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Roofing in Schererville, Indiana

Hail belt

Yes — a permit is required to replace a roof in Schererville, IN, issued by Town of Schererville, Indiana - Planning and Building Department. 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. Schererville, Indiana sits in one of the country's most hail-prone regions. This hub aggregates Schererville's roofing permit and contractor-registration requirements and impact-resistant material options — every fact linked to its sourced directory record.

Roofing permits & building code in Schererville

Roofing permit and contractor-licensing rules in Schererville are set locally by Town of Schererville, Indiana - Planning and Building Department. Indiana does not license roofing contractors at the state level — roofing and general contracting are absent from the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency’s list of licensed professions — so any contractor credential is a city or county one, while the Indiana Residential Code applies statewide and limits how far a local ordinance may depart from it — always confirm the current requirements with the authority before starting work.

Roofing permit
Required
Contractor registration
Required
Adopted building code
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.
Registration details
  • license: A TOWN REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED OF EVERY CONTRACTOR, AND THE BOND IS THE PART THAT TAKES TIME. Indiana licenses no contractor trade at state level - the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency's published list of regulated professions covers thirty-nine occupations, including plumbing, and carries no contractor, roofing, building or home improvement credential - so the question is local. Schererville's Planning and Building Department "also oversees contractor registration. Any contractor, sub-contractor, or specialty contractor working within the Town limits must be registered with us", and its published Contractor Registration Requirements sheet opens "The Town of Schererville requires that all contractors performing work in town be registered." A roofing contractor is therefore covered, and so is a roofing subcontractor working under someone else's permit. WHAT REGISTRATION TAKES, from the Town's own sheet. (1) The application, downloadable from the Town website or collected from the department. (2) A RECORDED BOND: "The bond must be in the amount of $5000 and must be recorded at the Lake County Recorder's Office located at 2293 N. Main St., Crown Point, IN 46307", and the obligee must read "Board of Commissioners of Lake County, Indiana, and all cities, towns and municipalities in Lake County, Indiana". The Recorder keeps the original, so ask for a copy for your own file, and expect recording fees on top. Because the obligee is county-wide, the same recorded bond is the one other Lake County municipalities look for. (3) INSURANCE: a certificate showing "Town of Schererville" as the certificate holder, general liability "in the amount of $1 million and $500,000 per occurrence", and workers compensation meeting statutory requirements; a contractor with no employees may instead file a Workers Compensation Clearance Certificate. (4) THE FEE: "The initial fee for registration is $100 and covers January 1st through December 31st of the calendar year. The renewal fee is $50 if paid by March 1st." So a registration taken out late in the year still expires on December 31, and the cheap renewal window closes on March 1. Plumbers must additionally file a copy of a current State Plumbing Contractor License, and electricians must pass the Town's own electrical test, which is open book with a two hour limit and free. There is no examination requirement for a roofing contractor. ONE MORE THING THE TOWN ASKS FOR ON A JOB: the Building Permit Requirements packet includes a Sub-Contractor List naming a line for the ROOFER and a separate line for GUTTER/SOFFIT/FASCIA, so a general contractor has to identify the roofing firm by company and address, and each subcontractor calls in their own inspections.
Permit process
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.

View the full Schererville permitting authority record →

Impact-resistant roofing materials for Schererville hail

Schererville, Indiana sits in one of the country's most hail-prone regions. For hail exposure, the highest impact rating a roof covering can earn is UL 2218 Class 4. These cataloged material categories reach Class 4:

Class 4 impact-resistant materials

Class 4 Impact-Resistant Shingle Corrugated Metal Panel Metal Shingle Rubber (Polymer) Shingle Standing-Seam Metal Roof Stone-Coated Steel Synthetic Shake Synthetic Slate Synthetic Tile

Browse every option on the Class 4 impact-resistant materials hub, and read the Class 4 impact-resistant shingles buyer's guide. Many insurers offer premium credits for a documented Class 4 roof — confirm terms with your carrier.

Local permitting authority

Town of Schererville, Indiana - Planning and Building Departmentcity

Roofing guides

Class 4 Impact-Resistant ShinglesGuide Asphalt vs. Metal vs. TileGuide Wind & Fire RatingsGuide

Sources