Title 24 reports for Hollister permits.
Hollister sits on the climate-zone line — Zone 4 inland while Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Capitola and Aptos are Zone 3 — and its permit counter is appointment-only, paper-and-USB, on a flat 15-business-day clock.
A reused coastal model runs the wrong zone
Hollister is CEC Building Climate Zone 4, while the coastal market next door — Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Aptos — is Climate Zone 3. Reuse a coastal model here and it runs the wrong zone. HMC 15.04.050 lists “Part 6 California Energy Code (with local amendments),” but that phrase is boilerplate on nearly every part: there is no local amendment to the Energy Code — HMC 15.04.056(F) adopts it with nothing but Appendices 1-A and 1-B — and Hollister appears on neither CEC approved-ordinance list. The one genuine local reach lives in CALGreen, at 15.04.056(K): in new homes with private garages, one Level 2 EV Ready space per dwelling unit at 40 amps.
The friction is at the counter. There is no online portal: the city takes one bound hard-copy set plus a PDF emailed no earlier than the business day before, and first submittals and every resubmittal require an appointment booked through Microsoft Bookings. Review is a minimum of 15 business days for all submittals, and no expedited review is published anywhere, so a correction cycle costs a booked appointment plus three weeks with no way to buy it back. The residential handout asks for the energy set twice: as a stamped standalone document and as signed energy forms with calculations on a plan sheet, for any alteration, shell lighting addition or mechanical work — most of what an addition is. On ADUs, every document link on the city’s ADU page is a dead placeholder, leaving HMC Chapter 17.32 as the only usable source.
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.
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.
Your first report with me
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
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 from the plans before any work starts, same day.
24×36 plan-sheet set
Your CF1R laid out full size, matched to your drawing set. Comes back as a PDF you drop straight in.
Revisions
Two revisions included, plus questions any time. Past two I quote first, before I touch it.
Commercial / tenant improvement
Send the plans and you’ll have a flat quote back the same day. No deposit, no minimum.
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.
Hollister plan-check questions
If yours isn’t here, see the full FAQ or call and ask.
How do plans actually get submitted in Hollister?
Can I reuse a Santa Cruz or Watsonville energy model here?
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.
How fast do I get it back?
24 to 48 hours on your first job, three business days for everything after that — a date you can put on the schedule, not an estimate. If your permit deadline is tighter than that, say so in the notes; I’ll tell you honestly whether I can hit it before you commit.
Send your Hollister plans.
The CF1R comes back run on Climate Zone 4 and formatted to go on a plan sheet as well as in the stamped standalone set, which is what the city’s residential handout asks for twice.