Title 24 terms, in plain English.
The acronyms that show up on every compliance package, defined once, so you don’t have to guess from context on a plan-check comment.
The short list
- Title 24, Part 6
- California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards — the section of the state building code this whole business is about. Often shortened to just “Title 24,” though Title 24 has other parts too (Part 11 is CALGreen, a separate green-building code).
- CF1R
- Certificate of Compliance. The design-phase form proving a building complies with Part 6, built from an energy model and registered before permit issuance. See what is a CF1R for the full explainer.
- CF2R
- Certificate of Installation. Filled out by the installer during construction, confirming the equipment and features actually installed match what the CF1R modeled.
- CF3R
- Certificate of Verification. Completed by a third-party field-verification rater for any measures the CF1R flags as needing it — duct leakage, refrigerant charge, and similar.
- CBECC-Res / CBECC 2025
- The CEC-approved software the residential energy model comes out of: CBECC-Res for 2019 and 2022-cycle permits, the unified CBECC 2025 for permits on the 2025 cycle.
- HERS / ECC
- HERS (Home Energy Rating System) was the field-verification and diagnostic-testing program for Title 24 compliance through the 2022 code cycle. For the 2025 cycle, that function is renamed ECC (Energy Code Compliance) — HERS Raters become ECC Raters. HERS still exists as a brand, but now covers whole-house ratings and audits, not code-compliance verification. See 2025 code changes.
- CHEERS
- One of California’s CEC-approved data registries. When the code calls for registration (it does for the CF1R on most residential permits), the certificate goes through an approved registry before the building department accepts it; CHEERS is the one I use, included in the rate.
- TDV / EDR
- Time Dependent Valuation and Energy Design Rating — the compliance-margin metrics used through the 2022 code cycle. Retired for the 2025 cycle, replaced by LSC.
- LSC
- Long-Term System Cost — the metric that replaced TDV/EDR starting with the 2025 code cycle. The CEC’s own definition: the CEC-projected present value of costs to California’s energy systems over a period of 30 years. See 2025 code changes for the full context.
- NRCC
- The nonresidential compliance forms — envelope, lighting, mechanical — used for commercial and tenant-improvement work instead of the CF1R.
- Documentation author
- Whoever built the energy model and prepared the CF1R — my role on every job. Distinct from the responsible designer. See who can prepare a Title 24 report.
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.
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.
Glossary questions
If yours isn’t here, see the full FAQ or call and ask.
What exactly is a CF1R?
The Certificate of Compliance for low-rise residential work, commonly called a Title 24 report — the form that proves the design meets California’s Title 24, Part 6 energy standards. Plan check will not issue the permit without it. It comes out of an energy model built in CBECC-Res, registered with a data registry, and signed by the responsible designer. That whole chain is what you’re handing me.
What's the difference between Title 24 and CALGreen?
Send the plans, skip the acronym soup.
The CF1R comes back with everything labeled plainly — no decoder ring required.