Roofing in Warsaw, Indiana

Required

Not required

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.

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.