City of Warsaw, Indiana - Code Enforcement and Building Department

City of Warsaw, Indiana

city

102 S. Buffalo Street, Warsaw, IN 46580

Required

Not required

WHO AND WHERE. The Code Enforcement and Building Department is at 102 S. Buffalo Street, Warsaw, on (574) 372-9548, and City Code section 14-61(a) makes it "responsible for the administration and enforcement of this article". It is staffed by a Building Commissioner, two Building Inspectors and an administrative assistant. The City describes the Commissioner as "responsible for reviewing construction documents and for inspecting new residential, commercial, and building improvement projects for compliance", and adds that "The Commissioner may require an inspection during any phase at any stage of a project covered by a building permit prior to the continuation of any further work authorized by the permit." HOW TO APPLY. Warsaw has moved to an online permitting portal and publishes a guide to it; the City's own FAQ answer to "How do I get a building permit?" is "Visit our online permitting portal to apply for a permit. If you have any questions, call our office at (574) 372-9548." A paper Building Permit Application is also published and shows what is asked: the construction address with all four setbacks, the owner, the nature of the structural work, gross floor area, intended use, the value of construction and estimated completion date, the contractor and up to three subcontractors, whether a crane will be used, and "a detailed scope of work and a set of plans". Under section 14-93 no permit issues unless the application 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", and where a state design release under IC 22-15-3-1 applies, a copy must reach the building commissioner before the permit issues - that is commercial work, not a house re-roof. Payment has a deadline the form states in its own emphasis: "Once notified that the permit is completed and ready for pickup, the permit fee is required within 2 weeks". A permit is valid for one year and may be renewed once for up to another year, at no charge if renewed before expiry. THE FEES, FROM THE CODIFIED SCHEDULE AT SECTION 14-94. Remodeling, alterations and repair to an existing structure - the line that names a re-roof in the codified text - is $1.00 per $1,000.00 of construction, with a residential minimum of $15.00, a commercial minimum of $50.00, and a maximum of $2,000.00. New one and two family dwelling work is a flat fee by floor area. Residential demolition is $10.00. ONE THING TO CHECK BEFORE READING THE PRINTED FEE SHEET: the City's one-page "WARSAW BUILDING PERMIT FEES" PDF sets its size brackets and its dollar figures on different lines, so the first bracket in each block does not sit opposite its own price. Read the fee out of the codified section 14-94 rather than off that sheet, and note that the sheet also omits the words "re-roof" that the codified section contains. INSPECTIONS are called against the City's published stage table - footer, foundation, basement walls, underfloor plumbing, framing, rough-in electrical, rough-in plumbing, rough-in heating and air conditioning, electrical service entrance and final - and re-inspection fees apply to work found incomplete or not ready. APPEALS run to the board of public works and safety under Chapter 14, and a stop order under section 14-65 halts work until the Commissioner authorises it to resume.

STATE-SET, ADOPTED LOCALLY AS A FLOATING REFERENCE - AND WARSAW'S OWN ORDINANCE STILL PRINTS EDITIONS FROM TWENTY YEARS AGO. City Code section 14-33 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 section, 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 its list includes "Article 14 - One and Two Family Dwelling Codes: a. International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings b. International One and Two Family Dwelling Code, Amendments c. Standard for Permanent Installation of Manufactured Homes". A house re-roof falls under Article 14. The section carries no edition dates for Article 14, and the editions it does date elsewhere are old - the 2000 International Fire Code, the 1997 Uniform Plumbing Code, the 2002 National Electrical Code - because the section was last amended in 2003. THAT DOES NOT FREEZE THE RESIDENTIAL CODE, ON THREE INDEPENDENT GROUNDS: the section says on its face that it includes later amendments as published; IC 22-13-2-3(b) provides that a reference to the rules "by citation to the Indiana Administrative Code (IAC), 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(a)(2) gives the state rules precedence over any local ordinance covering the same subject matter in any event. WHAT ARTICLE 14 IS TODAY. The rule in force is 675 IAC 14-4.4, 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. The City agrees on its own Adopted Building Codes page, which lists under "Current Residential Adopted Codes" the heading "Current Code: 2020 Indiana Residential Code" and explains that "The 2020 Indiana Residential Code is made up of the 2018 International Residential Code ... along with Indiana Amendments". TWO CITATION ERRORS ON THAT CITY PAGE, WORTH KNOWING IF YOU FOLLOW ITS LINKS. It gives the rule number as "675IAC 14-4.2" and tells the reader to "Scroll down to Rule 4.3 to see current amendments". Neither is the operative rule: 675 IAC 14-4.2 is the older Indiana Residential Code and 675 IAC 14-4.3, the 2005 Indiana Residential Code, is repealed. The 2020 Indiana Residential Code is 675 IAC 14-4.4. The City page also describes the incorporated document as the "5th Printing" where the rule itself says "first printing August 2017". The City has the right code by name; go to 675 IAC 14-4.4 for its text. WHAT INDIANA CHANGES IN THE ROOFING CHAPTER, read section by section: 675 IAC 14-4.4 makes exactly four amendments to the model code's roofing chapter. Section 84 deletes the text of the last sentence of the rooftop photovoltaic panel section without substitution - a whole sentence, not a word. Sections 85 and 86 delete the word "approved" from the asphalt shingle attachment section and from the flashing section. Section 87 deletes the word "printed" from the other-flashing section. Indiana makes no amendment at all to the model reroofing and roof-recover section. CURRENCY: the City Code of Warsaw as published is "Codified through Ordinance No. 2026-01-02, enacted February 2, 2026. (Supp. No. 35)", with the publisher's standing caveat that the online code may not reflect the most recent legislation. Note also that the City's Adopted Building Codes page lists a stale COMMERCIAL suite - the 2014 Indiana Building Code and older - which does not affect a house but does show the page is not maintained closely.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED AND UNCONDITIONAL ON A SHINGLE ROOF. Warsaw 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" - and Chapter 14 of the City Code contains no roof-covering provision to vary it with. 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 and is quoted here as printed; it plainly means the roof deck. The Indiana rule amends the flashing section only by deleting the word "approved" and does not touch the drip edge subsection, so this text governs as published. The guidance is also explicit that the code applies whatever the local practice is: "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." That sentence matters in Warsaw, where the City's own page and its own ordinance disagree about whether a re-roof needs a permit: the permit question is local and unsettled, but the drip edge is a state requirement and is settled whether or not a permit is pulled. About drip edge

Required — REQUIRED IN KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, ALWAYS - THIS IS ONE OF THE TWENTY-SEVEN "YES" COUNTIES. 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 43 is Kosciusko, 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 Kosciusko 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, air freezing index 2000, mean annual temperature 49.0 degrees F. WHY THE DISTINCTION MATTERS ON A QUOTE: the State Building Commissioner explains that in a "No" county the barrier is required only where the shingle manufacturer's written installation instructions call for it, while in a "Yes" county the table itself requires it - "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". Warsaw is in an always-required county, so it goes on every asphalt shingle re-roof regardless of what the shingle wrapper says. WHAT THE BARRIER HAS TO BE, from the version of the section actually in force, 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: "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." So a detached unheated garage in Warsaw is outside it, and a heated one is not. A lakeside cottage around Winona Lake or Center Lake that is heated is inside it. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO MID-ROOF OR ROOF-STAGE INSPECTION IS PRESCRIBED. The City publishes its Required Inspections as a table of the stage of construction against the type of inspection, and it names all of them: Footer Inspection after excavation and before pouring concrete; Foundation Inspection for a crawl space after block is laid; Basement Walls after forms are placed and before pouring concrete; Underfloor Plumbing prior to pouring the basement floor or slab; and then Framing, Rough-in Electrical, Rough-in Plumbing and Rough-in Heating A/C, all before enclosing walls with wall boards; Electrical Service Entrance prior to utility hook-up; and Final Inspection prior to occupancy of the structure. The table was read in full and none of the ten is a roofing, roof-deck or mid-roof inspection. THE COMMISSIONER CAN STILL CALL ONE, AND THE CITY SAYS SO IN TERMS. The Building Department page states that "The Commissioner may require an inspection during any phase at any stage of a project covered by a building permit prior to the continuation of any further work authorized by the permit", and City Code section 14-62(a) provides that after a permit issues "the building commissioner shall make, or shall cause to be made, such inspections of the work being done as are necessary to ensure full compliance with the provisions of this article and the terms of the permit. Reinspections of work found to be incomplete or not ready for inspection are subject to assessment of reinspection fees as prescribed in this article." So on a job where a permit has been issued, confirm the inspection points when it is issued rather than assuming a re-roof is looked at only at the end. Inspection questions go to the Building Department on (574) 372-9548.

Not required — NO IMPACT-RESISTANCE REQUIREMENT APPLIES IN WARSAW, AND THIS ANSWER RESTS ON BOTH INSTRUMENTS BEING READ RATHER THAN ON A FAILED SEARCH. Chapter 14 of the City Code, "Buildings and Building Regulations", was read in full and contains no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 requirement and no roof-covering rule at all; it adopts the state building rules by reference and then regulates permits, fees, inspections, enforcement and substandard buildings. The state rule carries none either. 675 IAC 14-4.4 makes four amendments touching the model code's roofing chapter and not one 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. Nor could Warsaw add one: 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. TWO THINGS IN INDIANA THAT GET MISTAKEN FOR AN IMPACT MANDATE, and one of them is on Warsaw's own permit form: "CLASS II" and "CLASS 1" appear on the City's building permit application as the headings for residential and commercial use, and they are Indiana's STRUCTURE classes under state law, not any rating of a roof covering. The other is an insurer's premium discount for an impact-rated shingle, which is a private contract term and not a code requirement anywhere in Indiana.

THE CITY'S ORDINANCE AND THE CITY'S WEBSITE CONTRADICT EACH OTHER ON THIS EXACT QUESTION. Get the answer in writing from the Building Department on (574) 372-9548 before starting, and read both texts first. WHAT THE ENACTED, CODIFIED ORDINANCE SAYS - it names a re-roof, and it takes it OUT of the dollar threshold rather than putting it under one. City Code section 14-91(a): "A permit shall be obtained before beginning construction, alteration or repair of any building or structure, the cost of which exceeds $1,500.00, or if the proposed work includes: electrical upgrade, re-roof or structural changes, using forms furnished by the building commissioner. All fees required by this Code shall be paid to the city." So under the ordinance a $1,500 threshold governs building work generally, and a re-roof is named alongside electrical upgrades and structural changes as work that needs a permit whatever it costs. The codified fee schedule then prices it: section 14-94(5) covers "One and two family dwelling/office/retail/commercial/industrial ... Remodeling, alterations and repair to existing structure, Including electrical upgrade, re-roof, deck, porches and ramp per structure", at $1.00 per $1,000.00 of construction with a residential minimum of $15.00, a commercial minimum of $50.00 and a maximum of $2,000.00. An ordinance does not usually publish a fee for a permit it does not require. This is the current codified text, in a code stated to be codified through an ordinance enacted February 2, 2026. WHAT THE CITY'S OWN BUILDING PERMITS PAGE SAYS - the opposite. Under the heading "Required Permits" it reads: "Permits are required for any improvements, which include structural, electrical, some mechanical, and plumbing changes. If you are not hiring a contractor and are doing the labor yourself, you must count yourself as a laborer in the estimation of how much the improvement will cost you. A permit is not required for re-roofing, siding or re-siding (unless window replacement is involved), painting, or other minor repair work. If you are not sure if the work you plan to do requires a building permit, please call the City of Warsaw Building Department at (574) 372-9548." Note where the parenthetical sits: it follows "siding or re-siding", not "re-roofing". Note also the sentence about counting your own labour, which matters if the department applies the $1,500 figure - the estimate is of the improvement's cost, not of what you were charged. AND A THIRD DOCUMENT SITS BETWEEN THEM. The City publishes a one-page "WARSAW BUILDING PERMIT FEES" sheet that reproduces the section 14-94 schedule, and its item 5 reads "Remodeling, alterations, and repair to existing structure, including electrical upgrade, deck, porches & ramp per structure" - the same line as the codified ordinance with the words "re-roof" MISSING. So the printed fee sheet matches the website and the codified ordinance does not. WHAT A ROOFER SHOULD DO WITH THAT. The ordinance is the enacted law and the web page is a summary of it, so the conservative course is to apply. A permit taken out unnecessarily costs $15 at the residential minimum; work done without one that the ordinance required is a violation of section 14-32, which makes it unlawful to "repair ... any building or structure in the city ... contrary to or in violation of the provisions of this article". Ask the Building Commissioner to confirm in writing which position the City is applying, and keep the answer with the job file. IF A PERMIT IS ISSUED: it is valid for one year and may be renewed once for up to another year, free of charge if renewed before it expires. A permit application must be accompanied by "a plat or sketch of the proposed location showing lot boundaries, and by plans and specifications showing the work to be done", and the application form asks for the value of construction, the estimated completion date, the contractor and up to three subcontractors. There is no permit fee for a not-for-profit organization, on proof of status.

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". Row 43 is Kosciusko County and it gives 115 in the column headed "Wind Speed (MPH)". Every one of the ninety-two county rows carries the same figure, so 115 mph is the one genuinely statewide Indiana roofing number and a roofer moving between counties does not have to re-check it. The same Kosciusko row gives seismic design category A, ground snow 30 psf, a 36 inch foundation depth, a winter design temperature of 1 degree F, Severe weathering, an air freezing index of 2000 and a mean annual temperature of 49.0 degrees F. Warsaw 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 more detailed than the state rules, and Chapter 14 of the City Code states no wind figure of its own. EXPOSURE CATEGORY IS STILL A SITE DECISION, NOT A CITY NUMBER. Indiana amends the exposure-category section itself, at 675 IAC 14-4.4-4, to deal with part-built subdivisions: for a site where multiple detached one and two family dwellings, townhouses or other structures are to be constructed as part of a subdivision or master-planned community, or are otherwise designated as a developed area by the authority having jurisdiction, the exposure category for an individual structure is based on the site conditions that will exist once all adjacent structures on the site have been built, provided their construction in that section is expected to begin within two years. Settle the category for the particular site rather than assuming one - open water and open farmland both sit close to built-up Warsaw, and both change the exposure a roof sees.

NO LOCAL LAYER RULE EXISTS IN WARSAW, AND NONE COULD. Chapter 14 of the City Code, "Buildings and Building Regulations", was read in full - Article I on fire limits and Article II, the Building Code, running from section 14-31 through section 14-123 across its administration, permits, fees, inspections, appeals, certificates of occupancy and substandard-building provisions. It contains no roof-covering rule. Its only roofing references are the permit and fee sections that name a re-roof as permitted work, and the substandard-building definitions, which treat sagging or split roof members, ineffective waterproofing and "Broken, rotted, split or buckled exterior wall coverings or roof coverings" as evidence a building is substandard. Nothing in it addresses layers of roofing, recovering an existing roof, or tearing one off. Nor could the City write such a rule: 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 commission's rules", and IC 22-13-2-3(a)(2) gives the state rules precedence over any local ordinance covering the same subject matter. THE ANSWER THEREFORE COMES FROM THE STATE RULE, WHICH DOES NOT AMEND IT. Indiana's residential rule, 675 IAC 14-4.4, runs to 245 numbered sections. Its only amendments touching the model roofing chapter are the deletion of the last sentence of the rooftop photovoltaic section and deletions of the words "approved" and "printed" from the asphalt shingle attachment and flashing sections. It makes no amendment whatever 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, unchanged by either Warsaw or Indiana. A roofer planning a recover rather than a tear-off should establish the existing layer count and settle it against that code with the Building Commissioner before quoting.

7.00% statewide, with no county or city add-on in Warsaw or Kosciusko 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 Kosciusko 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 - "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 settle your own contract form with an accountant. ONE LOCAL INTERACTION WORTH NOTING: if the Building Department does require a permit for your re-roof, the codified fee is calculated per $1,000.00 of construction, so how the contract states its value bears on the fee as well as on the tax.