Title 24, part by part
Title 24 is the entire California Building Standards Code, not only the energy code. Here is what each numbered part is, and why Part 6 and Part 1 are the two that decide the energy side of your permit.
Twelve numbered parts, and the energy code is one of them
Title 24 is the California Building Standards Code — the whole thing, not just the energy part. It is the 24th of the 28 titles of the California Code of Regulations, and Health and Safety Code section 18902 gives it that name. If you want the short version first, start with what Title 24 is.
Inside it are numbered parts, each its own code. Part 2 is the building code, Part 6 is the energy code, Part 11 is CALGreen. On a plan-check correction list, “Title 24” almost always means Part 6, but the term covers all of it. The Building Standards Commission says so in its guidebook: one common misunderstanding is that Title 24 relates only to energy conservation. It applies to every building occupancy in the state.
The parts, and what each one is
Each part is named for the standards it holds — some are California editions of national model codes, some are written from scratch here. This is the 2025 edition, effective January 1, 2026.
- Part 1 — California Administrative Code.
- Part 2 — California Building Code, Volumes 1 and 2, based on the 2024 International Building Code.
- Part 2.5 — California Residential Code, based on the 2024 International Residential Code.
- Part 3 — California Electrical Code, based on the 2023 National Electrical Code.
- Part 4 — California Mechanical Code, based on the 2024 Uniform Mechanical Code.
- Part 5 — California Plumbing Code, based on the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code.
- Part 6 — California Energy Code. Adopted in full by the California Energy Commission. The one I work in.
- Part 7 — California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, based on the 2024 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code. New in 2025.
- Part 8 — California Historical Building Code.
- Part 9 — California Fire Code, based on the 2024 International Fire Code.
- Part 10 — California Existing Building Code, based on the 2024 International Existing Building Code.
- Part 11 — California Green Building Standards Code, better known as CALGreen.
- Part 12 — California Referenced Standards Code, holding the standards the other parts point to.
Twelve numbered parts plus Part 2.5, and no Part 13. The glossary covers the acronyms.
Two entries on that list that trip people up
Part 7 is not vacant any more. Through the 2022 edition it was empty — formerly the California Elevator Safety Construction Code, which moved to Title 8. In the 2025 edition it is the new California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, based on the 2024 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code and assembled from chapters, sections and language relocated out of the Building, Residential and Fire codes. Reference pages written for the older cycle still say Part 7 is vacant. Both readings are correct, for their own edition.
“California Building Code” means Part 2 only, not all of Title 24 — a name the Building Standards Commission flags itself as a source of confusion. Accessibility also lives in Part 2, Chapters 11A and 11B, which is why some people searching “Title 24” want that and not energy.
Part 6, the California Energy Code
Part 6 is adopted in full by the California Energy Commission; Public Resources Code Division 15, commencing with section 25000, assigns energy building standards to the CEC. Once the CEC adopts a cycle, the Building Standards Commission approves it and it is published with the rest of the code, which comes out as a new edition every three years. The current cycle is the 2025 code: permit applications filed on or after January 1, 2026 must comply with it, and the 2022 code still governs applications filed before that date — which is why I still run 2019, 2022 and 2025-cycle models side by side.
Part 1, where the paperwork rules live
Part 1 is the part nobody plans on reading and the one an energy consultant ends up citing constantly. The CEC does not publish Part 6 on its own. Its standards document is titled Building Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings — Title 24, Part 6, and Associated Administrative Regulations in Part 1. Part 6 says what the building must do; Part 1, Chapter 10, Article 1 says how you document and prove it, and it applies to all residential and nonresidential buildings. Section 10-103 governs the compliance forms:
- Two roles, two signatures. The responsible person — eligible under Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code to accept responsibility for the building design — signs to certify conformance with Part 6. The documentation author signs a separate declaration that the information on the document is accurate and complete. Part 1 defines that author as the person who prepares a compliance document which a responsible person then reviews and signs, and the CEC’s compliance manual states it plainly: there are no requirements for the documentation author, while the responsible person must be eligible under Division 3.
- Registration. Where a certificate has to be registered, it is filed electronically with a data registry. Low-rise residential work that needs field verification goes to an ECC-provider data registry under §10-103(a)1B; nonresidential work goes to a data registry approved by the Commission under §10-103(a)1D. The rules for the ECC-provider registries and for field verification itself are in §10-103.3 — the program called HERS through the 2022 cycle, when its rules sat in Title 20 rather than here.
- What the building department can do. An enforcement agency shall not issue a building permit for any construction unless it determines in writing that the construction is designed to comply with the Part 6 requirements in effect on the date the permit was applied for. That is why an energy report holds up a permit in most cases, and why your code cycle follows your application date.
Which part I work in
Part 6, and the Part 1 procedures with it: the energy model, the CF1R for one- and two-unit residential work — a house, an ADU, an addition, an HVAC change-out — the LMCC for three-or-more-unit low-rise multifamily, the NRCC for commercial and tenant improvement, and CHEERS registration. I am the documentation author; you stay the responsible designer.
I do not do Part 2 accessibility, Part 9 fire, or Part 11 CALGreen forms, and not the field verification — that is an ECC rater’s trade. Part 11 is worth naming, because the line looks blurry: CALGreen is a separate part with its own adopting agencies, and the CEC does write the voluntary energy-efficiency appendices inside it. The mandatory energy requirements are Part 6, and Part 6 is what I produce. If a plan-check comment straddles the line, send it and I will say which half is mine.
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.
Questions about the parts
If yours isn’t here, see the full FAQ or call and ask.
Is Title 24 the energy code, or the whole building code?
Both, depending on who is talking. Title 24 is the California Building Standards Code — every numbered part of it, from the Building Code to the Fire Code to CALGreen. In everyday use on a permit set it usually means Part 6, the California Energy Code, because that is the part a plan checker most often flags.
The Building Standards Commission calls the narrow reading a common misunderstanding, and says so in print in its guide to Title 24. Worth knowing which one your plan checker means before you answer a comment.
What is Title 24 Part 1, and why does my energy consultant keep bringing it up?
Part 1 is the California Administrative Code. Its Chapter 10, Article 1 holds the administrative regulations for the energy code and applies to all residential and nonresidential buildings, which is why the CEC publishes it in the same book as Part 6.
Part 1 is where the compliance paperwork actually comes from. Section 10-103 sets up the documentation author and responsible person signatures, and says which certificates have to be registered and where. Section 10-103.3 holds the rules for the ECC program — field verification, and the ECC-provider data registries that handle residential registration. Section 10-106 is what lets a local agency adopt energy standards stricter than Part 6, and only after two things happen: the agency adopts a cost-effectiveness determination at a public meeting and files it with the Energy Commission, and the Commission finds the standards will make buildings consume less energy than Part 6 allows.
Article 1 also says, in its own words, that nothing in it lessens the qualifications or responsibilities of licensed or registered building professionals, or of other designers and builders. The code keeps the designer’s responsibility where it already was.
Is Title 24 Part 2 the same thing as the California Building Code?
Yes, and that is exactly where the confusion starts. “California Building Code” is the name of Part 2 only — Volumes 1 and 2, based on the 2024 International Building Code in the 2025 edition — not of Title 24 as a whole. The Building Standards Commission flags this one itself as a name that causes trouble.
It matters because accessibility requirements live inside Part 2, in Chapters 11A and 11B. Chapter 11A is developed by the Department of Housing and Community Development and covers accessibility in multifamily dwellings; Chapter 11B is developed by the Division of the State Architect and covers public buildings and public accommodations. So someone asking about “Title 24 compliance” may mean accessibility, not energy.
Is Title 24 Part 7 still vacant?
Not in the 2025 edition. Part 7 is now the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, based on the 2024 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code and created by relocating chapters, sections and language out of the Building Code, the Residential Code and the Fire Code.
Under the 2022 edition Part 7 was vacant — formerly the California Elevator Safety Construction Code, which now sits in Title 8. Both statements are correct for their own edition, and since 2022-cycle permits are still moving through plan check, both still come up. A reference page written for one edition simply reads as wrong against the other.
Does every permit need a Title 24 report?
Not literally every one. Part 1 §10-103 lets the enforcement agency use its own discretion for alterations to existing residential buildings that do not require field verification — the code’s own examples are water heater and window replacements — and for additions to existing residential buildings under 300 square feet that do not require field verification. In those cases it may accept simplified documentation, or none at all.
New construction, most additions, garage conversions and HVAC change-outs are a different matter. A building department cannot issue the permit unless it determines in writing that the construction is designed to comply with the Part 6 requirements in effect on the date the permit was applied for.
Send it either way. If it does not need a report I will say so, and there is no charge for the look.
Which parts of Title 24 do you work in?
Part 6, and the Part 1 procedures that go with it. That is the energy model, the CF1R for one- and two-unit residential work, the LMCC for three-or-more-unit low-rise multifamily, the NRCC for commercial and tenant-improvement work, and registration with CHEERS.
Not Part 2 accessibility, not Part 9 fire, not Part 11 CALGreen forms, and not the field verification — that is an ECC rater’s trade and a separate hire. On the certificate I am the documentation author; you stay the responsible designer.
Part 6 is the piece I handle.
Send the plan set and the energy documentation comes back registered, with you named as responsible designer.