In Indianapolis, house building permits are issued by the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services (BNS), the consolidated city and Marion County office.
If you own a house in the Consolidated City of Indianapolis, Indiana, and the next job is a rear addition, a new circuit, or a deck off the kitchen, the office that takes the building permit is the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services.
This is the consolidated city and Marion County government, not a suburb and not another Indianapolis. Marion County appears as that consolidated government, as the assessor who can receive a deck notice, and as the Health and Hospital Corporation the city checklist names for a septic permit, and no page linked here hands a house building permit to a separate Marion County building department. The contractor-license page says department licensing does not include the excluded cities of Lawrence, Beech Grove, Speedway, and Southport, and the residential permit pages do not repeat that for a house permit, so if the house is in one of those four, don't use this page as their rule.
PermitCove is an independent guide, not the City of Indianapolis, and nothing here approves your project. The rules below come from indy.gov pages and the fee workbook, building-standards book, homeowner guide, plan checklist, and August 2026 zoning ordinance they link, all listed at the end; fees and forms change, so check the Accela Citizens Access Portal before you pay.
Last verified: October 4, 2026, against the City of Indianapolis Department of Business and Neighborhood Services pages linked below.
Business and Neighborhood Services (DBNS) handles Indianapolis house permits
A house permit, is a Department of Business and Neighborhood Services permit. The department page says the department handles licensing, permitting, and inspections for the city of Indianapolis, and that it works with neighborhood organizations and businesses on building codes. It also says the department oversees property use, safety, and maintenance. The residential permits page calls the house work a Class 2 permit.
The building-standards book, effective January 1, 2018, on the file the city still links, defines a Class 2 structure as a building intended to contain only one dwelling unit or two dwelling units, unless any part of it is regularly used as a Class 1 structure, and an outbuilding for that house, such as a garage, barn, or family swimming pool, unless that outbuilding is regularly used as Class 1.
A Class 1 structure, in that book, is the building used by the public, by three or more tenants, or by employees. A one-family house is not that list. A three-family building is not Class 2. Don't use the commercial exemption list on a house just because both lists sit in the same section.
The doors do not list one address. The department page lists Department of Business and Neighborhood Services, 200 E. Washington St., Suite 107, Indianapolis, IN 46204, phone 317.327.8700. The location record on that page lists hours of 9AM-4PM Monday-Friday, and a fax of 317.327.5174. The residential plan checklist dated 2/10/25 lists the same Washington Street suite, the phone (317) 327-8700, and PermitQuestions@indy.gov.
The 2026 certificate letter lists the same suite and phone, and www.indy.gov/bns. The contractor-license page mails licensing applications to the same suite. The homeowner guide the checklist page calls updated 3/2021 lists a different door. It says the department is at 1200 S Madison Ave, Indianapolis, Suite 100, and that residential questions go to (317) 327-8700 or PermitQuestions@indy.gov. The same guide says the permit types issued by Permit Issuance can be reached at (317) 327-7800 or the same email, and it lists the address technician at 1200 Madison Av., Suite 100.
The statement of intent still linked from the residential permits page is dated 8/25/2016 and lists 1200 Madison Ave, Suite 100, Indianapolis, IN 46225. That is a third ZIP. If you mail a packet, the 2025 checklist and the 2026 letter use 200 E. Washington Street, Suite 107, 46204. If a form in your hand still says Madison Avenue, ask which counter is open.
The phones split by desk. Customer service on the department page is 317.327.8700. Infrastructure review, on the residential permits page and in the homeowner guide, is 317.327.8583 or Infrastructure@indy.gov. Construction Services, on the certificate page, is 317.327.8938 or bns.constructionservices@indy.gov. The homeowner guide sends inspection questions to 317-327-8939 or BNS.ConstructionServices@indy.gov, and it sends scheduled or same-day inspection questions to 317-327-8938. The scheduling line in that guide is 317-327-5525.
Licensing questions on the contractor page are (317)327-1291 or contractors@indy.gov. The guide's contractors section lists Contractors@indy.gov, and its homeowner-exam sentence lists Contractor@indy.gov. Those are not the same spelling. Zoning questions on the checklist are 317.327.5155 or PlannerOnCall@indy.gov. The homeowner guide lists 317-237-5155 for the same PlannerOnCall mailbox, at the Department of Metropolitan Development. Historic exterior work, on the checklist, is the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission at 317.327.4406 or IHPC@indy.gov. The guide sends a suspected unlicensed contractor to the Mayor's Action Center at 317.327.4622.
Two portal addresses are listed, and one department sentence adds a dot. The apply-online page, updated in the city's content on August 24, 2026, says the Accela Citizens Access Portal at https://aca-prod.accela.com/indy is where you apply, pay, and research. The review-times page, the certificate page, the zoning-letter page, and the homeowner guide print https://accela9ca.indy.gov/citizenaccess/. The department description spells the link "Citizens Access Portal" and points at a URL that lists an extra dot, indy.gov. with a period before the slash. An account is required to apply, on the apply-online page. You do not need an account to research history, pay, or view conditions. Technical problems on that page go to ACA.Admin@Indy.gov.
Indianapolis permit triggers where the DBNS pages disagree
The building-standards book still linked from the residential permits page is the rule with the long exemption list, and a 2026 web page says part of that rule changed. Section 536-201(a) in the book says it is unlawful to do construction, or to demolish or remove a structure, unless a written building permit is in force for the person who is actually doing the work, supervising it, or contractually responsible for it.
The book then lists exemptions. Subsection (b) is for Class 2 structures, which the book also calls one- and two-family dwellings. Subsection (c) is for Class 1, commercial, construction. Do not borrow a Class 1 exemption for a house. Subsection (e) says a building-permit exemption does not erase a floodplain development permit in a flood control district. The homeowner guide repeats the Class 2 list and says an improvement location permit could still be required depending on the scope.
The new-construction page, which carries the January 5, 2026 fee note, says section 536-216 has been deleted from local ordinance beginning in 2026, so notification forms are no longer required for the work that used to need a notice under 536-201(b) and 536-216. It says replacement of windows and doors, roofing, and exterior siding are still exempt from a building permit for Class 2 structures, if the work is done by a licensed or listed contractor or by a property owner who intends to use the property for their own occupancy.
The 2018 book, and the homeowner guide, still print 536-216. In those older texts, a listed contractor's exemption for doors, windows, roofing, or siding depends on the notice and posting in 536-216, and the owner's exemption is narrower than "any roof." Call 317.327.8700 before you treat a roof as free because one paragraph is newer.
Read the roof sentences one at a time. In the 2018 book, a listed contractor may replace an existing roof without a permit only when the work does not change the roof configuration, does not change the type of covering in a way that increases the dead load, the example is tile replacing asphalt shingles, does not replace basic structural members that support the roof, the example is a rafter or more than 128 feet of decking, and is not heat-applied roofing.
Exactly 128 feet is not "more than 128 feet." Separately, an owner or contract purchaser who will occupy the Class 2 house may affix one layer of replacement shingles onto a single existing layer, without removing a layer, if the owner or contract purchaser does that work with only noncompensated volunteers. The homeowner guide lists the same cuts. The new-construction page, under a heading that still says roofing, says a structural permit is required for a tear-off and reroof, that the permit is miscellaneous activity, also called a non-review permit, and that no plans are required unless the type of roofing changes, such as asphalt shingles to clay tile or slate.
The same paragraph says a permit is not required to add a layer of shingles on a residential structure if the property owner or contract purchaser is using the home for their own occupancy, and that in Marion County you may apply two layers before a tear-off and reroof is required. The common-projects section of the homeowner guide says re-roofing and replacing siding will require a permit, and that if nothing structural is changing it is a structural renovation permit with no plans. That sentence and the exemption list are in the same guide.
Windows, doors, and siding are the same kind of split. The 2018 book limits the door-and-window exemption to like-for-like replacement in an opening of the same dimensions, which does not reduce the egress required by the code in force when the building was built. A new opening is not that sentence. Exterior siding, in the book, may be installed or replaced by a listed contractor who meets 536-216, and an occupying owner or contract purchaser may add a layer of siding to existing sheathing without removing the sheathing, with only noncompensated volunteers.
The 2026 web sentence drops the notice and describes the exemption as windows, doors, roofing, and siding by a licensed or listed contractor or an owner who will occupy. It does not reprint the like-for-like limit or the "do not strip the sheathing" limit.
Ordinary repair, in the book, is not a shrug. Exemption (4) for a Class 2 house is ordinary maintenance and repair where the work does not reduce performance or create additional health or safety risks, as defined in section 536-111. The definition includes caulking windows, painting, pointing brick, replacing filters, sandblasting masonry, replacing broken glass, and patching a roof. It says ordinary maintenance shall not include construction that alters the prior capacity, performance specifications, type of required energy, or functional features.
Patching a roof is in the definition. A tear-off is the roof section above, not this definition. Exemption (5) is fixtures attached to walls or floors, and it names cupboards, cabinets, shelving, railings, tracks, wall and floor coverings, and doors. That is not the exterior prime-door rule. Storm windows are exemption (6). A masonry chimney repair above the roof line that does not shrink the flue is exemption (7).
Gutters are exemption (8). A window awning that projects not more than 48 inches is exemption (9). Exactly 48 inches is inside "not more than." Thermal insulation is exemption (10). Added non-load-bearing walls that do not create sleeping rooms are exemption (11), and the same item says electrical, heating and cooling, or plumbing work still needs a permit unless another exemption covers it. Replacing an attic fan, a bathroom exhaust fan, a range hood exhaust fan, or a whole-house fan is exemption (12).
A fence, a low pool, a low deck, a short wall, and a small shed are later items in the same list, and each one has a second rule somewhere else. A fence or structural barrier that conforms to zoning, and to any certificate of appropriateness in a historic district, does not need the building permit in exemption (13).
The sentence does not list a height. The city pages linked here don't include a citywide fence height. An aboveground pool 30 inches or less deep and 15 feet or less at its widest points is exemption (14). Exactly 30 inches is inside "or less." Exactly 15 feet is inside "or less." A deck is exemption (15) only when no part of the floor is more than 30 inches above finished grade and the assessor notice in section 536-215 is met.
Exactly 30 inches is inside "not more than." A retaining wall not over 4 feet from the lowest finished grade to the top is exemption (16), unless it supports a surcharge. Exactly 4 feet is inside "not over." A structure of 120 square feet or less of base area, less than 15 feet high, not on a permanent foundation, and without an electrical power distribution system, a heating system, space heating equipment, a cooling system, or space cooling equipment, is exemption (17).
Exactly 120 square feet is inside "or less." Exactly 15 feet is not "less than 15 feet." The homeowner guide's shed paragraph uses "no utility connection," which is not the same list of equipment. Both are below, under sheds.
The rest of the Class 2 list is equipment, not a new room. Ordinary repair of building equipment that does not reduce performance is exemption (18). A single-phase circuit not exceeding 60 amperes at a nominal 120/240 volts, for a heating system, space heating equipment, a cooling system, space cooling equipment, a water heater, or a food waste disposer for which a building permit has already been issued, is exemption (19).
Exactly 60 amperes is inside "not exceeding." Household appliances, including a window air conditioner, a refrigerator, a range, a microwave, a washer, a dryer, a dishwasher, a disposer, and a trash compactor, are exemption (20) when the job does not include a new circuit. Replacement in kind of plumbing pipe, same performance and same capacity, is exemption (21) when not more than 20 percent of all piping in the structure is replaced.
Exactly 20 percent is inside "not more than." Replacing appliances, fixtures, traps, and valves in a plumbing system is exemption (22). A water heater that is identical in venting and in type of fuel or energy is exemption (23). Extending heating or cooling ductwork is exemption (24). The residential permits page repeats the electrical, heating, and plumbing exceptions in shorter form.
It does not add a new exemption we could not find in the book. The book then says that unless otherwise exempted, separate plumbing, electrical, and mechanical permits are still required for the items above. A structural exemption is not a trade exemption.
Indianapolis homeowner permits vs. a licensed contractor
The new-construction page is the short version, and it is stricter than "I own it, so I can pull every permit." If you are doing the work, you apply. If you hire a contractor, the contractor applies. Do not apply on behalf of a contractor. The permit holder is responsible for the work and for compliance. Permits should be issued only to the parties doing the work.
Written authorization is required before another agent acts for the contractor or for the homeowner who is doing the work. For a project that needs a permit, that page says hire only a licensed, listed, or registered contractor, and that you can check at 317.327.8700 or on the licensed-contractors page. It says a contractor who meets those requirements has a bond and a liability policy on file.
The homeowner guide splits the permit types. An improvement location permit, it says, can be issued to any applicant. A structural permit requires a licensed contractor, or the property owner if the owner is doing the work, and the owner must sign a statement of intent and understanding. Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, in the next paragraph of that guide, must be pulled by a licensed contractor in each craft, unless section 536-201 exempts the work.
A later page of the same guide says a homeowner may take an exam and, after passing, apply for the applicable permit, and that otherwise a licensed electrician or mechanical contractor must pull the permit. It says homeowners can pull plumbing permits in limited situations, and it tells you to email PermitQuestions@indy.gov with the project. It says the exam questions go to Contractor@indy.gov. The contractor-license page, updated later, says BNS licenses general, electrical, heating and cooling, wrecking, and plumbing work inside the consolidated city, and not in Lawrence, Beech Grove, Speedway, or Southport.
It says there is no state license for electrical, HVAC, or wrecking, and that those applicants take a local exam. It says plumbing is licensed by the State of Indiana and then registered with the city. The exam sentence is not a promise that a homeowner can pull a new service, and the "licensed contractor in each craft" sentence doesn't cancel the exam sentence that sits in the same guide.
The 2018 book is a third version. Section 536-202 says the person who obtains the permit has to be the person who will do the work, supervise it, or be contractually responsible for it. A listed contractor under chapter 875 may obtain a permit except for work that articles II, III, or IV of that chapter, or IC 25-28.5-1, require a license for.
An owner, a contract purchaser, or a long-term lessee who will use the property for their own purposes, the examples include a place of residence and a rental the owner is obligated to maintain, may obtain a permit for work done by that person, by employees, or by volunteers who are not compensated. The same paragraph says that person may not obtain a wrecking permit when article IV requires a wrecking license, and may not obtain a permit for work that needs the state plumbing license.
It says sections 875-222 and 875-321 have to be met before that owner permit covers work that articles II and III require a license for. The statement of intent on the residential page is the form the checklist asks for when the owner will do the work. It is dated 8/25/2016. It asks whether you are the owner, the owner and occupant, the landlord, the contract purchaser, or a long-term lessee.
It asks whether work has started. It asks who will work: non-compensated family and friends, employees, one listed contractor responsible for all of the work, or more than one listed contractor so that no single contractor is responsible for all of it. It says a single contractor who is doing all the work must obtain the permit.
If the job includes electrical, plumbing, or heating and air conditioning, the form says those permits must be obtained before that craft work starts, and that failing to do so may result in a stop-work order. You sign under penalties of perjury. The form's address is the Madison Avenue address above.
A driveway cut is not the structural-permit rule. The homeowner guide says a driveway permit must be pulled by a licensed contractor, and that work in the right-of-way has to be done by a contractor listed with the department. The driveway page says a driveway permit is required to connect a commercial or residential driveway to a street the city has proposed or accepted, and it does not repeat the contractor sentence. Wrecking, on the residential page, must be signed by the title holder and obtained by the property owner, a general contractor, or a wrecking contractor, and in some situations only a wrecking contractor can obtain it. The page points at a property-owner packet.
Applying in Accela Citizen Access and the site plan
The apply-online page says that when you apply in the portal, a paper application is not required, the application is digital, and drawings upload as PDFs. PDFs have to be 150 MB or smaller. A larger file is split. If the upload fails, that page says to email permitquestions@Indy.gov and ask how to turn the plans in. It also says that, at this time, each permit is a separate application. The department page says payments, applications, and plan submittals must go through the portal or be mailed to Suite 107.
The checklist says a completed residential development application is required if an improvement location permit is required, or a completed Class 2 structural application if that is the permit, plus the checklist itself. Both the web checklist and the PDF dated 2/10/25 say that. The web checklist says two complete sets of plans. The PDF's item 4 says a complete plan set and does not repeat the number two. The homeowner guide and section 536-205 of the book both say two copies.
What the drawings contain depends on which sheet you are holding. The residential permits page, for a Class 2 structural permit, lists a legal description, a site plan to scale showing existing and proposed buildings and also driveways, patios, decks, pools, courts, and walks, a foundation plan, a floor plan, a wall section from the footer to the roof, drawings of all sides showing existing and proposed work, and engineer-stamped truss specifications if trusses are used.
The checklist PDF, for a remodel, wants a floor plan of every floor in the scope, rooms labeled with existing and proposed use, smoke detectors, doors and windows, wall and window and door framing, floor and ceiling and roof construction, and a clear difference between existing and proposed. The web checklist's remodel list stops at the floor plan and window and door framing.
For an addition, both the web page and the PDF want the floor plan, a wall cross-section for each type of construction, not one typical section, a foundation plan, and window and door framing. The PDF adds that the foundation plan depicts grade and foundation dimensions. A new house or an accessory structure uses that same set.
Common extras, on both, include a stair cross-section with handrail height, tread and riser size, and clearance, engineer-sealed truss specifications, egress windows labeled in bedrooms, a demolition plan, and an energy report if you use the performance path or the total UA alternative. The guide names three energy paths: prescriptive, plans only; total UA, plans plus a Rescheck report; and performance, plans plus REM/Design, REM/Rate, or Energy Gauge.
The book says plans are drawn to scale, the scale is noted on each sheet, and the permit address is on the face of each sheet in letters at least one-quarter inch high. The checklist says a standard engineer or architect scale, and the scale, address, and date on the plans. No page says a freehand drawing is acceptable. Illegible plans fail the checklist's requirement that plans be legible.
An improvement location permit is a different drawing. The checklist says it is required for increased square footage or height, for a new structure, and for other site improvements, unless section 740-801.A exempts the work. The drawings it names are a site plan under Indy Rezone section 740-802.A and elevations of all four sides under 740-802.B.
The homeowner guide lists a long site-plan list instead: north arrow, subdivision and lot or a metes-and-bounds description, the address, overall dimensions, rights-of-way, streets, alleys, easements, ditches or streams, every structure, the use of each one, distances from front, rear, and side lines measured at a right angle, the driveway and its width at the right-of-way, other pavement, and a septic tank and fingers if there is a septic system.
It says the improvement-location copies are drawn at 1 inch equals 30 feet, or 1 inch equals 40 feet on an unusually large lot. An aerial photo from MapIndy can help you draw. The guide says the aerial is not acceptable in place of the site plan. The zoning-letter page allows an aerial from maps.indy.gov as part of a zoning history letter. That is a letter, not a building-permit site plan.
You do not start because you clicked send. The guide says the applicant is emailed when reviews are done, comments are on the portal, and the permit is issued when each division that has a piece, it names Infrastructure and Permit Issuance, has approved. It says if the building permit is not issued within six months from the date of submission, the application is abandoned.
The 2026 fee page or the apply-online page doesn't include that six-month sentence. The apply-online page says you apply, you wait, you pay, and the issued permit is emailed. The checklist says application and review fees are non-refundable and due upon submittal, whether or not a permit is issued. The portal steps say you pay after review and then the permit is emailed.
Ask which invoice is in front of you. The checklist also says more approvals may be required before the building permit, and it names a floodplain permit under chapter 565, a drainage permit under chapter 561, an improvement location permit under chapter 740, and Regional Center or Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission approval under chapter 742.
Review time is a graphic, not a promise dated today. The review-times page says estimates vary by project, and that the times apply to the initial submittal only, not to a resubmittal. The file that page labels "Current Residential Permit Review Times (updated February 5th, 2024)" is an image. The image does not list a date. It is headed Residential Permit Review Times, from Business and Neighborhood Services.
New homes: initial review target 12 days, current 9 days. Remodels, additions, and so on: target 10 days, current 3 days. The footnote says all review times are business days. The green column is not the time your addition will take, and 12 and 9 are not meant to be averaged. The page says actual review times may vary. No city page linked here says a house plan is reviewed in one week.
The code the homeowner guide tells you to use is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, which it also calls the 2020 International Residential Code, unless the guide notes otherwise. It says the state code is on the Indiana Department of Homeland Security site. The building-standards page links the state's Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission rules and the municipal code. The guide lists a climatic table for design.
The figures we could read are a ground snow load of 20, a wind speed of 115, seismic design category B, severe weathering, a frost line depth of 30 inches, termite exposure from moderate to heavy, a winter design temperature of 2 degrees Fahrenheit, ice barrier underlayment not required, and a mean annual temperature of 51.8. That table is the guide's table. It is not a footing size for your post. The porch section of the guide points at Table R403.2 and does not list the table.
A historic district is a separate approval. The checklist says exterior work in a historic district needs a certificate of appropriateness and stamped plans from the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission. The building-standards book says a building-permit exemption does not remove a certificate of appropriateness in an Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission area or in the Meridian Street Preservation District. The Department of Metropolitan Development is the office the checklist names when the zoning district or a zoning petition needs its own approval. Use the zoning map before you decide you are outside those areas. The map pages are the zoning browser at maps.indy.gov/Zoning/ and MapIndy at maps.indy.gov/MapIndy/.
Indianapolis fees on the January 5, 2026 schedule
The fees page says many department fees changed on January 5, 2026, and that applications received on or after that date use the new schedule. Applications received before that date stay on the old schedule. The workbook linked from that page is titled as of 1.5.2026. A second workbook, linked from the new-construction page, has the same title and the same house-permit amounts we compared.
The January 8 file adds the words "per day" on several right-of-way closure lines where the January 5 file lists the number without those words. That difference is not a house building permit. The dollar figures below are the house lines in the workbook the fees page links. This is not a quote for your address.
The fees page says craft permits, which it names as electrical, HVAC, and plumbing, did not change, and that business licenses, zoning permits, and wrecking permits stayed the same. It does not say the structural issuance fees stayed the same. The homeowner guide still lists older structural amounts and tells you the complete schedule is on the fees page.
An application fee sits in its own column, and it is not one number for every permit. An improvement location permit lists $32 per application. A Class 2 structural permit lists $40 per application. A driveway permit lists $40 per application. The homeowner guide says all permits are assessed an application fee of $32 in addition to the permit fee. That $32 matches the improvement location column. It does not match the $40 structural column.
The improvement location lines for a house, in the review column, are these. New single-family construction, metes and bounds, 199. New single-family, platted, and platted-master, 156. Single-family accessory buildings and additions, 108. Two-family, cluster, or attached, 199. Other improvements associated with a single-family or two-family property, the examples include ponds, satellite dishes, and radio towers, 108. The homeowner guide lists those same improvement location amounts. The fees page says zoning permits remained the same. The numbers are what the schedule lists.
The Class 2 structural lines are where the guide and the schedule part. For construction or placement of, or additions to, a primary Class 2 structure, the schedule lists a review fee of $175 for 2,000 square feet or less and $25 per additional 500 square feet. The issuance cell lists "$750 (≤2,000 sqft) 2,000 sqft; $100 per additional 500 sqft." The cell does not say what the second "2,000 sqft" is doing there.
The same cell says square footage includes an attached garage or carport and a finished basement or attic, and excludes an unfinished basement or attic. Addition and simultaneous remodeling of a primary Class 2 structure: review $150 for 1,000 square feet or less and $25 per additional 500, issuance $400 for 1,000 square feet or less and $50 per additional 500. Construction or placement of, or additions to, an accessory Class 2 structure: review $150 for 1,000 square feet or less and $25 per additional 500, issuance $300 for 200 to 1,000 square feet and $25 per additional 500.
The issuance cell does not list a dollar for an accessory under 200 square feet. Addition and simultaneous remodeling of an accessory: review $100 for 1,000 or less and $25 per additional 500, issuance $250 for 1,000 or less and $25 per additional 500. Remodeling, alteration, or repair with no addition: review $150 for 1,000 or less and $25 per additional 500, issuance $200 for 1,000 or less and $50 per additional 500.
Miscellaneous residential, Class 2: review $100 for 1,000 or less and $25 per additional 500, and the issuance cell lists 150. Exactly 1,000 square feet is inside "1,000 square feet or less" wherever the cell says that. Exactly 2,000 is inside the primary review cell's "2,000 square feet or less."
The guide's structural amounts are the ones not to pay from this page. It lists a plan review of $85 for 1,000 square feet or less plus $21 per 500 square feet over 1,000, a new primary permit of $217 plus $23 per 500 over 1,000, an accessory of $42 from 1 to 200 square feet and $193 from 201 to 1,000, and a remodel of $159 plus $39 per 500 over 1,000.
It also lists a miscellaneous renovation of $141. The 2026 schedule's miscellaneous issuance cell lists 150, not 141. The schedule's driveway review is $141 per residential access, plus the $40 application. The guide's driveway line is $141 and does not list the $40. Don't assume the invoice is the 2021 figure just because the drawing guide still shows it.
A few other lines are easy to attach to the wrong job. Drainage, on the 2026 schedule, is a $40 application, a review of $650 for the first 3 hours and $200 per hour after, and an issuance amount of 200. The guide lists flat drainage amounts: $121 for an addition or detached accessory, $78 for a new structure in an approved subdivision, and $182 for a new structure in a subdivision platted before 1980 or described by metes and bounds.
The drainage page, discussed below, says many of those projects do not need a local drainage permit at all. Three documents, three answers. A floodplain development permit for new single-family construction is a $32 application and 183. Single-family accessory buildings, additions, and craft permits are a $32 application and 117. Those match the guide's flood lines. Wrecking a residential primary structure is a $40 application and 127.
An accessory structure is 94. Interior stripping is 141. A permit transfer, on the miscellaneous sheet, is 48. A permit amendment is 101. A permit renewal is 56. No city page linked here says the portal's "180 Day Permit Extension" button bills the $56 renewal. The miscellaneous sheet also lists "Administrative Fee 215." The permits sheet and the inspections sheet print "Admin Fees 250." The new-construction page says an administrative fee for a violation increased from $215 to $250.
Inspections are not all inside the issuance fee in the way a homeowner might hope. The inspections sheet says that unless noted, inspection fees are included in the issuance fee. A reinspection is $175. The new-construction page says the same $175 is assessed automatically when an inspection requested under a building permit fails. It also says a homeowner may request an inspection at any time, free of charge, and that a reinspection fee may be assessed if violations are found.
A first inspection the page calls free doesn't carry the $175, but the $175 the schedule lists for a failed inspection still applies. Accelerated inspections for a Class 2 structure, on the inspections sheet, are 232 for same day, 187 for next day, 245 for next day at a scheduled time, and 348 for a weekday after 4:30 p.m. or a weekend.
The new-construction page says there is no change to accelerated inspection fees for Class 2 structures, and it does not list those amounts. The miscellaneous sheet lists the same four amounts without the words "Class 2." A stop-work violation is $250 for a Class 2 structure and $750 for a Class 1 structure, on both the inspections sheet and the new-construction page.
The 2018 book still lists a separate fine for doing work without the permit section 536-201 requires: not less than $100, and each day is a separate violation. That is the book's fine. It is not the $250 stop-work line, and the schedule does not define it as one of four levels.
Trade amounts are in the application-fee column, and the review and issuance columns on those rows are blank. Plumbing, new residential installation, lists $185 for 2,500 square feet or less and $23 per 500 square feet over 2,500. Residential repair, alteration, or remodel lists $153 for 1,000 square feet or less and $23 per 500 over 1,000. Electrical installation for a new structure, or a commercial addition, lists $202 for 2,500 square feet or less and $23 per additional 1,000 over 2,500.
Electrical repair to an existing structure, or a residential addition, lists $169 for 1,000 square feet or less and $23 per additional 500 over 1,000. General service activity, for plumbing and for electrical, lists 89. Heating, or cooling, lists $153 for 2,500 square feet or less and $23 per additional 1,000 over 2,500. Combined heating and cooling lists $185 on that same area cut.
The fees page says these craft amounts did not change in the January 2026 update. A zoning classification letter is $85 on the zoning page and 85 on the miscellaneous sheet. A zoning history letter is "$85 per hour of research" on the zoning page, and "$85 min plus $85 per hour after the first hour" on the miscellaneous sheet.
Marion County zoning and setbacks for an Indianapolis lot
A building permit is not the zoning decision. The zoning ordinance the city's zoning page links is the Indianapolis-Marion County Consolidated Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance, and the file says effective August 19, 2026. The map is the zoning browser. The department's zoning page says Business and Neighborhood Services does not answer a zoning question as a public-records request unless you want copies of documents.
A classification letter states the district on the current base map. It does not certify that a use is allowed. You still read the ordinance. A history letter adds petition and permit research. Submitting that request is PermitQuestions@indy.gov, or a hard copy by mail, or a drop-off outside the permit office at Suite 107.
Variances, if the project misses the ordinance, go to the Department of Metropolitan Development. The guide lists Current Planning at 200 E. Washington. The phone conflict, 317.327.5155 and 317-237-5155, is above. The department pages don't offer to locate easements for you. The ordinance says a minor residential structure shall not encroach on a platted easement, and the primary building shall not either.
There is no single front-yard number, and no single side-yard number, for every house in the city. The district summary tables point the front yard at Table 744-201-1, and they say that if the summary disagrees with the master table in Chapter 744, the master table governs. Side and rear minimums on those summaries change with the district. A D-A district summary lists a 30-foot side yard and a 75-foot rear yard. A D-S summary lists a 15-foot side yard and a 25-foot rear yard. Those are two districts, not a city rule. Call with the address before you order posts.
Accessory buildings and what the ordinance calls minor residential structures have a tighter set of sentences, and those sentences do not all use the same cut. The definition lists garages, carports, porches, decks or patios 18 inches or greater in height, mini-barns, sheds, workshops, pools, hot tubs, and similar buildings. A patio under 18 inches is not inside "18 inches or greater." Section 743-306.A says an accessory use has to be incidental to the primary use, on the same lot, under the same ownership, and it says an accessory structure is not permitted before the primary building.
Any one accessory building or minor residential structure has to cover less horizontal area than the primary building. The height of any accessory building or minor residential structure shall be less than the height of the primary building. A district table can also list a maximum accessory height of 24 feet or 25 feet, and a footnote says an accessory may not exceed the primary unless section 744-204 excepts it.
Exactly the height of the house is inside "not exceed" and outside "less than." Open space is cumulative: the primary building, accessory buildings, game courts, and minor residential structures together have to meet the district's open-space percentage. The city pages linked here don't include one coverage percentage that applies to every residential lot.
Where a minor residential structure may sit is two lists, and one district is on both. In D-A, D-S, D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, D-5, D-5II, and D-8, for a lot with a single-family detached house, a single-family attached house, or a two-family house, the structure shall not be closer to a front or side lot line than the district minimum, or, in a front yard, the established front setback on that lot if that is greater.
It shall not be closer to a rear lot line than 5 feet. It meets the side yard on its own, not by borrowing the house's side yard. In D-6, D-6II, D-7, D-8, D-9, and D-10, the ordinance uses the district's minimum perimeter yard on the front, the rear, and the side, or the established front setback if that is greater, and it does not list the 5-foot rear in that paragraph.
D-8 is named in both paragraphs. The swimming-pool paragraph on the residential permits page says a pool or hot tub shall not be in a front yard, shall not be closer to a side lot line than the district's minimum side yard, and shall not be closer to a rear lot line than five feet. That five feet is the pool sentence. It is not a finding that every shed in every district is five feet off the rear line.
A new paved driveway isn't listed as an improvement-location exemption. The driveway page requires a permit to connect to a city street, using the driveway access street construction application. A commercial driveway also needs certified engineering plans. Construction follows the Department of Public Works standards for street and bridge design. A temporary access for construction equipment, when there is no existing drive or alley, is valid for six months and uses the infrastructure review application. That temporary permit is not the house structural permit. Right-of-way closures and excavations are separate right-of-way permits on the fee schedule. They are not the Class 2 structural line.
Room additions in Indianapolis
An addition is construction. The checklist puts increased square footage or increased height on the improvement location list, unless 740-801.A says otherwise, and it puts alterations on the structural list, unless 536-201 says otherwise. The city pages linked here don't include a size under which a room addition is ordinary repair. The residential page says that once the improvement location permit is issued, the structural permit can be obtained, and that you may have to secure sewer, flood, drainage, wrecking, and improvement location permits before the structural permit is released.
The homeowner guide's order for a new structure is drainage, then the improvement location permit, then the structural permit, and it says construction cannot begin until the structural permit is issued. A room addition, in that guide, needs an improvement location permit, a structural permit, and a drainage permit, plus a flood permit if one applies. The drainage page does not agree, and it is quoted below. The guide's sequence and the drainage page both apply, and neither cancels the other.
The fee, if the January 2026 table is the invoice, does not put every addition on one line. A primary-structure addition is the line that says construction or placement of, or additions to, a Class 2 primary structure, with the $175 and $750 cells described above, including the broken second "2,000 sqft." An addition that is also a remodel of the primary house is the $150 review and $400 issuance line.
An accessory addition is the line whose issuance cell starts at 200 square feet. Ask which box they want checked. The drawings are the addition set on the checklist: each wall type gets its own section, and a typical section is not enough. Trusses, if you use them, are the sealed packet the residential page and the guide both require.
Drainage is the conflict to read twice. The residential permits page says permitting usually starts with infrastructure review and a drainage permit, and it links a residential stormwater application. It says that if the house is in a subdivision pre-approved for drainage, which it describes as most subdivisions after 1980, a drainage inspection is not required before the improvement location permit. It then says that if the subdivision has not been pre-approved, or if the addition is over 400 square feet, a drainage inspection is required before the improvement location permit.
Exactly 400 square feet is not "over 400." The drainage page, discussing a 2025 state law, says a local drainage permit is required only when the project also needs Construction Stormwater General Permit coverage. It says you do not need a local drainage permit if, as of May 1, 2025, the project does not need that state coverage. It says you do need the local permit if the project disturbs one acre or more, or is part of a larger common plan, or if staging and utilities push the disturbance to one acre or more.
It says projects under one acre are still subject to floodplain rules, water and sanitary connections, and discharges to the combined sewer area. Call Infrastructure at 317.327.8583 before you skip a drainage filing because the newer page exists, and before you buy a drainage review hour because the older paragraph is still on the residential page.
Sewer and septic are named by the city, and they are not Business and Neighborhood Services permits. The checklist says a new primary or secondary residence needs a sewer lateral permit from Citizens Energy Group, and the PDF lists 317-924-3311. The homeowner guide says a sewer connection permit comes before the structural permit and lists 317-927-4328.
A new bedroom on a house that uses septic needs a septic permit from the Health and Hospital Corporation, at 317-221-2147. The guide lists the office at 3838 N. Rural St. The book says a structural application is supported by written approval from that corporation for a private sewage disposal system. If the zoning map says the house is in the consolidated city and you are not sure which of those two utilities applies, ask.
No row covers a garage turned into living space with insulation values or an emergency-escape size. Finishing or altering space is the remodel path unless an exemption covers it, and a new sleeping room is outside the non-load-bearing-wall exemption. A secondary dwelling unit, in the August 2026 ordinance, is limited to one per lot with a single-family detached house, a maximum of 720 square feet, an extra off-street parking space, and a separate entrance.
The owner occupies the primary unit or the secondary unit. A detached unit counts toward accessory square footage unless it is above an existing detached accessory building. In the compact context area, a separate secondary unit has to be inside a permitted accessory building. That is a zoning limit. It is not a finding that 720 square feet is the structural-permit fee. The fee table does not list the words "secondary dwelling."
Indianapolis decks and porches
Use section 536-201(b)(15) before you decide a low platform is free, and then read the zoning definition, because they do not measure the same edge. The building-standards exemption is a deck where no part of the floor is more than 30 inches above finished grade, and where the assessor notice in section 536-215 is met. Both have to be true.
Exactly 30 inches is inside "not more than 30 inches." A deck higher than that is not in the exemption. Section 536-215 says that when a deck is built, the contractor, or the owner if no contractor is doing the work, must either get a building permit or send a notice to the county assessor. The notice includes the township, the address, the owner, the approximate size, and, if a contractor built it, the contractor's name and listing number.
It is due within 30 days after the deck is substantially complete. The exemption does not say you may skip both the permit and the notice. The zoning ordinance's definition of a deck does not list 30 inches. It says a deck is a ground-supported, unenclosed, accessory platform, usually wood, for the occupants. The minor-residential-structure definition includes porches, decks, or patios 18 inches or greater in height.
Exactly 18 inches is inside "or greater." A platform under 18 inches is not in that list. A platform over 18 and not over 30 can be inside the zoning list and inside the building-permit exemption at the same time. The building exemption doesn't cancel the zoning placement rules, and the zoning definition doesn't create a building permit the building section does not require.
A porch is not that exemption. Exemption (15) is written for a deck. The ordinance lists a porch with the minor residential structures when it is in the "18 inches or greater" phrase. The homeowner guide tells you to ask zoning about restrictions and setbacks before you add a porch or a carport, says posts need footings that meet Table R403.2, and says rafters and beams have to carry the calculated roof loads.
It says a prefabricated carport's plans have to be sealed by a design professional licensed in Indiana. It says the load path from roof to foundation has to show in a cross-section. No city page linked here says a porch under 200 square feet, or under 30 inches, is exempt. Do not paste the deck exception onto a covered porch. No city page linked here gives a distance a porch may project into a yard, beyond the minor-residential-structure placement rules above. The guide points at an example packet.
When a deck permit is the path, the checklist's common extras are the stair section, and the site plan. The guide does not list a separate deck fee. The 2026 schedule does not list the word "deck." A deck that is an accessory structure is not automatically the $300 accessory cell, because that cell starts its issuance range at 200 square feet and the schedule does not name a deck. Ask which line is on the invoice. The city pages linked here don't include a guard height, a riser height, or a footing depth for a deck, other than the guide's unprinted Table R403.2 and the 30-inch frost line in the climatic table.
The zoning placement, when the deck is a minor residential structure, is the 5-foot rear sentence for the districts in that list, the district side yard, and the front-yard rule. It isn't a reduced rear setback for an uncovered deck. A deck also counts in the open-space pile with the house and the other accessory structures. No city page linked here says an uncovered deck is left out of that pile.
Indianapolis sheds and accessory buildings
Count the floor, then notice which sentence you are in. Exemption (17) in the building-standards book, and the matching list in the homeowner guide, is a structure of 120 square feet or less of base area, less than 15 feet in height, not placed on or attached to a permanent foundation, and without an electrical power distribution system, a heating system, space heating equipment, a cooling system, or space cooling equipment.
All of those have to be true. Exactly 120 square feet is inside "or less." Exactly 15 feet is not "less than 15." The guide's common-projects paragraph says a shed of 120 square feet or less, less than 15 feet in height, not on a permanent foundation, and with no utility connection, does not require a permit. "No utility connection" is not the equipment list in the exemption. A shed with a water line and no electrical system is inside one sentence and not obviously inside the other.
Above that size, the guide lists a second and a third cut, and the fee table lists a fourth. Between 121 and 200 square feet, the guide says only a structural permit and a drainage permit are required. Over 200 square feet, it says a structural permit, an improvement location permit, and a drainage permit are required. Exactly 200 is inside "between 121 and 200" if you are reading the middle sentence, and it is not inside "over 200."
The 2026 accessory issuance cell lists $300 for 200 to 1,000 square feet and does not list an issuance amount under 200. The drainage page's one-acre rule can remove the drainage permit the guide attaches to both the 121-to-200 shed and the larger shed. A flood zone, the guide says, needs a flood permit for all construction projects. The building-standards book says a building-permit exemption does not remove a floodplain permit.
Height and the second shed are zoning, and they are not a permit waiver. The ordinance calls a mini-barn or a shed a freestanding, completely enclosed accessory building of stone, brick, metal, or wood, for storage of the occupants' property, and it classifies that building as a minor residential structure. The height limit in section 743-306 is less than the primary building, and the district tables add their own maximum, 24 feet or 25 feet on the district tables, with the footnote that an accessory may not exceed the primary unless 744-204 excepts it.
The building exemption's 15 feet is a permit test. It is not the zoning maximum. A shed also has to be smaller in footprint than the house, it cannot be the first building on an empty lot, and it counts toward open space. The rear yard is 5 feet only in the districts listed above. The city pages linked here don't include a 3-foot rear setback for an Indianapolis shed.
Side yards are the district minimums, not one number. A greenhouse is in the minor-residential-structure definition. No city page linked here says a greenhouse of 120 square feet is exempt when it has heat. Heat is outside exemption (17).
A detached garage is not a shed with a door. It is an outbuilding in the Class 2 definition, and it is an accessory building in the ordinance. The city pages linked here don't include a 720-square-foot cap, or a one-third-of-the-house cap. If the garage is over 120 square feet, or on a foundation, or it contains power or heat or cooling, it is outside exemption (17).
The fee row is the accessory structural row, with the gap under 200 square feet, plus an improvement location line of 108 for a single-family accessory if that permit is the one being issued. Power to the shed is not decided by the building-permit size. The electrical exceptions do not exempt a new circuit because the shed might be under 120 square feet.
DBNS electrical permits
The Department of Business and Neighborhood Services issues the electrical permit, on the residential permits page. No city page linked here sends house wiring to another city for the permit itself. The state shows up as the 2020 residential code in the homeowner guide, and as the plumbing license the contractor page says must be registered with the city. Electrical licensing, that page says, is local. There is no state electrical contractor license, on that page.
The residential page says any work on an electrical power distribution system needs a permit, and then it lists the exceptions that match the book: fan replacements, the 60-ampere circuit that serves equipment already under a building permit, household appliances that do not add a circuit, and temporary power for construction. The book defines an electrical power distribution system as the system from the source to receptacles or equipment, and it says class 2 and class 3 circuits, as the Indiana Electrical Code defines them, are not part of that system for this definition.
Who may apply is the split in the section above. The guide says a licensed contractor pulls the electrical permit unless the work is exempt, and it also says a homeowner who passes an exam may apply. The book says an owner doing the work still has to meet section 875-222 before the permit covers licensed electrical work.
The application linked from the residential page is the electrical permit application. Temporary power has its own form. The fee, when the schedule's electrical row is the one on the invoice, is the amount in the application column: $169 for a repair or a residential addition at 1,000 square feet or less, plus $23 per additional 500 square feet over 1,000, or $202 for a new structure at 2,500 square feet or less, plus $23 per additional 1,000 over 2,500.
General service activity lists 89. Self-certification tags print 22. No city page linked here says a homeowner tag is the $22 row. Starting the work before the permit is the $100-a-day minimum in the 2018 book, and it is also the stop-work amount if a stop-work order is already up. They are different sentences.
The city pages linked here don't include a separate electrical inspection phone. The guide's inspection line is 317-327-5525 for scheduling and 317-327-8939 for questions, for the inspections it lists, and the electrical list is under-slab, rough-in, and final. No city page linked here says a homeowner schedules an electrical inspection on a different line from a building inspection.
Indianapolis plumbing, HVAC, and Citizens sewer permits
Plumbing and heating permits are department permits, with the same split between the contractor page and the homeowner-exam sentence. The residential page says plumbing work needs a permit except replacement in kind up to 20 percent of the piping, the initial connection of a mobile home that is not on a permanent foundation in a state-licensed mobile home park, replacement of appliances, fixtures, traps, and valves, and a water heater identical in venting and fuel.
Heating and cooling work needs a permit except that identical water heater and except an extension of ductwork. The book uses the same cuts. A kitchen or bath remodel that adds a fixture is not the cabinet exemption. The checklist says the plans for an addition or a new house have to show the work. No city page linked here says a new shower is only a fixture replacement.
The plumbing fee row lists $185 for a new residential installation at 2,500 square feet or less, and $153 for a residential repair or remodel at 1,000 square feet or less, with the $23 steps above. Heating or cooling lists $153 at 2,500 square feet or less. Combined heating and cooling lists $185. The fees page says these craft fees did not change on January 5, 2026. The contractor page says the person doing plumbing has a state license registered with the city. The guide says ask PermitQuestions@indy.gov before an owner pulls a plumbing permit. Both are city sentences.
Pools are three permits on the residential page, and then two exemptions. In-ground pools, aboveground pools, and hot tubs require structural, improvement location, and drainage permits "like any other structure." An aboveground pool or hot tub 30 inches or less deep and 15 feet or less at its widest points does not need a structural permit.
An aboveground pool or hot tub 18 inches deep or less and 15 feet or less in diameter does not need an improvement location permit. "Widest points" and "diameter" are not the same word. Exactly 18 inches is inside "or less" on the improvement location sentence and inside "30 inches or less" on the structural sentence.
A pool 24 inches deep is outside the 18-inch improvement location exemption and inside the 30-inch structural exemption, if it is also within the width cut. The drainage sentence on this page still says a drainage permit is required, and the drainage page still says a local drainage permit follows the state acreage rule. The barrier is a safety cover meeting 675 IAC 20-4-27(c), or a fence or other barrier adequate to prevent persons, children, or animals from danger, with a self-closing, self-latching gate.
The page does not list the fence height. An unused pool on a property vacant for 30 days or more is drained or covered. The book says the application names the person who will build the fence or the cover. The setbacks are the five-foot rear and the district side yard, and not a front yard, in the paragraph above.
After you file with DBNS: review and inspections
File in the portal if you are following the apply-online page, at either address that page and the other pages print, or mail the packet to 200 E. Washington Street, Suite 107, if you are following the department page and the 2025 checklist. Use ZIP 46204 for that suite. The Madison Avenue address and ZIP 46225 are what the 2016 statement and the 2021 guide still print.
Pay when the checklist says the fee is due, which is at submittal, or pay when the portal steps say to pay, which is after review and before the permit is emailed. The review graphic is the 12-day and 10-day targets and the 9-day and 3-day current columns, in business days, for the initial submittal, on a page that says the times vary.
Then the permit exists. The guide says a copy is displayed so it can be seen from the street, typically in a window or a door facing the street. The book says nobody except an employee of the division may remove or mark a posted permit until 15 days after the work is done and the division is told.
The inspection order is the homeowner guide's list, not a 2026 rewrite. From the time you call, the inspector is out within 48 business hours, except a footing inspection within 2 business hours. The site has to be open. A specific time is the accelerated fee. Scheduling is 317-327-5525, and you need the permit number, the type of inspection, and the address. Structural inspections are foundation or footing, framing after the craft rough-ins or at the same time, and final.
Plumbing is under-slab, rough-in, and final. Mechanical is rough-in and final. Electrical is under-slab, rough-in, and final. The guide says more inspections can be required. The released plans, with the permit office's stamp, stay on site. Results are emailed to the applicant and recorded on the portal. The fee schedule doesn't include this 48-hour sentence. The fee schedule is where the $175 reinspection and the accelerated amounts are listed.
Closing the permit is a certificate of completion, not a certificate of occupancy. The certificate page and the 2026 letter both say the City of Indianapolis and Marion County do not currently issue a certificate of occupancy. The letter says sections 536-301, 536-302, and 536-304 require each permit holder to file a certificate of completion and compliance within 14 days after the work is done and before occupancy or use.
The web page cites 536-301 and says general, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing, and wrecking contractors file it. The letter says that if an architect or engineer files under 536-303, the structural permit holder does not also file for the structural permit. The web page says the architect or engineer, in that case, does not file the contractor's certificate.
Those are different subjects. Both documents say that failing to file within 30 days after the permit expires brings an administrative fee. The homeowner guide says the certificate is the third page of the issued permit, that you email it to CompletionCards@indy.gov or drop it at the lobby, that the final inspection is scheduled after the certificate is submitted, and that if it is not returned and the permit expires, administrative fees are assessed monthly until it comes back.
The 2026 letter does not say "monthly" and does not say the certificate is page three. Questions on the letter go to the Bureau of Construction Services at (317) 327-8938. The signer's name on the letter is Chris Freeman, administrator of that bureau.
Expiration is more than one clock. The guide says an application that does not become a permit within six months of submission is abandoned. Section 536-213 of the book says an issued permit, other than a removal permit, expires if construction has not started within 180 days of issuance, unless the administrator extends it for good cause in writing.
If work starts and then substantially stops for 180 days, the permit expires the same way, with the same kind of extension. A Class 2 removal permit expires 30 days after issuance. A Class 1 removal permit expires in 60 days. Six months and 180 days are both printed. The apply-online page says you can extend a permit in the portal by scheduling an inspection and choosing "ACA - 180 Day Permit Extension."
It says you cannot renew an expired permit in the portal. A renewal is a written request to Permit Issuance at Suite 107, or to permitquestions@indy.gov. The miscellaneous fee sheet lists a permit renewal of 56. The book says an extension is confirmed in writing.
An Indianapolis pre-filing checklist
- Confirm the house is in the consolidated city, and not in Lawrence, Beech Grove, Speedway, or Southport. The contractor-license page is the sentence that excludes those four from department licensing. The residential permit pages do not repeat it. The permit office on the 2025 checklist and the 2026 letter is the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services, 200 E. Washington Street, Suite 107, Indianapolis, IN 46204. The 2021 homeowner guide still lists 1200 S Madison Avenue, Suite 100. The 2016 statement of intent lists that Madison address with ZIP 46225. No city page linked here sends a house building permit to a separate Marion County building department.
- Ordinary repair is not one list. The 2018 book exempts painting and other ordinary maintenance that does not reduce performance, cabinets and similar fixtures, gutters, insulation, and a short list of equipment work. It also exempts like-for-like windows and a narrow kind of owner roof and siding work, and it still cites the 536-216 notice. The new-construction page says that notice section was deleted in 2026 and that windows, doors, roofing, and siding stay exempt for a Class 2 house when a licensed or listed contractor does the work or an occupying owner does. The same page, and the guide's project section, still say a tear-off needs a permit. Do not pick the sentence that lets you start.
- A shed of exactly 120 square feet can sit inside the building exemption only if it is also under 15 feet, off a permanent foundation, and without the equipment the exemption names. The guide's shed paragraph says "no utility connection" instead. Between 121 and 200 square feet, that guide wants a structural permit and a drainage permit, and not an improvement location permit. Over 200, it wants all three. The fee table's accessory issuance cell starts at 200 square feet and does not name a shed. The drainage page's one-acre rule may remove the drainage permit. The city pages linked here don't include a 3-foot rear setback. The 5-foot rear is the minor-residential-structure rule for the districts that section lists, and D-8 is also on the other list.
- A deck is not one rule. The building exemption is a floor not more than 30 inches above finished grade, plus the assessor notice if you do not take a permit. The zoning definition treats porches, decks, or patios 18 inches or greater as minor residential structures. A porch has no 30-inch exemption. A permit fee for a deck is not a line the 2026 schedule names.
- An owner who will do the work may apply for the structural permit and signs the statement of intent. The guide says electrical, plumbing, and HVAC are pulled by licensed contractors, and it also says a homeowner exam can lead to an electrical or mechanical permit, and that plumbing for an owner is a question for PermitQuestions@indy.gov. The book points at sections 875-222 and 875-321, and at the state plumbing license. A friend with a truck is not automatically your electrician.
- Do not email a sketch and start demolition. File the application, on the portal or by mail to Suite 107, and wait for the issued permit. Two plan sets are what the web checklist, the guide, and the book say. The PDF checklist says a complete set and does not repeat the number. Drawings are to scale, with the address and the date. The review image shows 12 and 9 business days for new homes and 10 and 3 business days for remodels and additions, as a target and a current column, for the initial submittal. The page says the times vary. The image does not list a date. The page labels it February 5, 2024.
- The January 5, 2026 house lines include a $32 improvement location application and a $40 structural application, improvement location review of 156 or 199 or 108 depending on the row, and structural issuance cells that do not match the dollar figures still listed in the 2021 guide. The primary issuance cell lists both a $750 phrase and a second "2,000 sqft" without a verb between them. An administrative fee lists as 215 on one sheet and as 250 on others. Do not write the check from this page.
Historic review in Indianapolis: IHPC and North Meridian Street
Owners in an IHPC district deal with the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission before DBNS. Here is the process it runs, plus a second commission that covers only North Meridian Street.
IHPC districts: the certificate comes first
If the house is in an IHPC historic district, you need a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) before you make exterior changes, build, or demolish, or before you seek a zoning variance or rezoning (indy.gov: Apply for a Certificate of Appropriateness). IHPC decides which of two tracks your request takes.
| Step | Staff approval | Commission or hearing officer |
|---|---|---|
| Before filing | Submit documentation and any fee to the IHPC office | Meet an architectural reviewer in person, who decides whether variances or more documents are needed |
| Hearing | None | Commission hearings on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m.; administrative hearings each Tuesday at noon in the IHPC office |
| Neighbor notice | None | Notify owners two properties deep or 660 feet, whichever is less, plus registered neighborhood organizations and city-county councilors: at least 23 days before a commission hearing, 15 days before an administrative hearing |
| Paperwork after notice | None | Return the notarized affidavit of notice within three days after mailing |
| Decision | If approved, COA issued in two to three business days | Approve, deny, or continue to the next hearing; you or a representative must attend |
| After approval | Get your permits (the page gives 317.327.8700), post the COA where it can be seen from the street during construction, and apply for an extension before it expires. Certificates typically expire in one year. | |
All of that comes from the city's COA page, which also links a checklist for new construction, including additions and accessory structures.
North Meridian Street: a separate state-created commission
Houses along North Meridian Street answer to the Meridian Street Preservation Commission, created under the 1971 Meridian Street Preservation Act. Any owner in the Preservation Area, Primary or Secondary, needs the commission's approval for a rezoning or zoning variance. Owners on North Meridian Street in the Primary Preservation Area also need approval before any construction, reconstruction, alteration, or demolition that changes the exterior features of the house and property (Meridian Street Preservation Commission).
The commission's site says members are appointed by the Mayor and the Governor, and that the filing deadline is 30 days before the meeting date. Hearings are at 4:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month. Its mailing address is Suite 1842 of the City-County Building, the same suite IHPC lists, and its chair contact is a city email address. The commission runs under state statute IC 36-7-11.2 and Title 925 of the Indiana Administrative Code.
Mistakes that cost a month
- Applying for the building permit first. In an IHPC district, the COA comes before the permit.
- Mailing hearing notices late. The 23-day and 15-day notice windows are counted back from the hearing.
- Letting a COA lapse on a slow project. Ask for the extension before the certificate expires.
- Assuming IHPC covers North Meridian Street. That street has its own commission and its own monthly hearing.
Last checked: October 2026.
On septic in Marion County? The Citizens STEP sewer connection
Septic is still common in parts of Marion County, and in Indianapolis the sewer question comes up before the permit question. Citizens Energy Group runs the Septic Tank Elimination Program (STEP), which keeps up the city's effort to connect septic neighborhoods to the sanitary sewer. Citizens says its program guide ranks project areas mainly by housing density, closeness to a floodplain, and whether homes nearby use drinking-water wells (Citizens STEP Program Guide, April 2023, PDF).
If your street is in a STEP area, the guide gives you two ways to pay. Citizens builds the lateral, abandons the septic system, and installs a grinder pump for a single $2,739, which covers the $2,530 baseline sewer connection fee and the $209 Building Sewer Application and Permit Fee. Or you pay $45.65 a month for 60 months. If you hire your own contractor, you still pay the whole $2,739 up front before construction permits are issued, and the monthly plan isn't available to you. The program page says owners who opt out still have to connect (Citizens Energy Group: STEP).
That has a direct effect on an addition. A new bedroom on a septic house needs a septic permit from the Health and Hospital Corporation, as covered above. So before you size an addition around an old tank, file a Utility Availability Request through the STEP page to find out whether your area is on the schedule. The site's septic-to-sewer conversion guide goes through the general permit steps.
Official sources
- Department of Business and Neighborhood Services, including Suite 107, 317.327.8700, and weekday hours
- Residential development permits, including Class 2 applications, pools, and the drainage-inspection paragraph
- Residential permit checklist, including the two plan sets and the homeowner guide link
- New building construction, including the 2026 note on section 536-216 and the roofing paragraph
- License and permit fees, including the January 5, 2026 effective date
- Apply for permits online, including the portal steps and the 180-day extension label
- Permit application review times, including the residential review graphic
- Certificate of occupancy, including the statement that the city does not issue one
- Contractor licenses, including the excluded cities
- Zoning compliance, including the letter fees
- Zoning and subdivision ordinance, including the August 2026 ordinance file
- Zoning research tools, including MapIndy and the zoning browser
- Drainage permits, including the one-acre rule
- Driveway permits
- Building standards and procedures, including the book the page still links
- indy.gov: Apply for a Certificate of Appropriateness
- Meridian Street Preservation Commission
- Citizens Energy Group: Septic Tank Elimination Program (STEP)
- Citizens STEP Program Guide, April 4, 2023 (PDF)
Next steps for an Indianapolis project
If you're still deciding whether the job needs a permit, do I need a building permit, in plain English and the permit checker are good starting points. For other cities, see building permits by city.
The general deck and shed limits are in our deck permit guide and shed size guide, and national fee ranges are in how much a building permit costs. For a house in the consolidated city, go by the DBNS numbers above.
PermitCove isn't the City of Indianapolis or the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services, and this page can't issue a permit, quote a fee, or approve plans.
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