to ASTM E108 or UL 790, is a FIRE rating and says nothing about hail, and ASTM D3161 or D7158 is a WIND rating; only UL 2218 or FM 4473 answers impact. And "Class 2" on Indiana guidance is a class of STRUCTURE, a one or two family dwelling, not a rating of any roofing product. Vincennes has published no statement of which residential edition it enforces, and the Article 14 list in City Code 150.19 still names the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code, whose text has not been read for this record; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's.

$250 OF COST, AND ROOFING HAS ITS OWN FEE LINE. Section 150.20(A) of the Vincennes Code of Ordinances, headed "Permit Required", provides: "A permit shall be obtained before beginning construction, alteration or repair of any building or structure, of which the cost of which exceeds $250; using forms furnished by the City Inspector; and all fees required by this code shall be paid to the City Inspector." The doubled "of which" is how the codified text is printed. The scope section, 150.18, applies the chapter to "the construction, alterations, repair, use, occupancy, maintenance and additions to all buildings and structures, other than fences, in the city", and Chapter 150 was read in full, all 46 sections, without finding any list of work exempt from permit or any square-footage or layer test. The fee section names roofing outright: 150.23(A)(10) sets "Roofing/remodeling: $3 per $1,000 of estimated costs; with minimum fee of $25", and the City Inspector's Office lists roofing among the permits it issues and prints the same roofing fee on its own page. So the only line in Vincennes is the $250 cost figure, and almost any reroof is over it; on a $12,000 reroof the fee at $3 per $1,000 works out to $36. STARTING EARLY COSTS DOUBLE: 150.23(C) provides that where work is started "before the required permits are obtained, then the cost of that permit shall be two times the fee otherwise provided." A reroof does not need an improvement location permit from the county first: 150.20(B) requires one "Prior to requesting permits for new construction or additions to existing structures", and a reroof is neither. INSIDE THE HISTORIC DISTRICT there is a second step. Under 151.18(A), "A certificate of appropriateness must be issued by the Historic District Review Board before a building, moving or demolition permit is issued by the City Inspector for, or work is begun, on, any of the following", and the list includes, anywhere in the district, "A conspicuous change in the exterior appearance of existing buildings including additions, reconstruction, alteration, or resurfacing". A like-for-like reroof in the same material and colour is the case to discuss with the Inspector's Office before assuming no certificate is needed; a change of material, colour or roof shape is squarely the kind of change that section describes.

115 MPH, BUT READ THE REST OF THE KNOX COUNTY ROW, WHICH IS ITS OWN. Indiana deletes the model International Residential Code climatic table and substitutes a county-by-county table at 675 IAC 14-4.4-5. Row 42 is Knox, and it gives 115 in the column headed "Wind Speed (MPH)". That column carries footnote a, which reads: "Wind exposure shall be determined on a site-specific basis in accordance with SECTION R301.2.1.4." So the speed is fixed and the exposure category behind it is a question about the particular site; an exposed lot and a sheltered one are not the same case. The rest of the Knox County row, which should not be carried across county lines: Seismic Design Category C, ground snow 20 psf, foundation depth 24 inches (footnote c: "Foundation is the minimum depth, in inches, from the finish grade to the bottom of the footing."), 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 53.4 degrees F. Chapter 150 of the Vincennes Code of Ordinances was read in full and sets no design criteria of its own. Vincennes has published no statement of which residential edition it enforces, and the Article 14 list in City Code 150.19 still names the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code, whose text has not been read for this record; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's.

NO CITY RULE AND NO STATE AMENDMENT, SO THE BASE CODE APPLIES UNMODIFIED. Roofing in Vincennes is built to the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, which incorporates the 2018 International Residential Code. That rule makes no amendment to the International Residential Code reroofing section, Section R908, which does not appear in it at any point; its only amendments in the roof assemblies chapter delete the last sentence of Section R902.4 on rooftop photovoltaic systems, delete the word "approved" from Section R905.2.6 on asphalt shingle attachment and from Section R905.2.8 on flashing, and delete the word "printed" from Section R905.2.8.4 on other flashing. Nothing in the state rule addresses layer limits, overlays or recovering an existing roof. The City adds nothing either: Chapter 150 of the Vincennes Code of Ordinances, Building Regulations, was read in full, all 46 sections, and its only mention of roofing is the roofing permit fee, and Chapter 151, Historic District, speaks of roofs only as a matter of appearance. Vincennes has published no statement of which residential edition it enforces, and the Article 14 list in City Code 150.19 still names the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code, whose text has not been read for this record; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's. Base-code rule, read at 2018 International Residential Code Section R908.3.1.1, Roof recover not allowed, and quoted here rather than left behind the ICC paywall: 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. A Vincennes reroof needs a City permit in any case, so settle the existing layer count with the City Inspector before quoting a recover rather than a tear-off.

NO VINCENNES SHEATHING RULE, AND ONE SMALL STATE EDIT. The 2020 Indiana Residential Code, 675 IAC 14-4.4, makes one amendment touching roof sheathing: its section 82 deletes the words "or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency" from Section R803.2.1, which the rule heads as identification and grade. It makes no amendment to Section R905.2.1, the section on the deck under asphalt shingles, which therefore applies as the International Code Council published it in the 2018 International Residential Code; its wording is not restated here. Chapter 150 of the Vincennes Code of Ordinances was read in full and has no sheathing or decking provision. What the state does publish first-hand on the deck side is the State Building Commissioner's guidance of February 25, 2020, which prints Section R903.1 as beginning "Roof decks shall be covered with approved roof coverings secured to the building or structure in accordance with the provisions of this chapter", and goes on to require roof assemblies to be installed in accordance with the manufacturer's installation instructions. So the shingle manufacturer's written instructions on deck preparation and fastening are enforceable on a Vincennes job. Vincennes has published no statement of which residential edition it enforces, and the Article 14 list in City Code 150.19 still names the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code, whose text has not been read for this record; this answer is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code's.

7% STATEWIDE, WITH NO KNOX COUNTY OR VINCENNES ADD-ON. Indiana levies a single state sales tax rate. The Department of Revenue's page on county taxes states: "The sales tax for the entire State of Indiana is 7%." 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 among its examples of contractors and then splits on contract form. A "Time and Material Contract" is "a contract 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". A contractor working under any other type of contract, a lump sum for example, "must pay sales or use tax on their construction material" and does not collect sales tax from the customer on the contract. The bulletin also notes that "Installation charges separately stated on an invoice are not included in gross retail income." It is Department guidance and says of itself that information inconsistent with the law "is not binding on either the department or the taxpayer", so settle your own contract form with an accountant.