T24Studio
Service area · Orange County

Title 24 reports for Garden Grove permits.

Garden Grove hands out four free ADU plans and states plainly that the Title 24 sheets are not in them — and it wants the energy forms drawn into the plan set, registered and signed.

Local plan check

Four free ADU plans, Title 24 not included

Garden Grove gives away four city-owned ADU plans through its ADU Go program — 447, 630, 750 and 1,000 square feet — and says in writing what is not in the box: they “include architectural plans only (i.e., they do not include structural and site specific Title 24 plan sheets).” Title 24 is named first among the items the applicant still owes. The plans also cannot be used in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and the size you pick carries a cost fork: impact fees start at 750 square feet, exactly the third plan.

On the plan-check side the residential submittal guideline requires energy forms to be incorporated into the plans and registered and signed — a loose PDF does not satisfy it — and repeats the requirement for new dwellings, ADUs and additions alike. For a garage-to-ADU conversion, the city’s 2022-dated ADU handout lists the energy report ahead of the CalGreen checklist, and it expects an attached unit to have heating separate from the house, shown in the energy report. Submittal is a two-step gate, with Planning issuing an “OK to submit” before Building takes the package, and it stays hybrid: one hard-copy set plus a USB after fees. The CEC puts the city in Climate Zone 8, and no local energy reach code beyond the state code was found on the city’s pages.

One thing that doesn’t change by city: my price and turnaround are flat statewide — $99 first report, $150 flat after, 24–48 hours on your first job. What differs city to city is what happens on the plan-check side before and after the CF1R lands in your permit set, which is what this page covers.

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.

New client offer

Your first report with me

$150$9924–48 hours

One per client, homes under 3,000 square feet. Full energy model, CF1R and CHEERS registration. It’s a test run — send one job and see how it goes.

Every model after the first

$150Per model

The standard rate once you’re a client — the second building, ADU plus main house, the next project that walks in. Back in 3 business days.

Over 3,000 square feet

QUOTED

Quoted from the plans before any work starts, same day.

24×36 plan-sheet set

$20

Your CF1R laid out full size, matched to your drawing set. Comes back as a PDF you drop straight in.

Revisions

FREEFirst two

Two revisions included, plus questions any time. Past two I quote first, before I touch it.

Commercial / tenant improvement

QUOTEDSame day

Send the plans and you’ll have a flat quote back the same day. No deposit, no minimum.

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

Garden Grove plan-check questions

If yours isn’t here, see the full FAQ or call and ask.

Do Garden Grove’s ADU Go plans come with the energy report?
No. The city states that the free plans include architectural plans only and do not include structural or site-specific Title 24 plan sheets, and it lists Title 24 first among what the applicant still has to supply. The building is pre-approved; the energy compliance is site-specific and still has to be produced, registered and signed.
How does Garden Grove want the energy forms submitted?
Incorporated into the plans, registered and signed — the residential submittal guideline says so as item 8 and repeats it for new dwellings, ADUs and additions or alterations. A standalone report clipped to the package does not meet it. The process is also hybrid: one hard-copy set with the calculations plus a USB after fees, and two full-size printed sets at issuance.
What is CHEERS registration, and is it extra?

California requires the compliance certificate to be registered with an approved data registry before the building department will accept it. I use CHEERS, and registration is included in the rate — no separate registry fee, no account you have to open.

What do you need from me to start?

A PDF of the architecturals and the project address. Floor plans, elevations and a window schedule is plenty.

You don’t need the HVAC or water heater picked. If the plans don’t call them out, I model what I’d normally specify for that job — and I list every assumption in the email so nothing is buried. Swap any of it and I rerun; that doesn’t count against your free revisions.

The design doesn’t have to be finished either. Early is often better, because that’s when a compliance problem is still cheap to fix.

Send your Garden Grove plans.

The CF1R comes back registered and signed, laid out as sheets your drafter can drop into the plan set the way the city’s guideline asks for.