Title 24 reports for Modesto permits.
Modesto’s ADU Express puts Building Safety, Fire, Planning and Engineering at one table on a Tuesday morning and aims to approve plans the same day — which only works if the package is complete, and the energy calculations are a quarter of it.
Same-day ADU review, and a four-item list
Modesto’s ADU submittal package is exactly four items — “Complete set of Plans; Energy Calculations; Truss Calculations; Structural Calculations” — with no exception for pre-approved plans. That matters because of ADU Express, where an owner and their licensed designer “meet directly with City staff for a coordinated same-day plan review,” resolving comments in real time and approving qualifying ministerial projects the same day. Building Safety, Fire, Planning and Engineering are all in the room, on a Tuesday between 10 and 11 a.m. Same-day approval is conditioned on “complete, professionally prepared plans,” so there is no correction round to hide a missing energy set inside.
Submittal is hybrid: eTRAKiT under a dedicated ADU record type, or in person at Building Safety. Every Modesto ZIP is Climate Zone 12. The free plans are regional — Modesto names seven, while Stanislaus County, which owns and plan-checked them, publishes three at 405, 744 and 1,192 square feet. The County’s list exempts Title 24 calculations for pre-plan-checked plans, but it governs the County counter in Suite 3400, one floor up, for unincorporated property. Modesto is on neither CEC approved-local-ordinance list and publishes no building-code adoption page, so the statewide 2025 Energy Code governs. It publishes no plan-check turnaround, and every submittal-requirements handout on its Building Plan Reviews page 404s — so a correction round is an expensive way to learn what was missing.
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.
Modesto plan-check questions
If yours isn’t here, see the full FAQ or call and ask.
How does Modesto’s ADU Express appointment work?
Does a free regional ADU plan cover the energy calculations?
Does my ADU or addition actually need one?
Almost certainly. New conditioned floor area — ADUs, JADUs, garage conversions, additions — triggers Title 24. So do alterations that touch the envelope, the ductwork, or the HVAC equipment, including a straight change-out. A remodel that only moves non-structural interior partitions usually doesn’t.
Send it either way. If it doesn’t need a report I’ll say so and there’s no charge for the look.
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 Modesto plans.
If the plan is an ADU Express Tuesday, the CF1R needs to be in the box before the appointment — it is item two of four on the city’s own list.