FAQ · California Title 24
Questions people actually ask.
Eighteen answers about how the work gets done — turnaround, price, revisions, and what happens when the design doesn’t pass as drawn. If yours isn’t here, call and ask.
Before you send a job
What most people want to know first
Most of what people ask before sending a first job comes down to four things: how fast it comes back, what it costs, what happens when the design doesn’t comply as drawn, and who is actually doing the work. Those are answered below without hedging — along with the ones that come up later, once a job is moving.
If you want a topic in more depth, the explainers go further: what a report costs, what a CF1R is, whether your project needs one, who is allowed to prepare one, and why a CF1R gets rejected.
Rates
Prices
Flat fees, in writing before I start. No hourly, no bid package, no change-order games — the number on the quote is the number on the invoice.
Disclosure
One honest note
I’m not a licensed engineer or architect, and I don’t stamp drawings. On the CF1R I’m the documentation author — you stay the responsible designer. Nothing about your role on the job changes.
That’s on purpose. I’m not after your scope or your clients. I do one piece of the permit set — the piece that usually holds it up — and I do it fast.
Questions
Every question, answered
This is the full set. If yours isn’t here, call and ask or send the plans — either gets you a real answer.
What do you need from me to get started?
A PDF plan set is usually enough — floor plans, elevations, the window and door schedule, and the mechanical info if you have it (equipment type and efficiency). If the mechanical isn’t picked yet I’ll model reasonable assumptions and list every one of them in the email, and we adjust later. The site address helps. If something’s missing I’ll ask once, in one list, not five emails.
How fast is your turnaround on a Title 24 report?
24 to 48 hours on your first job, three business days for everything after that. Nonresidential depends on size, but you get a firm date up front instead of a “we’ll see.” If you’re up against a submittal deadline, tell me the date and I’ll tell you straight whether I can hit it before you commit.
What areas do you cover?
All of California, all 16 climate zones. It’s document work — I don’t need to be local to your jurisdiction, and the city makes no difference to price or turnaround. See service areas for the cities with their own plan-check notes.
Can you talk directly to my architect or contractor?
Yes, and it’s usually faster that way. Loop me into the email thread and I’ll get what I need from whoever has it, instead of routing every question back through you.
Do you do commercial and nonresidential, or just residential?
Both. Residential — new construction, additions, alterations, ADUs. Nonresidential — offices, retail, tenant improvements, mixed-use. Same person doing both, so on a mixed-use project you’re not chasing two consultants.
Do you do ADUs?
Yes, a lot of them — attached, detached, garage conversions, JADUs. ADUs have their own quirks: how the new space interacts with the existing house, whether existing conditioned area gets pulled into the analysis, what triggers a whole-building run. Getting that wrong is a common reason these bounce at plan check. It’s a smaller scope than a full house, and under 3,000 square feet it runs the same rate card as anything else residential — there’s no ADU markup.
Do you help with the solar and battery requirements?
Yes, that’s part of the analysis. I’ll tell you the PV size the code requires for your project and whether battery storage is triggered, and I’ll model it so the numbers on the CF1R match what your solar contractor is actually installing. If your project qualifies for an exception, that gets flagged too — no reason to size solar you don’t owe. Does my ADU need solar covers the exceptions in detail.
Are you on the current energy code?
Yes — I run the current Title 24, Part 6 cycle. As of 2026 that’s the 2025 Energy Code, which took effect January 1, 2026. If your project was permitted under a previous cycle and you need documents matching what’s already in plan check, I run 2019 and 2022 as well. Tell me the permit application date and I’ll work out which one applies.
Do you handle CHEERS registration, or is that on me?
I handle it, and it’s included in the rate — no separate registry fee, no account you have to open. You get the registered CF1R back, ready to drop into your submittal set. If you want the forms laid out on 24×36 plan sheets matched to your drawing set, that’s a $20 add-on and it comes back as a PDF you drop straight in.
Do you do the HERS verification too?
No. I prepare the compliance documentation; HERS field verification is a separate licensed rater who inspects the work in the field. Two different roles on purpose — the code doesn’t let the same person do both. I’ll list the required HERS measures on the CF1R so your rater and your inspector know exactly what’s getting verified, and I’m happy to point you to raters if you don’t already have one.
My design doesn’t pass. Now what?
That’s normal on a first run and it’s part of the job, not an extra. I’ll come back with the specific tradeoffs that get you compliant — usually a window U-factor or SHGC change, a bump in HVAC efficiency, duct location, or insulation — and I’ll tell you which one is cheapest to actually build. You pick. I don’t redraw your building, and I don’t hand you a fail and leave you to figure it out.
What if the city kicks it back with corrections?
Forward it to me. On a report I wrote, the first two revisions are free — that includes answering an energy-code plan-check comment directly, so you’re not translating between your plan checker and me. Past two revisions I quote before touching it. If the design itself changed (new windows, different HVAC, added area) that’s a re-run, and it’s usually small. Plan-check corrections covers the case where someone else wrote the original report.
The plans changed after you already ran it. Is that a whole new fee?
Depends how much moved. Swapped a window size or changed an HVAC model — that’s a quick re-run, and the first two are free. Redrew the floor plan or added 400 square feet — that’s a re-run I’ll quote, and it’s normally a fraction of the original. Send me the revised set and I’ll tell you which one it is before I do anything.
How do you price — hourly or flat?
Flat rate, quoted in writing before I start. $99 for your first report, $150 per model after that, both for homes under 3,000 square feet. Over 3,000 square feet, or commercial, gets a flat quote back the same business day once the plans are in hand. The number on the quote is the number on the invoice, and it doesn’t move unless the scope actually changes — a different building, added square footage, that kind of thing. Full rate card on what a report costs.
Do you stamp plans?
No — I’m not a licensed architect or engineer, and I won’t pretend otherwise. What I do is prepare the energy compliance documentation and register the CF1R as documentation author, with you named as responsible designer — which is what the plan checker is looking for on Title 24. Your architect or engineer still stamps the drawings. If anyone tells you their Title 24 consultant “stamps” your plans, ask them what license number that is. More on who can prepare a Title 24 report.
Who actually does the work?
Me. It isn’t routed offshore or handed to a rotating junior — you’re talking to the person building the model. That’s why the turnaround is what it is, and it’s why when you email about a job from three months ago I actually remember it.
Can you white-label this for my firm?
Yes. Plenty of the design and permit firms I work with hand the report to their client under their own cover. Ask and we’ll set it up. I’m not trying to get between you and your client.
Do you work with designers and contractors on an ongoing basis, or just one-off jobs?
Mostly ongoing. Permit designers, drafters, GCs and HVAC contractors send me their Title 24 as it comes up, so it’s one less consultant to line up per job. Send the plans, get the report back, keep moving — no retainer, no minimum, nothing to sign to keep sending work. How that works for a design firm, permit service or GC is laid out on outsourcing Title 24 for your firm. One-off homeowners are fine too.
Still have one?
Send the plans, or call and ask — either way you get a straight answer before you commit to anything.